Book of Hours: Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis PII V Pont. Max iussu editum cum Kalendrio Gregoriano, a Sixto PP. V. Clemente VIII. & S. D. N. Paulo V. P. M. aliquot Sanctorum ..., Antwerp: Ex Officina Plantiniana apud Viduam & Filios Ioannis Moreti, 1615, bound in red velvet with gilt tooling and gilt-stamped oval crucifixion to front cover and Mary and infant Jesus to back cover, all edges gilt with stippled floral decoration, foredge stippled with the crowned initials AB above the crucifixion and the date 1615, 16mo (15cm x 9.5cm x 5cm), frontispiece in red and black with an engraving of the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ, 17 plates, 545pp., index, letters, publisher's endpaper dated 1615, followed by Vesperae pro Dominica ..., 46pp, publisher's endpaper dated 1612 followed by multiple blank pages
Provenance:Spetchley Park, Worcestershire
Footnote:The 'Office of the Madonna' or the Officium Beatae Mariae Yirginis were more usually referred to as simply libri di donna or libriccini da donna. Usually anonymous, they consisted of a simplified copy of the Divine Office of the
Breviary by offering eight short offices (incorporating that of the Virgin Mary) intended to be recited during the eight canonical hours of the day. The books were often very decorative, as in this example, and intended as much as a personal devotional as a methodology of advertising wealth via conspicuous consumption.
Sold for £850
Book of Hours: Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis PII V Pont. Max iussu editum cum Kalendrio Gregoriano, a Sixto PP. V. Clemente VIII. & S. D. N. Paulo V. P. M. aliquot Sanctorum ..., Antwerp: Ex Officina Plantiniana apud Viduam & Filios Ioannis Moreti, 1615, bound in red velvet with gilt tooling and gilt-stamped oval crucifixion to front cover and Mary and infant Jesus to back cover, all edges gilt with stippled floral decoration, foredge stippled with the crowned initials AB above the crucifixion and the date 1615, 16mo (15cm x 9.5cm x 5cm), frontispiece in red and black with an engraving of the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ, 17 plates, 545pp., index, letters, publisher's endpaper dated 1615, followed by Vesperae pro Dominica ..., 46pp, publisher's endpaper dated 1612 followed by multiple blank pages
Spetchley Park, Worcestershire
The 'Office of the Madonna' or the Officium Beatae Mariae Yirginis were more usually referred to as simply libri di donna or libriccini da donna. Usually anonymous, they consisted of a simplified copy of the Divine Office of the
Breviary by offering eight short offices (incorporating that of the Virgin Mary) intended to be recited during the eight canonical hours of the day. The books were often very decorative, as in this example, and intended as much as a personal devotional as a methodology of advertising wealth via conspicuous consumption.
All over in good condition. The velvet cover rubbed and exposing fabric foundation in part. Scattered holes to back cover and corners worn and a little frayed exposing wooden boards. Covers bowed / warped. Gilt page edges a little dull but clean. Interior predomintaly clean and crisp with light toning. Plates on page 204 and 312 have imprinted a little onto the facing page. Very few scattered and neat marginal notes in pencil. Last two pages of Vespers with slight loss to centre outside page, pastedowns wrinkled from warping of cover. The front pastedown with '24' in ink, one blank notepage with notes: 'an anne, anne, bonne, bon' in ink
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Auction: March Sales: Ceramics, Books, Asian Art, Hunt Buttons & Carpets, 20th Mar, 2024
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