HORAE in laudem beatissimae virginis Mariae, ad usum Romanum - Lot 39

HORAE in laudem beatissimae virginis Mariae, ad usum Romanum. Parisiis, ex officina Reginaldi Calderii et Claudii ejus filii (Paris, Regnauld and Claude Chaudière), 1549. In-4 (230 x 158 mm). Contemporary red morocco binding, decorated covers featuring, on a gold-dotted background, a geometric design composed of square and oval panels inlaid with red, green, and brown morocco and separated by a network of interlacing patterns inlaid with black morocco, spine decorated lengthwise with cold-stamped arabesques, edges gilt and chiseled. Collation: a-y8. 176 ff. Printed in red and black. Regnauld Chaudière’s mark on the title page (Sylvestre 1142). AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY IN A LEATHER MOSAIC BINDING OF ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RENAISSANCE BOOKS OF HOURS. These *Horae* by the two Chaudières—father and son—successors to Simon de Colines (1520–1546), follow in the tradition of the books of hours published beginning in 1525 by Geoffroy Tory and his successors. Their illustrations and ornamentation are almost identical to those of the Book of Hours published in 1543 by Simon de Colines, featuring woodcuts commissioned from the Tory workshop, with which Colines himself— the printer of the 1525 and 1527 Hours, had maintained ties. The illustrations include: - 14 full-page woodcuts presented in imposing architectural frames, all taken from the 1543 Book of Hours, three out of seven of which retain the double Lorraine cross mark. “These figures follow in Tory’s tradition but are clearly distinct from them in style. A graphic concept entirely different from Tory’s is evident in the powerful architectural frames of the illustrated pages, each designed specifically for a woodcut […] Although they incorporate the Renaissance ornamentation used by Tory, their three-dimensional and material effect contrasts with the linear decoration of their predecessors” (H. Tenschert. Horae. B.M.V., 2003). - Magnificent borders, “of the utmost beauty” (Brun), framing each page of the text and the calendar, composed of the juxtaposition of four woodcuts. These borders, sixteen of which come from the 1543 Hours and are supplemented by new ones, are of two different types: some—two of which bear the dates 1536 and 1539—are inspired by the classical motifs used by Tory: vases, medallions, putti, and dolphins, albeit with denser ornamentation; the others, more recent, consist of deep black arabesques standing out against a white background, enhanced by masks and grotesques. These frames, a new type and of the most striking effect, would influence the decoration of Guillaume Rouillé’s *Heures lyonnaises* a few years later (see the previous issue). The text is enriched with fourteen large woodcut initials featuring a dotted background and decorated with arabesques and flowers. In our copy, all of these initials have been carefully illuminated. The capital letters of the title, as well as many others in the text—which is itself set in red—have also been enhanced with color. A MAGNIFICENT AND EXTREMELY RARE STRICTLY CONTEMPORARY BINDING FEATURING A VERY UNUSUAL GEOMETRIC LEATHER MOSAIC DECOR. It is known that 16th-century bindings, sometimes incorrectly referred to as “mosaic,” are in fact decorated with painted interlacing patterns. Although the true mosaic technique—involving the gluing together of incised and finely trimmed pieces of leather—was known during the Renaissance, it was rarely used at that time, developing only in the 17th and, above all, the 18th century. Our bookbinding, which employs this technique, also features a highly original design, composed of square and oval pieces of morocco leather arranged in a checkerboard pattern and connected by a geometric network of interlacing patterns, which are themselves mosaic-style. A superb copy with finely chiseled edges, lined, and perfectly preserved, virtually free of any restoration. Extremely rare. H. Tenschert, who describes the edition as *rarisimum*, cites only four copies in public collections, one of which is incomplete (the BNF copy, from the former Yemeniz collection). Auguste Bernard, Geoffroy Tory’s bibliographer, knew of only two copies (including the Tenschert copy). Minimal restoration to the lower corners of the binding. Small brown marginal stains on one leaf. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1960.

Estimation:€10,000

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