CHRIST-KATHOLISCH GEBETT=BÜCHLEIN zur grösseren Ehr Gottes Zusamen getragen Im Jahr M:DCC:XXXXV. Illuminated manuscript on vellum in German.

(Bad Kissingen?),, 1745. With 4 full-page miniatures in ink and watercolor (the first sign. "Ioseph Omaus fecit. Kissingen") after fols. 1,9,24 and 31. Text in a calligraphic Gothic script, headings in red throughout, double rule page-borders. 20-24 lines. Calligraphical title sign. "E.W.", 48 unn. leaves (46v-48v blank, except for page-borders). 8vo (170 x 105 mm). Contemporary red morocco. In a contemp. pull-off leather case. (Bad Kissingen?), 1745. An appealing Bavarian Baroque manuscript prayer book on vellum, for private devotional use, illustrated with four ink and watercolor paintings by a local artist. The text contains prayers in German for morning and evening, various parts of the Mass, confessions, communion, and daily Offices, followed by the Litany of Loreto (reflecting the primacy of the Virgin in Bavaria); also included are prayers to St. Catherine, St. Barbara, St. Ignatius and St. Thomas Aquinas. The miniatures are painted in green, red, pink, blue, orange and yellow; the artist used a very fine brush for faces and hair, and employed pretty stippling techniques for clouds, clothing, sky, etc. Subjects: 1) Jesus being nailed to the cross by a carpenter, on a platform with Jacob's ladder, flanked by rose plants, quotations from the gospel of St. Mark and Genesis above and below in red ink; 2) St. Goar in heaven, on clouds with two cherubim, below him, framed by scrolls and leafy ornaments, two scenes from his life, as a hermit on the Rhine, and being cleared of the charge of sorcery by King Sigebert I of Austrasia; 3) Mary Magdalene, weeping in a verdant wilderness, holding the skull, supported by angels, cherubim watching above; 4) an angel in the heavens carrying a shield bearing the emblems of the Passion, the lamb (Christ) seated beneath attendant cherubim in clouds.- Binding: This charming manuscript is housed in its original slipcase and contemporary decorative red goatskin gilt. Sides gold tooled with border of festoons, windmill or petal tools at corner, central wreath oval with ribbon tie at tops and two hanging festoons at bottom, spine with gilt sun or flower tools in paneled compartments, green calf title label lettered "Katholisches Gebethbuch", gilt edges, marbled endpapers, pair of paper flyleaves. Slipcase: Original two-part pull-off case of mottled brown sheep, backstrip gold-tooled to match the binding, rust paper title label lined with blue decorative paper. - Occasional smudging, repaired short tear to Magdalene illumination, small abrasions to first miniature affecting face of the "carpenter", a few leaves a bit darkened; scuffing to joints, otherwise a very nice copy. MANUSCRIPTS: GENERAL ;