TEXT IN LATIN.

(VELLUM PRINTING - 16TH CENTURY). TWO LEAVES FROM A PRINTED BOOK OF HOURS ON VELLUM, WITH BEAUTIFUL HAND-PAINTED TROMPE-L'OEIL BORDERS, OFFERED INDIVIDUALLY.

(Paris: Nicolas Vivien(?), early 16th century). 197 x 130 mm. (7 3/4 x 5 1/8"). Single column, 28 lines, gothic typeface.

Ruled in red, two one-line initials and two three-line initials painted in gold on red or blue ground, and A LOVELY, ANIMATED FULL PAINTED BORDER done by hand, with trompe-l'oeil flowers (one leaf also with a moth) on painted gold ground. Top margin a little small, light soiling to vellum, borders with a couple superficial scratches and tiny smudges, but in excellent condition overall.

These beautifully embellished leaves from a printed Book of Hours demonstrate the enduring demand for manuscript illumination in the incunabular period and beyond. While the text here was completed on a printing press, the initials and borders were done entirely by hand, adding luxury and luster to otherwise unadorned pages. Although these leaves likely belonged to a Book of Hours printed in Paris (possibly an edition printed for Nicolas Viven in or around 1503), the trompe-l'oeil style seen in the borders was particularly popular among Flemish and Netherlandish illuminators of the period. Because of the artist's use of subtle shading to indicate shadows, the large blossoms here seem to pop off the page, and one of the leaves contains a delicate little moth--attracted, perhaps, by the gleaming painted gold ground. (ST20972b-c)

Price: $1,250.00