By Brian Hyland, Senior Curator
Elizabeth de Bohun: Best Supporting Actress
Visitors to Museum of the Bible’s History of the Bible Floor encounter Elizabeth de Bohun in two formats. One is through her exquisite manuscript, The Hours and Psalter of Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Northampton, that is on display along with a QR code that allows visitors to see the entire manuscript on our Collections page. The second is through an interactive 3D touch table designed for the museum by 3DPhotoWorks that allows blind and vision-impaired visitors to experience the manuscript through touch and sound. When touched, embedded sensors activate recordings that describe areas of the manuscript in English and Spanish. The pages on the table recreate the two-page spread in Figures 1 and 2, the end of the Book of Hours and the beginning of the Psalter.
Figures 1 & 2: The end of the Book of Hours (ca. 1330) and the beginning of the Psalter (ca. 1340).
As you can see, at the bottom of the left page there is a rectangular piece of paper glued to the vellum, with the number 1209 stamped on it. Why is it there? For a surprising reason!
At some point in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the American financier and philanthropist John Jacob Astor III (1822–1890) acquired this manuscript. A shrewd businessman well known in New York City, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the New York State Militia until 1853, followed by service as Major General George McClellan’s aide-de-camp from 1861–1862 during the Civil War’s Peninsular Campaign. Astor gave generously to charitable causes around New York City, including the Metropolitan Museum, Trinity Church, and various hospitals.
In December 1883, Astor’s philanthropy took a different turn. The National Academy of Design in New York City hosted an exhibition of art loaned by many prominent collectors to raise funds for a construction project. In fact, the Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition was raising money to build the base for the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. (Catalog cover here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0pr83096&seq=21.) Astor’s wife, Charlotte, was a member of the honorary committee, and served on the fans and lace committees. Astor himself loaned eight illuminated manuscripts to the exhibition, object numbers 1207–1214 in the exhibition catalog. (Astor manuscripts start here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0pr83096&seq=60.)
Figure 3: Portrait of John Jacob Astor III painted in 1890 by Jacob Hart Lazarus (1822–1891). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Jacob_Astor_III.jpg
The catalog describes object 1209 as, “PSALTERIUM ET PRECES [Psalter and Prayers]. The De Bohun Psalter Illuminated Manuscript on Vellum, written for Elizabeth De Bohun, Countess of Northampton.” The piece of paper with the number 1209 glued to the bottom of the last page of the Book of Hours positively identifies this manuscript as having taken part in the fundraising for the pedestal to support the Statue of Liberty. It also indicates that the manuscript was opened to these pages in December 1883.
The catalog has an introductory essay describing the varied contributions to the exhibition. The essay ends by printing the text of a “beautiful poem, which it is hoped will awaken to new enthusiasm the workers in our cause.” This is the first publication of that poem, now on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty: “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus, specifically written for the exhibition. The words have inspired generations of immigrants: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” (Complete poem can be found here: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t0pr83096&seq=29)
Elizabeth de Bohun was a fourteenth-century British noblewoman whose husband William was the nephew of Edward II. Their granddaughter Mary de Bohun married Henry IV and became the mother of Henry V. Ironically, her manuscript helped to raise funds for an enduring symbol of American liberty and resistance to the British monarchy.
You can see the Book of Hours and Psalter of Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Northampton on the History of the Bible Floor, and learn more about Bibles connected to American history in our Bible in America gallery.
Based on Your Interests
