

In the early years of production, say, until ca. Books of hours became increasingly widespread in France, England and the Netherlands in the mid- to late fourteenth century. Furthermore the book of hours usually contained other texts as well, such as the popular prayers O Intemerata and Obsecro te. They often appeared in this order, but their sequence was by no means fixed.

2 Books of hours contained some standard texts: calendar, Little Office of the Virgin, Penitential Psalms and Litany, and Office of the Dead. Psalters, of course, continued to be made, and combination books, such as the Liège Psalter-Hours, featured below, provided a transitional form. 1 Because of the canonical status of the psalms, and the longevity of the physical book, the process of change was slow. Although psalters continued to be made and used for the duration of the Middle Ages, beginning around 1260, the book of hours gradually replaced the psalter as the predominant book for private devotion. Psalters contain the 150 psalms, which a supplicant would read in fixed groups over the course of days or weeks, and thereby work through the entire text from cover to cover. 1260, the psalter was the main text for private devotion.

