An illuminated 15th-century book of prayer purchased by Louis Edgar Johns, professor of music, in Paris in 1932 from the bookseller Emile Rossignol, and later donated to the Lucy Scribner Library in 1940. Bound in purple velvet, the book contains illuminations of four different subjects: the Annunciation, Pentecost, King David and a Burial; two pilgrim badges are also sewn to one of the pages. The correspondence between Professor Johns and M. Rossignol rounds out the collection.

For more information about what a Book of Hours is, please visit Picturing Prayer, an online exhibit by the Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Image credit: [Book of Hours], (f.107 verso) and (f.108 recto) "Burial of the dead" ; [Place of publication not identified] ; unknown French artist(s) ; 15th c.

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