Printed Book Of Hours (Use Of Rome); In Latin And French, Illuminated Imprint On Parchment -

VERY TINY AND UNIQUE PRINTED BOOK OF HOURS WITH ILLUMINATED METALCUTS. In Latin and French, illuminated imprint on parchment, Paris, Germain Hardouyn, c. 1534 (almanac for 1534-1546). Dimensions 82 x 50 mm., 120 folios, lacking one leaf at the beginning, all quires signed, printed in Gothic font in twenty-five long lines in black ink, 1- to 2-line initials throughout, 15 large metalcuts in architectonic liquid gold frames, set over six lines of text, all hand-painted in bright colors with liquid gold.BINDING: modern (18th- or 19th century) brown leather with simple blind-tooled borders.ILLUSTRATION: The most striking feature of this hand-illuminated printed Book of Hours is its remarkably small size; includes 15 almost full-page metalcuts, very carefully and thoroughly over-painted likely by an artist working for Germain Hardouyn, who specialized in illuminated imprints. Backgrounds tend to be delineated without much detail; figures are rounded and rather plump; palette features blue, mauve, red, and green, with frequent use of liquid gold for highlights. PROVENANCE: printed in Paris by Germain Hardouyn, with an almanac for the years 1534-1546, suggesting a date of printing c. 1534; this is a very rare imprint, not listed in Bohatta, 1924, Brunet, 1860-1865, Lacombe, 1907, Moreau-Renouard, 1972-2004, or in USTC or BP16, suggesting that it is almost certainly the only surviving example; inside front cover, traces of bookplate(?), now thoroughly removed. CONDITION: stains, blue background of some initials smudged, sig. A8, loose, binding worn along the joints, with the joint on the upper cover beginning to split, but in good condition. Full description and images available. (TM 1189)