Lot 196: 

[GOUGH, Richard (1735-1809)]. An Account of a Rich Illuminated Missal executed for John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France under Henry VI. And afterwards in the Possession of The Late Duchess of Portland. London: J. Nichols for T. Payne, 1794.

4υo (259 x 204 mm). Four engraved plates reproducing miniatures and text. (Some foxing.) 19th-century green half calf (rebacked). Provenance: manuscript corrections in text of some of the corrigenda; Sir William Lee and the Rev. Sir George Lee, Hartwell Library (armorial bookplates); W. Wilson (1828 inscription noting the date of binding); S.D.R. (1896 inscription on front free endpaper); acquired from Hurst & Hurst, 1982.

FIRST EDITION of the most comprehensive description of the Bedford Hours to date, and only the third English monograph on an illuminated manuscript. James Edwards (1757-1811) acquired the Bedford Missal at the Duchess of Portland's sale in 1786 for £213.3. "[It] was purchased at his sale by the Marquis of Blandford, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, for six hundred and eighty-seven pounds, fifteen shillings. It is now in the British Museum" (Fletcher, English Book Collectors, p. 299). Brunet II, no.1678; Lowndes II, p. 920.

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