[PRINTED HOUR BOOKS]. - Lot 38

[PRINTED HOUR BOOKS]. Hour Book for Use in Rome. Hour Book for Use in Ro[m]e, requiring nothing, printed in Paris on the 19th day of June 1503 Paris, Antoine Vérard, June 19, 1503 [Almanac for the years 1497–1520]. In Latin and French, printed on vellum; a handwritten introductory leaf. With 17 large engravings, 31 small engravings (engravings enhanced with period colors); engraved decorative borders, some with openwork backgrounds. Engravings based on the models of the Master of the Très petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (Master of the Rose of the Apocalypse of the Sainte-Chapelle [MdA]) [“MdA für Vérard”; “Kleinbildfolge MdA für Vérard”]. Large 8vo, 100 folios, preceded by three ruled endpapers (one of which is written on) and followed by two ruled parchment leaves, complete [collation: a-l8 m4 A8], copy illuminated in red, gold, and blue, typographic mark on the title page highlighted. Havana calfskin binding, cold-stamped fillets extending from the raised bands, ending in a cold-stamped fleur-de-lis on the inner edge of the covers, spine with raised bands decorated with cold-stamped motifs, gilt edges (binding by the Atelier des Orphelins d’Apprentis d’Auteuil, 1992: handwritten note: “This period-style binding was executed in 1992 at the Atelier des Orphelins Apprentis d’Auteuil. It replaces a dilapidated 18th-century binding that had, unfortunately, frayed the upper edges of the pages. The original cardboard and threads were preserved beneath the leather.” The price of the binding is listed on the reverse.) Spine slightly faded. Upper margins somewhat short, with damage to the borders of the last leaves. Dimensions of the binding: 205x140mm; dimensions of the leaves: 197x130mm Brunet, Heures, no. 135. – Bohatta, 765 – Lacombe, 130 and 131 – Moreau, I, 1503, 68. – Macfarlane, Antoine Vérard, London, 1900, no. 228: “The large cuts, numbering 15, and the small subjects in the borders, are evidently imitated from Vostre’s editions….” Complete with the last 8 folios containing the “Seven Psalms in French, translated as closely as possible from the Latin” and “Seven Prayers of Saint Gregory,” not listed by Brunet and Bohatta, but mentioned by Lacombe. Copy at the BnF (Velins-1505): note that the almanac covers the years 1497–1520 and not 1503–1520 as indicated in the BnF catalog. The BnF copy is missing the last quire (A1–A8) and is incomplete from folio b8. – Chantilly, Musée Condé, XIV-F-001 (incomplete from folios a2 and c8). A precious and rare Gothic book of hours on vellum, printed by Antoine Vérard with his watermark. The edition is very richly illustrated with 17 large woodcuts, 31 small engravings in the text, and a border on every page: grotesques on a perforated background, biblical scenes, dances of the dead, etc. Regarding the series of engravings used by Vérard (and other printers such as Jean Poitevin (Tenschert and Nettekoven, I, nos. 22 and 23)), based on the models of the Master of the Très Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany, see Nettekoven, “Die Holz- und Metallschnittserie für Anthoine Vérard,” in Tenschert and Nettekoven, Horae B. M. V.: 158 Stundenbuchdrucke der Sammlung Bibermühle, Ramsen, 2003, I, p. 128. It is worth noting that Vérard worked closely with the Master of the Très Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany, and the artist illuminated his own engravings himself, for example in the historiated Dance of Death of Charles VIII (Paris, Gillet Couteau and Jean Ménard for Pierre Le Rouge and Anthoine Vérard, ca. 1491–1492; copy in Paris, BnF, Department of Prints and Photography, T 8 fol. res.) and the dedication engraving for an Art de bien vivre et de bien mourir (Paris, Anthoine Vérard, July 15, 1492; copy in San Marino, Huntington Library, HEHL RB 38182). For more on this artist, see lot 37. SEE THE COMPLETE LISTING IN THE PDF CATALOG (downloadable)