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The Connolly Book of Hours, a 15th-century illuminated manuscript held by the Burns Library, is now available online.
Named after Terence L. Connolly, SJ — University Librarian from 1946-59 — who donated the manuscript to Boston College, The Connolly Book of Hours was created circa 1440, most likely in northern France, according to the Burns Library. The text of 159 leaves contains 15 large and 14 small miniatures with foliate borders, and its contents include “Calendar,” “Obsecro te,” “O intemerata,” “Hours of the Virgin,” “Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany,” “Hours of the Cross,” “Hours of the Holy Spirit,” “Prayer to the Holy Cross,” and “Suffrages of the Saints.”
The project required advanced photographic techniques to maintain color accuracy of the manuscript’s gold leaf and the diverse pigments. All imaging work was completed at the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover.
More information on The Connolly Book of Hours is available at http://bit.ly/TMFca6.