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IM-8791: (185x122mm) Original leaf from an important printed and hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Ruled Latin text printed in red and black, on animal vellum. Initials, paragraph markers and endings illuminated by hand in gold, on grounds of blue and/or magenta. Printed by Philippe Pigouchet. The Master of Anne de Bretagne designed the metal cuts. Produced by Nicolas Higman for Simon Vostre in Paris, Use of Rome, c. 1512.       

Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated (two conclude the story of Suzanna and the two elders from the Book of Daniel) and inhabited with numerous whimsical creatures!

Provenance: ex C.W. Dyson-Perrins collection   (noted English collector of the late 19th & early 20th centuries). Sold in 1927 at Sotheby’s London to Lord Harlech.

The illuminated “E” begins Psalm 142(King James 143) 9-12: “Eripe...” (Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled:  teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God...).  The two-line illuminated “K” begins the Litany of the Saints (first prescribed by Pope Gregory in 590 for a public thanksgiving following a plague that ravaged Rome). “Kyrie eleyson…” (Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us…God the Father of Heaven , have mercy upon us…). The leaf lists the names of saints with each invocation followed by the abbreviation for “ora pro nobis” (Pray for us). Among the saints listed are: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Philip and St. Simon.