The Sobieskis and Stuarts. Prayer book of Queen Mary, Master of Archbishop François de Rohan, 1535–1540

vellum, transparent vellum binding embossed and gilded, 1535–1540
private collection

The prayer book of Mary, Queen of Scots, is an object which reminds us of one of the most important figures in the royal House of Stuart. It was Mary who changed the spelling of the royal family’s name from ‘Stewart’ to ‘Stuart’, because the French courtiers among whom she was raised could not pronounce the English ‘w’.

The book of hours, which was Mary’s personal prayer book from 1558 until her execution in 1587, is unique. It was created between 1535 and 1540 at the request of Louise de Bourbon-Vendôme, Abbess of Fontevraud, Mary’s maternal great-aunt. The miniatures in it are the work of one of the most accomplished artists employed by King François I: the Master of Archbishop François de Rohan (originally known as the Master of François I). The book was given to Mary on the occasion of her marriage to the Dauphin of France, who ascended the throne in 1559 as François II but died suddenly a year later.

The prayer book contains a quatrain written by the queen herself, in which Mary thanks her aunt for the gift. It bears the anagrammatic motto Va tu meriteras (Go, you will deserve) and the joint monogram of François and Mary. The binding was made in England at the end of the 18th century by the famous Edwards family of Halifax and decorated using a special technique, with an illumination painted under the underside of the cover of translucent vellum.

There are only five surviving books of hours (prayer books) which definitely belonged to Mary Stuart, but the copy on display is the only one commissioned by a member of the queen’s family and then given to her as a wedding present. It is also the only prayer book which remains in private hands. The remaining ones belong to the Russian National Library in Saint Petersburg, the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, the British Library in London and the Ruskin Gallery in Sheffield, England.