GORGEOUS ILLUMINATED BOOK OF HOURS PRINTED ON VELLUM 16 LARGE WOODCUTS, 1400 ILLUMINATED LETTERS IN GOLD Start Price USD 0.99 Current Price USD 19,889.00 Time Left - Bid Count 40 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, September 06, 2008 End Time Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Location Milan See more about 'GORGEOUS ILLUMINATED BOOK OF HOURS PRINTED ON VELLUM' Description GORGEOUS BOOK OF HOURS PRINTED ON VELLUM IN PARIS BY SIMON VOSTREWITH 16 LARGE WOODCUTS AND HUNDREDS LETTERS ILLUMINATED IN LIQUID GOLD AND COLOURSBOOK OF HOURS. Horae beate Marie virginis secundum usum Romanum cum illius miraculis una cû figuris apocalipsis post biblie figuras insertis. Paris, Simon Vostre, s. d. [calendar, 1507-1527]. 8vo (178x111 mm), early 18th-century mottled calf binding, spine with four raised bands, gilt decorations in greek style, red morocco label and gilt-lettered title, gilt and gauffered edges, ff. (92) = pp. 184. Register: a-l 8, m4. Gothic type, 27 lines. SCARCE AND WONDERFUL BOOK OF HOURS POST-INCUNABULUM PRINTED ON VELLUM BY SIMON VOSTRE IN 1507.16 SPLENDID LARGE FULL-PAGE METALCUTS, DEPICTING THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF CHRISTIANITY (see CONTENT): THE QUALITY OF THEIR EXECUTION IS REALLY OUTSTANDING WITH A GREAT CARE FOR DETAILS (please, see attentively the enlarged photos). 41 SMALLER WOODCUTS IN THE TEXT DEPICTING OLD TESTAMENT AND GOSPELS SCENES. 1401 LIQUID GOLD ILLUMINATED INITIALS AND LINE-FILLER ON ALTERNATE PINK AND BLUE GROUND. ANOTHER LARGE FULL-PAGE WOODCUT WITH SIMON VOSTRE DEVICE. A FULL-PAGE WOODCUT WITH ANATOMICAL SKELETON EVERY PAGE IS ILLUMINATED AND ILLUSTRATED WITH MULTIPLE-PIECE ORNAMENTAL OR HISTORIATED BORDERS. In the age of print, the books printed on vellum are quite scarce, being vellum used before the discovery of print (1455 ca.), to copy important manuscripts and illuminated Book of Hours. The Books of Hours printed on vellum (instead of on paper) are very precious too: the cost of vellum was very expensive, since it needed many sheeps for a single book and only very rich people could buy them. CONTENT: a1, recto: Titlepage with a full-page metalcut representing the wonderful Simon Vostre device. a1, verso: Almanac in French for the years from 1507 (date of publishing) to 1527. a2 recto: A full-page metalcut with Anatomical Skeleton [and 4 other smaller cuts]. a2 verso-a8 recto: Calendar day by day with all lyturgical festivities. a8 verso-b3 recto: Text with Gospel sequence [1rst full-page metalcut with Martyrdom of St. John (see photo) and 3 smaller cuts]. b3 verso-b7 verso: Text of the Passion according to St. John [2nd full-page metalcut with Betrayal of Jude (see photo)]. b8 recto-d3 verso: Text with Hours of the Virgin [3rd full-page metalcut with Annunciation (see photo), 4th full-page metalcut with Tiburtine Sybil (see photo)]. d4 recto-d5 verso: Text with Hours of the Cross and of the Holy Ghost [5th full-page metalcut with Jesus carryng the Cross (see photo), 6th full-page metalcut with the Apostles at the Fountain (see photo), and 1 smaller cut] d6 recto-f7 verso: Text with Hours of the Virgin [7th full-page metalcut with Nativity of Jesus (see photo), 8th full-page metalcut with Annunciation to the Sheperds (see photo), 9th full-page metalcut with Adoration of the Magi (see photo), 10th full-page metalcut with Presentation in the Temple (see photo), 11th full-page metalcut with Massacre of the Innocents (see photo), 12th full-page metalcut with the Death of the Virgin (see photo), and 4 smaller cuts]. f8 recto-g8 recto: Seven Penitential Psalms [13th full-page metalcut with David and Uriah (see photo)]. g8 verso-i5 recto: Office of the Dead [14th full-page metalcut with Job on his dungheap (see photo), and 1 smaller cut]. i6 recto-k4 recto: Suffrages [15th full-page metalcut with Allegory of the Church (see photo), and 4 smaller cuts] with the prayers Obsecro te, O Intemerata and Stabat Mater [16th full-page metalcut with the Virgin and Emblems (see photo), and 2 smaller cuts]. k4 verso-m4 verso: Litany of the Saints [22 smaller cuts, representing the following