HEURES. Lot n° 24

Hore divine virginis Marie secundum usum Romanum. Paris, Germain Hardouyn, s.d. [ca. 1518 (calendar for 1518-1532)]. Large in-8 on vellum of [84] ff. with 31 lines, purple morocco, double framed with cold filets, spine decorated with cold filets, double framed inside with cold filets, lining and endpapers of white vellum, gilt edges (19th century binding). Superb and very rare book of hours printed in round letters by Germain Hardouyn, the brother of Gilles and Guillaume. Very rich woodcut illustration, including the large printer's mark on the title, the Anatomical Man framed with four vignettes on the reverse, 17 large figures and 24 vignettes in the text. The large figures depict St. John (6r), the Arrest of Christ (8v), the Annunciation with Adam and Eve in the background (12v), another interpretation of the Annunciation mid-page (13r), the Visitation (18v), the Nativity (23r), the Annunciation to the Shepherds (25r), the Adoration of the Magi (27r), the Presentation in the Temple (28v), the Flight into Egypt (30r), the Coronation of the Virgin (32v), Bathsheba at the Bath (42r), the Resurrection of Lazarus (49r), the Crucifixion (61v), Pentecost (63v) and a third interpretation of the Annunciation (65r). The majority of the vignettes are portraits of saints, gathered in the Suffrages. A precious copy printed on vellum, ruled and illuminated at the time. All the figures, large and small, have been carefully miniaturized, with gold and white highlights; the large ones are embellished with handwritten architectural frames with a gold background; the initials of the text are painted in gold on a red, blue or two-tone background. Each page is set in a double fillet of gold framing. The outer margin of four leaves is decorated with miniature medallion portraits in a blue and gold frame: a bearded old man wearing a turban at the end of the calendar (5v), Christ at the end of the Hours of the Virgin (41v), a helmeted and armored soldier at the end of the Penitential Psalms (48v), and a Roman wearing a laurel wreath at the beginning of the Hours of the Cross (62r). Brunet emphasizes the rarity of the books of hours printed by the Hardouyns when they are decorated with illuminations: "There are some copies that are quite precious because of the paintings and the ornate letters that decorate them. It seems that these letters in gold and color are the work of Germain Hardouyn. Old signature in margin of f. 82. Skillful restorations in the margins of a few leaves, including one at the foot of the Nativity miniature, some leaves warped in the second part of the work, small soiling to the title, a white vellum leaf inserted between ff. 2 and 3. Good general condition despite minor defects. Spine slightly faded. Bohatta, n°1027 - Lacombe, n°290 - Brunet, Hours, n°251 - Van Praet, n°135.