Beschreibung:

(Breviary - Use of St. Quentin) Breviarium secundum usum et consuetudinem ecclesiae collegiate beatissimi Quintini Viromandensis Place Published: [Paris] Publisher: [Hémon Le Fèvre] Date Published: [c.1511-1525] Description: [12], lxxxviii, xx, viii, cxxxii, xlviii leaves. (A8 [blank]4 A-L8 3a-b8 3c4 ā8 3a-3q8 3r8 3r4 2A-2F8. Wanting 19 leaves: A1 [title leaf], 3g2-7, 3p1 and 3p8 [pair supplied in manuscript], 2A3-6, 2B2-7). Printed in red and black; woodcut initials in black. 12.3x8.6 cm (5x3½"), period clasp binding, leather over board with metal cover plate fastened with brass nails; only the front board with part of one clasp extant. A newly discovered copy printed on vellum of an exceptionally rare Breviary. This work is identified by the colophon on leaf 3b5r: "Incipit ordo breuarii secu[n]du[m] more[m] & co[n]suetudine[m] insignis eccl[es]ie collegiate uti quintini viroma[n]densis." Bibliographic research seemingly locates 2 other extant copies of this work, one listed at the Bibliotheque Nationale (BnF) and the other at the Royal Library in Brussels (KBR). The collation of our volume agrees with the KBR copy (though ours with a slightly different binding order), but not with the BnF copy, which latter copy appears to be both incomplete and moreover a combination of 2 different texts. The KBR copy is printed on paper, and the BnF contains only a small number of leaves on vellum with the remainder on paper, making the present copy the only extant copy fully printed on vellum. The present copy bears the stamp of the Library of St. Quentin [de Beauvais in Vermandois], apparently the very abbey for whose usage this breviary was printed. Lacking title page, but identified from Bohatta based on text on leaf 3b5 r. "Incipit ordo breuarii secu[n]du[m] more[m] & co[n]suetudine[m] insignis eccl[es]ie collegiate uti quintini viroma[n]densis." The collation and other details are almost identical to the KBR copy, except for a slightly different binding order. There are three manuscript leaves bound in, one at the front, and two replacing a conjugate pair of leaves in the 3p gathering; there are also a few marginal notations throughout. Bohatta, H. Bibliogr. der Breviere 1501-1850, 2665; Renouard, Éditions Parisiennes, III, 781; Bibliotheca Hulthamiana 658. Condition: The final few gatherings are almost entirely detached from the binding; many leaves soiled from constant use, especially the psalter (as expected); leaf 3o8 with tear at bottom corner, affecting small amount of text; considering the demanding conditions of use, very good. Item#: 358058 Headline: Vellum breviary, printed 16th c., period binding