saints]: St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. John, St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Jack, the Saints Apostles, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Cristopher, Saint Sebastian, St. Nicolaus, St. Anthony, St. Julian,  St. Mary Magdalen, St. Catherine, St. Margaret, St. Barbara, St. Apollonia, the seven prayers of St. Gregory and other various prayers to the Virgin. A book of hours was a collection of texts, prayers and psalms, along with appropriate illustrations, to form a reference for Catholic Christian worship and devotion.The Latin name for a book of hours is horae, the English one primer. Books of hours were usually written in Latin, although there are some examples entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages. The books of hours were composed for the lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. Reciting the hours typically centered upon the recitation or singing of a number of psalms, accompanied by set prayers. A typical book of hours contained: The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which included the fifteen Psalms of Degrees;The Office for the Dead, which included the seven Penitential Psalms;The Litany of Saints. Most books of hours began with these basic contents, and expanded them with a variety of prayers and devotions. The Marian prayers Obsecro te ("I beseech thee") and O Intemerata ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass and meditations on the Passion of Christ. Originally the prayers in a book of hours were private ones but by the 12th century they had become routine liturgical ones in the monasteries. After the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, laymen also become interested in them. Many of them were made for females. After the 1340s and the Black Death, the lay interest of these prayer books increased further.Although it is often believed that only the royalty, nobility, and the rich could afford to have their personal book of hours, infact the the earliest known example seems to have written for an unknown laywoman living in a small village owned by a monastery near Oxford in about 1240. It is smaller than a modern paperback but heavily illuminated on major initials, with a few full-page miniatures. Sometimes the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners or adapted to their tastes or sex, including adding their personal names to suitable prayers. Some of the surviving ones include portraits of their owners, and often their coats of arms. These, together with the choice of saints commemorated in the calendar, if one is included, are the main clues for the identity of the first owner, in the absence of a provenance or inscriptions.By the 15th century, various stationer's shops mass-produced books of hours in the Netherlands and France. By the end of the 15th century, the advance of printing made the books more affordable and sometimes even commoners and servants could afford to buy one of the books of hours printed on paper for their own use, leading them to become more popular than Psalters.Towards the end of the 15th century, printers produced wonderful books of hours with woodcut or metalcut illustrations. A very fine copy, in excellent conditions. BIBLIOGRAPHY: The majority of the wonderful metalcuts belong to the Pigouchet-Vostre set no. 3. This edition is Not in Lacombe. A French bookseller is offering now on-line a similar Book of Hours (with 12 large woodcuts) printed in 1527 for $86,000. Please inquire us for details about this offer. Note: Sold as it is. We accept preferably bank transfers. Paypal is possible only on request and accepting to pay their fees (4% of the total amount).          On Sep-06-08 at 18:06:44 PDT, seller added the following information: lanceloti store On Sep-06-08 at 18:29:35 PDT, seller added the following information:Additional note for the numerous ebayers that are writing me: This is AN ORIGINAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK PRINTED ON VELLUM IN 1507, guaranteed with a COA (Certificate of Authenticity) by an Italian bookseller. Place a Bid!