Item is a leaf from a French breviary containing verses 1:20 to 2:12 of the Book of Genesis, including the Creation of Man. The leaf features illuminated initials with floral designs and rinceaux in bright colours and burnished gold.
A partial transcription of the leaf reads:
Beginning with the illuminated letter D of "Dixit etiam..." : "God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth... and God created the great whales... and the evening and the morning were the first day..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter D of "Dixit quoque..." : "And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creatures in its kind..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter E of "Et vidit deaus..." : "And God saw that it was good. And he said : let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts and the whole earth..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter E of "Et creavit..." : "And God created man to his own image... increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule..."
Beginning with the illuminated letter D of "Dixitque..." : "And God said: behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon earth... and the evening and morning were the sixth day... and on the seventh day God ended his work... he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it... and the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul..."
A breviary is a liturgical book used by the clergy to celebrate the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours), and contains readings, hymns, psalms, and prayers.