Beschreibung:

HORAE, use of Paris, in Latin and French. [Paris: Thielman Kerver for Guillaume Eustace, 20 June 1500]. PRINTED ON VELLUM. 8° (169 x 111mm). Collation: a-m 8 (a1 title with device, a1v almanac, a2r blank, a2v-5r calendar, a5v prayer 'ante ceteras', a6r-7v Gospel sequence [St. John and the Poisoned Cup, 3 small miniatures], a8r-b3v Passion according to St. John [Betrayal, 8 small Passion scenes], b4r-e1v Hours of the Virgin [Visitation, Annunciation to the Shepherds, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation in the Temple, Massacre of the Innocents, Death of the Virgin], e2r-6r Hours of the Cross and of the Holy Ghost [Crucifixion, Pentecost], e6v-f4r Seven Penitential Psalms [David in Penitence with Death and other figures], f4v-h1r Office of the Dead [Death Threatening a Man and Woman], h1v-i2v Sequence of prayers to God the Father, Christ and the Virgin, including Obsecro te , O Intemerata , Stabat Mater , 5 prayers of St. John the Evangelist, and Missus est Gabriel [Trinity, 8 small miniatures], i3r-k2r Suffrages [19 small miniatures], k2v-6r prayer on the 5 wounds of Christ, and various prayers in French [Mass of St. Gregory, 3 small portraits], k6v-8v Office of Our Lady of Pity in French [one small Pietà], l1r-m1v Seven Penitential Psalms in French, and other prayers [one small scene], m1v-5r Hours of St. Genevieve and of St. Barbara [3 small miniatures], m5v-7r prayer of the Three Kings, prayer of St Roch [Magi, one small miniature], m7v-8 table of contents, m8v blank). 92 leaves (of 96, lacking a1, b4.5 and c7). Calendar printed in red and black, first incipit in red. 32 lines. Type: 95B. [ Bound with :] 21 ADDITIONAL VELLUM LEAVES written in a lettre bâtarde in an early 16th-century French hand, containing various prayers. One leaf bound at beginning with 5 prayers, the first devoted to Christ, beginning 'O benignissime domine iesu christe respicere digneris super me miserum peccatorem', and continuing on first blank page of printed book; 20 leaves at end: fo.1 Benedictions [Holy Grail], prayers devoted to Christ, 3r prayer devoted to the Virgin, beginning 'Ave domina sancta maria mater dei regina celi porta paradisi' [the owner of the manuscript kneeling at a prie-dieu with her book of hours praying to a vision of the Virgin and Child enthroned in glory surrounded by seraphin and cherubin], 3v prayers to St. Eustace, St. Benoit, St. Anthony [7 small miniatures], 5v prayer to the 3 Marys [large miniature of the Three Marys], 6r prayers to St. Agnes, St. Catherine of Siena, 1000 Virgins, 7 prayers of St. Bernard [2 small miniatures], 10r Fifteen Oes of St Bridget and other prayers [Christ with Passion Instruments]. 29-32 lines per page. (Manuscript text rubbed on 3 pages, miniature of St. Anthony smudged, probably through repeated devotion, slight rubbing or flaking on 9 large and one small miniature, most borders trimmed.) 18th-century French black morocco gilt, wide roll-tooled border on sides, gilt spine, gilt patterned endpapers, gilt edges (spine repaired, hinges renewed). Provenance : anonymous French patron (see below) -- William Foyle (bookplates, sale Christie's, 11 July 2000, lot 194). ILLUMINATION: 19 LARGE AND 56 SMALL MINIATURES IN GOLD AND COLOURS BY THE MASTER OF PHILIPPE DE GUELDRE, the large miniatures either with bas-de-page or extending full-page beneath the illusionistic device of the text on a scroll, and with a variety of borders, including jewelled, architectural, and historiated, all text pages with branch-like bar border in liquid-gold with red-brown outline, small miniatures within gold frame, occasionally architectural, 2- to 4-line initials in blue with white patterning, often floriated, on alternating magenta or gold ground, liquid-gold one-line initials, paragraph marks and line-filler on alternating red, magenta or blue ground, yellow capital strokes. A DE LUXE BOOK OF HOURS COMMISSIONED FOR AN UNIDENTIFIED BUT UNDOUBTEDLY NOBLE, FEMALE FRENCH PATRON. Without divulging the identity of its