Horae in laudem beatissimae Virginis Mariae, Antwerp, 1528, Greek text, 16mo, later half calf

Property from the Loverdos Collection

Horae. Greek

Horae in laudem beatissimae Virginis Mariae. Antwerp: Marten de Keyser, (November) 1528

16mo (95 x 56mm.), text in Greek, printed in red and black, woodcut printer's device on final verso, without final blank, early annotations at beginning and end, late eighteenth-century half calf, flat spine gilt, a few small marginal tears, occasional light staining, small adhesive label to upper cover

A charming and rare miniature Greek book of hours, which is also recorded with the imprint of Johann Setzer in Hagenau and of Gilles Gourmont in Paris. It is a close copy of the miniature format Horae printed by Aldus in 1497 and again in 1505, retaining Aldus's original preface, in which he recommended the use of this devotional text to aid the learning of Greek.

LITERATURE

Bohatta 1496; USTC 403787

PROVENANCE

Pierre-Caprais Tournié (died 1879), canon of Agen (Aquitaine), bookplate