The Golf Book (British Library Add MS 24098) is the common name for an illuminated manuscript Book of Hours in the Use of Rome dating from the 1540s. Only 23 pages remain of the original created by the illuminator Simon Bening and his studio in Bruges. It owes its popular name to one illustration in the calendar, with people playing a game resembling that of golf. It is presumed to have been made for a Swiss patron as the book includes a miniature painting of St Boniface of Lausanne.
Description
The extant folios of the Golf Book are decorated with 21 full-page miniatures and a number of smaller paintings. In its current state the book opens with a page belonging to the suffrages of the saints, which depicts a bishop, probably St Boniface of Lausanne. The next section (folios 2v–17v) features fragments of the Little Office of the Virgin illustrated with the cycle of the Passion of Christ. The main miniatures are influenced by a series of engravings of a Passion attributed to the Master of the Gardens of Love.
Matins: Agony in the Garden
Lauds: Kiss of Judas
Prime: Christ brought before Pilate
Terce: Flagellation
Sext: Jesus nailed to the cross
None: Crucifixion
Vespers: Deposition
Compline: Burial of Jesus
The last section (folios 18v–30r) features the calendar. The representation of each month covers two facing pages, with a full-page illustration on the left-hand page showing the occupations of the months.
At present, the extant folios of the book are in the wrong order; the suffrages of the saints and the Office of the Virgin are placed before the calendar.
See also
Hours of Hennessy
External links
British Library catalogue record for manuscript, item Add MS 24098
British Library online gallery (Virtual books, accessible version) Facsimile edition published by M. Moleiro Editor (website includes gallery of images with descriptions)