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a brown leather book with intricate designs on the coveran open book with a drawing of a man and woman in a bathtuban open book with a drawing of a man on a horse and a woman on a horse
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113 - [PRINTED HOURS]
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Estimate €1,800 - €2,500
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Description
[PRINTED HOURS] Paris, Thielman Kerver, 10 April 1500. Book of Hours according to the Roman rite. In Latin and French, printed on paper. [Almanac for the years 1497–1520, incomplete here]. With 16 large engravings and 29 small engravings; engraved borders featuring narrative scenes with numerous small engravings. Engravings based on the designs of the Master of the Très petites Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (Master of the Rose from the Apocalypse of the Sainte-Chapelle [MdA]) [‘MdA für Kerver, 1497–1502’; ‘Kleinbilder MdA für Kerver, circa 1497’]. In-8, 119 ff. (of 122 ff., 3 leaves missing: a1 (title page), a8 (last leaf of the calendar) and b8) [collation: a6 (of 8, missing a1 and a8), b7 (of 8, missing b8), c–p8], preceded by 3 ff. of paper endpapers, followed by 2 guard leaves, Gothic type (Bastard Gothic), initials painted in red or blue, engravings in black, third guard leaf with handwritten notes, table of prayers contained in the work (16th-century handwriting, brown ink). Brown morocco binding, English-made, cold-stamped pastiche decoration comprising ornamental scrolls arranged vertically, spine with 5 ribs, partitioned and fleur-de-lis-decorated, gilt lettering, guilloché cuts, gilt inner scroll, gilt edges. Fine condition; spine very slightly sun-faded. Binding signed on the lower front cover: ‘Leighton Brewer St. W’ [London]. Modern slipcase. Dimensions: 170 x 110 mm. Colophon: ‘These present hours for the game of Rum were completed on the xth day of April, in the year M. CCCCC by Thielman Kerver, residing in the Rue des Maturins or on the Saint-Michel Bridge at the Unicorn inn’ (Sig. p8 verso). The engravings in this Book of Hours are based on designs attributable to the artist known as the ‘Master of the Very Small Hours of Anne of Brittany’ (after the Book of Hours, Paris, BnF NAL 3120) or the ‘Master of the Rose of the Apocalypse of the Sainte-Chapelle’, active in Paris from around 1490 to circa 1508/1510. A painter, illuminator, engraving designer, and a designer of tapestry patterns and stained-glass cartons for several Parisian churches, this artist is regarded as the successor to the Master of Dreux Budé (André of Ypres?), and subsequently to the Master of Coëtivy (Nicolas or Colin d’Amiens, alias Nicolas d’Ypres?): he may be identified as Jean d’Ypres (died 1508). In the same way as his contemporary, the Master of the Cardinal of Bourbon, the Master of the Très Petites Heures of Anne of Brittany provided the drawings for engravings adopting the ‘Ypres style’ in the tradition of the Master of Coëtivy, between 1489 and 1507, including, amongst others, the illustrated editions by Jean Dupré, Simon Vostre, Thielman Kerver and Antoine Vérard. Exceptionally, the artist illuminated his own engravings. Illustration Sig. a2, Anatomical figure. – Sig. b2, Saint Luke. – Sig. b2v, Saint Matthew. – Sig. b3v, Saint Mark. – Sig. b4v, The Betrayal of Judas and the Arrest of Jesus. – Sig. c2v, The Annunciation. – Sig. d4v, The Visitation. – Sig. e3v, The Nativity. – Fol. e6, The Announcement to the Shepherds. – Fol. e8, The Adoration of the Magi. – Fol. f2, The Presentation in the Temple. – Fol. f4, The Flight into Egypt. – Fol. f7v, The Coronation of the Virgin. – Fol. h1, David and Bathsheba at the bath. – Fol. i4v, Job on his dungheap, mocked by his wife and friends; Death piercing a man. – Fol. l7, Crucifixion. – Fol. m1v, Pentecost. – Fol. m4, The Trinity and the Tetramorph. – Fol. m4v, Christ giving blessing. – Fol. m5, Christ of Mercy supported by an angel. – Fol. m5v, Pentecost. – Sig. m6, Veil of Veronica. – Sig. m6v, Virgin and Child. – Sig. n3, Pietà. – Sig. n4v, Saint Michael and the Dragon. – Sig. n5, Saint John the Baptist. Sig. n5, Saint John the Evangelist. – Sig. n5v, Saints Peter and Paul. – Sig. n6, Saint James the Greater. – Sig. n6v, Saint Stephen. – Sig. n7, Saint Lawrence. – Sig. n7, Saint Christopher and the Infant Jesus. – Sig. n8, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. – Sig. o1, Saint Nicholas and the miracle of the children. – Sig. o1v, Saint Claude. – Fol. o2, Saint Anthony. – Fol. o3, Saint Anne teaching the Virgin Mary to read. – Fol. o3, Saint Mary Magdalene. – Fol. o3v, Saint Catherine. – Fol. o4, Saint Margaret. – Sig. o4v, Saint Barbara. – Sig. o5, Saint Apollonia. – Sig. p2, Christ standing, surrounded by the instruments of his Passion. – Sig. p3, Christ blessing. – Sig. p4, Virgin and Child. Provenance – Stamp on folio sig. a2: ‘Monastères de France’. – Ex-libris label glued to the upper inside cover, made of blue leather featuring a stag and the motto ‘Laboramus’. – Dry-stamped ex-libris by Philippe Cenac, on the front of the first endpaper. Bibliography Brunet, Heures, 170. Lacombe, 102. See Tenschert and Nettekoven, Horae B. M. V.: 158 Stundenbuchdrucke der Sammlung Bibermühle, Ramsen, 2003, I, no. 32 (printed on the same date by Thielman Kerver for Gilles Remacle, 26 June 1500).
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Auction time 09/23/2026 at 2:30 PM
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