Beschreibung:

Horae, use of Rome Germain Hardouyn c.1523 HORAE, use of Rome, in Latin and French. Paris: Germain Hardouyn [c.1523, almanac for 1523-37]. Unusual Book of Hours in agenda format, printed on vellum and in a 17th-century panel-stamped binding. It opens with a scurrilous poem in four quatrains recounting the mutilation of a sacramental host by a Jew and Pope Eugene IV subsequently presenting it as a gift in 1430 (i.e. 1433) to Philippe le Bon, the Duke of Burgundy. This rare edition may be identified with entries in Brunet and Bohatta, who agree in collation, calendar and format, but with Brunet providing a different incipit and colophon. The unusual format (a narrow octavo in agenda format), the sparse decoration consisting of small gothic cuts only without borders, and the unelaborated painted initials indicate that this edition may have been intended for a clientele removed from contemporary Renaissance innovations influencing the genre. Bohatta (1924) 1079. See Brunet V 1639, no. 259; A. Pettegree et al., French Vernacular Books (2007), 29676 (listing this or a similar Horae with the same incipit printed for Hardouyn c.1523); Walters Art Museum, De Ricci 00285 (15th-century manuscript of opening poem). Octavo (167 x 91mm). Printed on vellum. 96 leaves. Collation: a-m8 (a1r-v four-quatrain poem, incipit “Ung iuif mutillant jadis / l’hostie du Sainct Sacrement / par frapper des cops plus de dix / fist sortir sang habonda[m]ment,” followed by Latin prayer celebrating the Eucharist, a2r almanac for 1523-37, a2v-b1v calendar, b2r Saint John writing, b4v Passion, c2v Annunciation, c7r Visitation, d4v Crucifixion, d5v Pentecost, d6v Nativity, e1v Shepherds, e4v Magi, e7r Presentation, f1v Flight into Egypt, f5v Coronation of the Virgin, g8v David at prayer, i1r Dives and Lazarus, l3v Holy Trinity, m8v colophon). 15 small cuts each set on top of page, no printed borders, initials throughout in gold on blue or rose grounds, initial strokes in yellow, text ruled in red (a few leaves lightly soiled). 17th-century pigskin blocked in blind, the Annunciation (?) on front and Nativity on back, tie fastenings with beads, gilt edges (front hinge cracked but holding, bead of one fastening missing); modern quarter morocco chemise and slipcase. Provenance: contemporary annotations in ink on leaf h8v and final leaf.