ABSTRACT
Among the manuscripts left by Francis Douce to the Bodleian Library is a Fourteenth Century Franciscan Missal which is remarkable for a number of reasons. Although a small group of artists worked on the illustration of the Missal, it would have taken a long time to finish, and it must have been an important commission for the atelier. The Missal need not have been presented to the friars. It may have been intended for use in the church but still been retained by the family. The manuscript is unusual in that it illustrates almost all the Introits, Lessons, Epistles and Gospels of the Liturgical Year and the Commons of the Saints, Votive Masses and Requiem Masses. There are ten Collect miniatures in the Pentecost Cycle of the Missal, eight for the Vigil, one for Pentecost Wednesday and one for Pentecost Saturday.
