Original leaf from an important printed & hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Ruled Latin text, printed in red & black on animal vellum.(165x115mm)
Initials, paragraph markers & endings illuminated by hand in gold, on grounds of blue and/or magenta. A portion of the text, verso, has been expunged (probably in Reformation England).
Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated or inhabited - in the style of the Master of Anne de Bretagne. Printed by Thielman Kerver. Paris, Use of Rome, c. 1506.
Ex collection: Alexander Peckover, Baron Wisbeck (1830-1919) – important English manuscript collector of the early 20th century.
This leaf opens the Hours of the Virgin – Hour of Prime with the full-page panel depicting The Nativity. Mary and Joseph kneel in worship of their Son & God. An ox and ass stand, looking over at the Christ Child, and in the background two men stare in wonder.
The illuminated two-line “D” opens the Hour: “Deus in adiutorium….” (O God, hasten to mine aid…).
Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat
