Book of Hours use of Roma.

Folio a1, above the mark of Regnauld Chaudière (Silvestre, no. 1142): Hours in praise of the most blessed Virgin Mary, for Roman use. Mark. Paris. From the press of Reginald Calderius and his son Claude. 1549. On the verso: Almanac for 1549-1574. At the end, at the bottom of fol. y8: If you wish to appease the wrath of God… [6 lines]… Finis.
Quarto, roman type. Black illustrations. 176 leaves. [Bibl. nat. Réserve. B. 3159], printed in red and black. Collation: a-y8. Title in a beautiful woodcut border, each leaf in a decorative frame. Brown calf, interlace decoration and curved gilt fillets, painted in green, grey, and black wax, smooth spine with gilt interlaced decoration, roll-tooling on the edges, gilt edges, restorations at the margins of the last two leaves, the last coming from another copy. Complete. Precious decorated and painted contemporary binding.

233 x 165 mm.

Tory, Geoffroy (1480-1533). Book of Hours for the Use of Rome. 1549.

“One of the most remarkable Books of Hours ever published. Each page is adorned with large and beautiful borders engraved in the purest and most perfect Renaissance style.

The volume further contains 14 large illustrations, which, like the borders, are if not by Tory himself, at least by artists from his workshop ”
(See Bernard: Geoffroy Tory, 271).
Brunet V, 1662; Lacombe, 440.

The large plates and some of the borders had already been used in an edition published by Simon de Colines in 1543.

The Chaudière edition, successors to Simon de Colines, also includes two complete borders that had not been used before.

“This detail had not been noticed by Mr. Bernard. This bibliographer knew of only two copies of the 1549 edition.” (Bull. Morgand).

The Yemeniz and Lacombe copy is missing leaves y4 and y5 and contains 174 instead of 176 leaves. It came from the Yemeniz collection. The edition is extremely rare: among nearly 50,000 valuable books described by the Bulletin Morgand, only one copy of this Book of Hours is listed, in modern binding, at the colossal price of 3,000 francs in gold. Now, in 1893, the Bulletin Morgand was offering valuable books starting at 10 francs in gold.

The comparison of the successive editions published by Tory, as well as the presentation of his main sources of inspiration, reveals a substantial iconographic corpus. The comparative study notably helps to clarify Tory's role in the bookmaking process in Renaissance France. Although he was known as an author and translator, then bookseller and printer, he “most likely was never a painter, engraver, or bookbinder.” The diachronic approach highlights the two careers of Tory and allows us to appreciate their coherence: as a regent at several Parisian academic institutions from 1507 to 1513, he published Latin works intended for educational purposes and came into contact with printers and booksellers located nearby in the Latin Quarter. It is said that he held the role of foreman for Estienne the Elder. In 1523, he established himself as a “bookseller” on rue Saint-Jacques and began a new career. Tory showed a strong interest in the materiality of the book, seeking to improve its clarity and readability. His proposals concern mainly two editorial categories: the Book of Hours and the treatise. From the first edition bearing his name of a Book of Hours for the Use of Rome, printed by Simon de Colines (1525), Tory replaced the use of bastard typography accompanied by Gothic scenes with the use of Roman typefaces combined with line engravings of Venetian inspiration, known as “à l’Antique.” Based on the use of white space and the possibilities offered by placing illustrations across a double page, this pursuit of visual coherence showed the influence of Italian book forms—especially the works of Aldus Manutius—with which Tory may have come in contact during his time abroad. The iconographic program established by Tory for the engravings executed by Etienne Colaud aimed to produce a striking effect on the reader. Thus, the 1525 Book of Hours became a visual reference for the subsequent printing of devotional manuals in France, even as, from 1527 onwards, Tory stylistically evolved his format (combining Venetian and Northern models) to better suit the Parisian clientele.

“It is only his Books of Hours with which we are concerned here. Examining them closely, one notices the products of a new art, already quite remarkable in the 1525 edition, which features borders and large woodcuts of a particularly unique and very graceful style, brought to successive perfection, especially typographically, in the 1527 and 1531 editions. Nevertheless, despite their genuine merit, the admirable productions of this artist seemed to have been almost universally unrecognized: and it is only in recent times that they have been truly appreciated. Today, collectors seek them out with great eagerness and pay, so to speak, their weight in gold. Thus, a copy of these charming Books of Hours, which would have sold for barely 12 or 15 francs fifty years ago, now easily finds buyers at 500 or 600 francs, and even, as will be seen below, copies printed on vellum were recently sold for 3,000 francs.” (Brunet 1870).

Precious and remarkable volume.