HEURES NOUVELLES DEDIE ES AU ROY; by CHARDON - 1694

PRESENTING FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION EXQUISITE, GENUINE 324 YEAR OLD *BOOK OF HOURS*

PRINTED BY CHEZ JACQUES LE GRAS at the entrance of the prisoner's gallery in the image our lady at the palace at PARIS in 1694. * QUARTO EDITION * MEASURES 8 1/2" x 6". 24 LINES OF ROMAN TYPE TO THE FULL PAGE. PRINTED IN FRENCH & LATIN IN PARALLEL COLUMNS. A CURIOUS EXAMPLE OF A VERY LATE PRINTED BOOK OF HOURS WITH GOLD LEAF ILLUMINATIONS AND HAND COLORING !

WONDERFULLY RULED IN RED (now oxidized) THROUGHOUT INDICATING ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP BY NOBILITY OR ROYALTY. AFTER THIS BOOK WAS PRINTED, A SCRIBE SAT DOWN WITH A RULER, A QUILL AND A POT OF RED INK. HE THEN LABORIOUSLY DREW RED BORDER LINES ON EACH PAGE. THIS PROCESS ADDED GREATLY TO THE COST OF A BOOK AND WAS RESERVED ONLY FOR THE VERY WEALTHY.

The book of hours is a Christiandevotional book popular in the Middle Ages. It is the most common type ofsurviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, eachmanuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain asimilar collection of texts, prayers and psalms, often with appropriatedecorations, for Christian devotion. Illumination or decoration is minimal inmany examples, often restricted to decorated capital letters at the start ofpsalms and other prayers, but books made for wealthy patrons may be extremelylavish, with full-page miniatures. Books of hours were usually written in Latin(the Latin name for them is horae), although there are many entirely orpartially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. TheEnglish term primer is usually now reserved for those books written in English.Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, inlibraries and private collections throughout the world.

The typical book of hours is anabbreviated form of the breviary which contained the Divine Office recited inmonasteries. It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elementsof monasticism into their devotional life. Reciting the hours typicallycentered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers. A typicalexample contains the Calendar of Church feasts, extracts from the Four Gospels,the Mass readings for major feasts, the Little Office of the Blessed VirginMary, the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, the seven Penitential Psalms, a Litany ofSaints, an Office for the Dead and the Hours of the Cross. Most 15th-century books of hours have thesebasic contents. The Marian prayers Obsecro te ("I beseech thee") andO Intemerata ("O undefiled one") were frequently added, as weredevotions for use at Mass, and meditations on the Passion of Christ, amongother optional texts.

COLLATION: 9 leaves of prelims then paginated 1-542 ending with "FIN" then 2 pages of tables ending with "De l'Imprimerie d' Estienne Chardon", featuring 3 title pages with beautiful gold leaf illuminations and hand coloring with three corresponding frontis engravings by F. Guerad & Chez Landry with gold leaf illuminated borders. Text features several small cherubic woodcuts and floriated initials, A PERFECT EXAMPLE !

CONDITION: Printed on heavy weight cotton linen paper that is bright, extraordinarily clean and crisp, virtually free of staining and soiling, wide margins throughout that appear to be untrimmed, no loose, torn or missing pages, clean gutters, straight edges and strong corners, Very good+ to near fine condition & 100% COMPLETE.

*A WORD FROM THE CONSERVATOR* This Book has undergone a page by page comprehensive paper conservation leaving no condition concerns or further actions required . Many newer collectors often call into question the authenticity of our books because of their outstanding , fine condition. As with any item of age, value is determined according to condition-condition-condition ! Each and every leaf is guaranteed authentic as intended by the original printer .This ancient 17th century treasure is NOT a replica, reproduction, facsimile, reprint or forgery. The fine art of hand bookbinding is alive and well in 2018.We strive hard to acquire only those Books which we would like to collect ourselves, perform any needed restoration work professionally to archival standards and present them to you free from concerns. There has been much discussion regarding the addition of this volume to our permanent collection !