Primer of Claude of France
Primaire de Claude de France
The Primer of Claude of France (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, MS 159) is the most precisely documented royal children's formation book to survive, commissioned by Anne of Brittany c. 1505 as the first book for her eldest daughter Claude, future queen consort of Francis I. Its fourteen pages open with the Latin alphabet, followed by the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Apostles' Creed, then graces for mealtimes, Mass devotions, and shortened canonical Hours, accompanied by 37 small miniatures and 2 full-page illustrations. The attribution to the Master of Antoine de Roche is confirmed by the Fitzwilliam Museum; the further identification of this master with Guido Mazzoni of Modena remains tentative, as no comparable French illuminations by Mazzoni survive. The manuscript was acquired by Richard Fitzwilliam in 1808 and bequeathed with his collection to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1816.