The Gumbert-Gerritsen Book of Hours
Loose leaves, connected by friendship
To make a distinction among famous medieval manuscripts they may be provided with the names of previous owners, such as the Psalter of Saint Louis, the Wenceslas Bible, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, the Breviary of Beatrijs van Assendelft (in Dutch only) and the Rothchild Prayerbook. Also the manuscripts made in Utrecht belong to that category, such as the Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, the Cunliffe Book of Hours, and the Egmond Breviary. In the spring of 2024, Utrecht University Library received a new acquisition that is named after its two previous owners: the Gumbert-Gerritsen Book of Hours. Peter Gumbert and Gisela Gerritsen-Geywitz were connected in their friendship that resulted from the study of medieval manuscripts.
A damaged manuscript
Compared to the masterpieces mentioned above, the Gumbert-Gerritsen Book of Hours is quite a modest manuscript. The book binding has disappeared and several parts are missing, including all the illuminated leaves. Now 98 folios remain, at most two-thirds of the original manuscript. The manuscript must have had at least 141 folios, but it is not clear what hours are missing. However, five sections remain: the calendar (fol. 1-16; wholly intact), the Hours of the Virgin (fol. 17-44; 32 of the 50 ff. present), the Hours of Wisdom (fol. 45-54; 10 of the 27 ff. present), the Little Hours of the Holy Cross (fol. 55-56; 2 of the 4 ff. present), and the Penitential Psalms, Litany and Prayers (fol. 57-98; 42 of the 48 ff present). In other books of hours we usually find other sections, but we do not know for certain if they were also part of this manuscript.
Beginning of the calendar
The texts of the several hours enabled readers to pray or read religious texts at fixed times or hours, an imitation of convent life. In times when private devotion stepped up but not everybody could read Latin, books of hours were also written in Middle Dutch, the older and less strict form of Modern Dutch. Books of hours were made in workshops, and more expensive copies were abundantly decorated with miniatures and gold leaf. Because of this, it were mostly the illuminated manuscripts that were preserved in the family, and later by collectors and dealers. The latter, however, could also sell illuminated leaves separately in order to get a higher profit compared to selling the intact manuscript – a habit that is still going on today. This probably explains why the illuminated pages are missing, and the taking or falling apart of the manuscript could also lead to the loss of other leaves or quires.
Origins in Utrecht
The book of hours measures 16 by 11.5 centimetres, smaller than A5 format, and the text is written in a Gothic textualis. The only decoration that is left is Utrecht penwork in the Crown and dragon-style,a penwork style that was commonly used in Utrecht, which is found in 59 manuscripts and four incunables. Based on dated manuscripts it appears that this style was in vogue in the period between 1460 and 1477 (Gerritsen-Geywitz 2017, 45-56, 142-144). This makes it the most widespread Utrecht penwork from the 15th century. Typical are the ‘crowns’ in the corners of the illuminated initials. On fol. 87v a Utrecht dragon is depicted, a usual motif in Utrecht penwork.
It still has to be researched if there are other books of hours with penwork in the same style, in the same hand and in Middle Dutch. A short comparison with the three other Middle Dutch books of hours with penwork in the Crown and dragon- style (UBU Hs. 17 A 22, UBU Hs. 5 J 27, Luik, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Wittert 34) already shows all kinds of differences in the hand, the text of the calendar and the decorations. It is striking, apart from the missing pages, that the manuscript is in a very good condition. There are but a few traces of use. On 12 June (fol. 6r), next to Odulf confessoer, sancta cunera is added in ink.
From Utrecht and back again
We don’t know for whom the book of hours was made, and also because of the missing pages and bookbinding, a large part of its history remains hidden from us. It is only at the beginning of the 19th century that the thread is picked up again. On a strip of paper glued to the flyleaf we read: ‘ A Dutch-German book of hours written on parchment, circa Ao 1400. With golden initials, jewellery and miniatures artfully processed.’
Similar notes are on the flyleaves of Leiden, LTK 299, also a Middle Dutch book of hours, and LTK 222, 325 and 342. All come from the collection of Van Winter (cf. Lieftinck 1948, 116), named after the Amsterdam merchant and deputy member Josua Jacob van Winter (1788-1840). His books were auctioned on 2 April 1841 and it is likely that this book of hours comes from that library. It is also clear the manuscript was more complete than it is now, including leaves with gold letters and miniatures. Probably they have been taken from the manuscript shortly after, but Van Winter’s description was used, however, for a loose blue cover with gold print (‘Nederduits Getijde-boek 1400') and case which was meant to keep the loose leaves in their place. Added to the manuscript are two small cards, with notes from the same writer:
- Checked with Dutch-German book of hours (Delft, 1480). Royal Library : 169 G 49 / The small letters indicate the call numbers of the incunable (note in pencil by Peter Gumbert: are missing!).
- Not in incunable. From: Des heilighen cruus corte ghetiden (note from Peter Gumbert: lay beside f.54 (read: 54v). On the back bibliographical data are printed by Finner Jónsson, Völu-Spá … 1911.
This latter card comes from the Royal Library in The Hague, where the only copy of that edition from Jónsson is housed in a Dutch library. The comparison with the incunable from the Royal Library points to an owner who may be affiliated with the Royal Library, in or after 1911. After this time, the adventures of the manuscript remain hidden for almost a century. In the end it emerges in Utrecht, at the auction house Beijers.
From Gumbert to Gerritsen
Prof. Peter Gumbert (1936-2016), professor of Western Paleography and Manuscript Studies in Leiden, sees the book of hours at Beijers, and his interest is raised. In or after December 2005 it was given to him by Lucienne Habets of the auction house, who only knows that the manuscript had been there for years but that its origins were unknown. Gumbert was an internationally renowned expert on manuscripts, and many specialists in the field have followed his lectures. In the mid-seventies he put up a workgroup to date and localize penwork in medieval manuscripts (Korteweg 2011, 318). The subject received a lot of interest, and many of his students delved into Dutch penwork, such as Anne Korteweg, Jos Hermans and Gisela Gerritsen-Geywitz. The latter mainly applied herself to Utrecht penwork, which she analysed in several publications. The crown on her work was Het Utrechtse draakje en zijn entourage: vijftien penwerkstijlen in Utrechtse handschriften en gedrukte boeken uit de tweede helft van de vijftiende eeuw (2017). Its dedication reads ‘in memory of Peter Gumbert, friend and tutor.’ One of the examples of the Crown and dragon-style is the book of hours on p. 53, 130. 143 (nr. 106)) that Gumbert had left her after his death. He had previously done research on the manuscript, allocated folio numbers and described it.
It was not more than appropriate that the Middle Dutch book of hours ended up in this way in the Utrecht house of Gisela Gerritsen-Geywitz 1934-2023), especially familiar with Utrecht penwork, and her husband, professor of Dutch language Wim Gerretsen (1935-2019). After their deaths, parts of their book collection and Wim Gerritsen’s archive was donated to Utrecht University Library. Their three children, Anne, Fokke and Marc, decided to give the book of hours to the library too. So, in April 2024 it got a place as Ms. 35 A 18 among all other medieval manuscripts in the Utrecht collection. And in this way the Gumbert-Gerritsen Book of Hours has reached its final destination, one of the few Utrecht manuscripts that returned to their place of origin in the last decades.