Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours recognised….!

 

The news has broken that the Book of Hours belonging to Thomas Cromwell is here which appears in the Holbein portrait above, has been recognised (by Hever Castle curator, Alison Palmer) as the Hardouyn Hours, held today at Trinity College, Cambridge. You can view the Hardouyn Hours page by page at the Wren Digital Library

As might be expected, there has been a positive rash of articles about it. Not quite as many as when Richard III’s remains were discovered, but a lot all the same.

I don’t place this book in the same category as Richard’s Book of Hours, which has always been well known. It was when Richard’s book was brought out at his reinterment service that I had tears in my eyes, because it seemed a real link directly to him.

Below you can see Cromwell’s book as it appears in the portrait (left) and as it is in the present day (right).

Looking at the above comparison, I don’t think there’s any doubt about the book’s authenticity, so it’s an important discovery. Not that I ever cared much for Thomas Cromwell, but that’s another story.

The above article also contains the following:-

“….Hever Castle recently exhibited Catherine of Aragon’s 1527 prayer book (on loan from the Morgan Library in New York) alongside Anne Boleyn’s 1527 Book of Hours.

“….The Hardouyn Hours will be on loan to Hever Castle for their exhibition Catherine & Anne: Queens, Rivals, Mothers which runs until 10 November 2023. This is the first time that the book has ever been lent by Trinity College since it was received on 10th August 1660….”

So if you want to see all these precious books, you must visit Hever Castle before 10 November 2023, when the exhibition ends.

It is believed, but not yet proven, that all three books are copies of one original. I haven’t been able to find out which book was copied. And it would have been the covers, clasps etc. only the pages within. Dating each one can’t be simple either. The Holbein portrait was painted 1532/3 and Cromwell died 1540. Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn both died in 1536. Without knowing when the books were created/acquired, it’s hard to say which book might have been the original.

Finding similar illustrations of the books of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn for comparison have proved impossible. For me, at least. And the supply of illustrations isn’t plentiful.

You can read about Anne’s book here and here

There are a number of other articles about the discovery of Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours, such as here and  here, but any Google search will turn up many more.

Finally, to go back to the three above books possibly being linked. It’s an interesting thought that maybe it isn’t one of them that’s the original. What if there was a fourth book, now lost? Maybe not lost as if no longer existing, but lying somewhere in some vault or library, just waiting to be discovered? Our fingers should be crossed!