Lady Margaret’s Book of Hours

St John’s College, MS N.24, f. 13r
Normandy (probably Coutances), c. 1440–1445
Vellum, 210 x 154 mm (102 x 68 mm), III + 179 + II

This Book of Hours, a devotional collection containing a liturgical calendar, readings from the Gospels and Psalms, and prayers in Latin and French, was part of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s family library. The form of its service comes from the diocese of Coutances in Normandy, where the manuscript was copied. The lavish decoration is due to one of the great illustrators of the age, the so-called Falstof Master. The gift of the book to Lady Anne Shirley is recorded in the volume in Lady Margaret’s own handwriting: ‘my good lady Shyrley pray for me that gevythe yow thys booke y hertely pray yow, Margaret modyr to the Kynge’ (‘my good Lady Shirley pray for me who give you this book, I heartily pray you, Margaret, mother of the King’). The manuscript entered the St John’s College collection in 1902, given by Lord Peckover of Wisbech.

By permission of the Master and Fellows of St John’s College, Cambridge.