GERMAIN HARDOUYN Book of Hours Use of Rome Vellum Leaf c. 1520 in folder 12/1977

Nery nice vellum leaf from a Book of Hours produced by Germain Hardouyn circa 1520.

It is part of a folder printed in 1977 by the Bird & Bull Press in North Hills, PA in an edition of 92 copies.

The leaf is 4 3/16" x 6 1/2". It has hand-illuminated initials with red and blue backgrounds and woodcut

illustrations in the borders. The folder is 6 1/8" x 9 1/4".

The leaf is in excellent condition always stored in envelope it was originally shipped in Postage Stamped Dec 12, 1977

Will combine shipping

PRINTED HORAE ON VELLUM

Use of Rome. Paris: Germain Hardouyn, ca. 1520. 96 leaves. 8vo. 29 lines to the page. Hand illuminated initials, with backgrounds in red and blue. Elaborate woodcut pictorial borders, and numerous larger woodcuts.

The Horae or book of hours was a book of devotions for the use of clergy and laymen. This is one of hundreds of examples produced by French printers and publishers from 1488 to 1568. Before the invention of printing, the Horae had only been available in expensive manuscript copies. Printing made it possible to produce copies more cheaply and thus to introduce them to a wider audience. Germain Hardouyn and his father, Gilles, were among the more prolific printers of Books of Hours of this period.

This folder, with an original leaf, has been printed in an edition of 92 copies by the Bird & Bull Press, North Hill, Pa., for the friends of Heritage Bookshop in honor of the holiday season, 1977.

This is a very nice clean piece of history. Don't miss out on this treasure.

Will combine shipping.