23 full page miniatures precede the text; made for a lady who is depicted in one of the miniatures. The main part of the book contains large historiated initials, decorative line-fillers of dogs, dragons and flowers, and very fine borders in gold and colours, containing grotesques, birds animals and figures. Some contain lively scenes such as a schoolboy throwing a book at his master and a funeral procession. Flyleaves contain MS annotations in 14th century Gaelic, including a charm against wounding, which are amongst the earliest known examples of the written language. Illustrated as frontispiece to AR
Item Provenance
Owned by the Stewarts of Lorn by 1421, it descended to the Stewarts of Grandtully; bought in 1871 by James T Gibson Craig; acquired in 1887 by the 3rd Marquess of Bute; purchased from the Bute family