LEROQUAIS, VICTOR MARTIAL

Specialist in liturgical manuscripts; b. Saint-Germain-de-Tallevende, France, Sept. 7, 1875; d. Paris, March 1, 1946. Having studied at Vire and Sommervieu, he studied theology at Saint-Sulpice. Ordained in Paris on June 9, 1900, he became assistant pastor at Lisieux and later (1906–12) pastor of Bény-sur-mer. As he explained the Mass to the children of his parish, he decided to learn more about liturgical manuscripts and to write a history of the Latin Mass. With some difficulty he obtained leave of his bishop, Msgr. Lemonnier, and began to work at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Here he remained, apart from trips to provincial libraries. At his own expense, which he met by selling his furniture and books, he published a series of inventories in which he described the Sacramentaries, Breviaries, Pontificals, and Psalters found in French public libraries: Les Sacramentaires et les missels manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France (Paris 1924); Les Livres d'heures manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale, 3 v. (Paris 1927); Les Bréviaires manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, 6 v. (Paris 1934); Les Pontificaux manuscrits des bibliothèques de France, 4 v. (Paris 1937). He taught courses at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and gave a series of lectures at the École des Chartes. He was also a member of the Henry Bradshaw Society.

Bibliography: j. leclercq, Revue du moyen-âge latin 2 (1946): 126–128. j. porcher, Scriptorium l (1946–47): 170–172. f. combaluzier, Ephemerides liturgicae 60 (1946): 389–395.

[n. huyghebaert]