Hardouyn Book of Hours 1508 Horae BMV Incunabula NO RES

Hardouyn’s name is stated as the printer in the colophon and the publication date is given as 1508 in the Zelotes-Hosmer catalogue. The early printed Hours produced by the press of Germain Hardouyn have for centuries been celebrated as amongst the most beautiful examples of printing and illustration in the Renaissance.

Complete examples of Hardouyn Books of Hours are extremely scarce, with almost all copies offered in recent years lacking at least two leaves. The present copy is nearly complete and comprises 105 leaves beautifully printed on vellum.

The illustrations in these Books of Hours are justly famous. The full-page metal-cuts are of exceptional detail and constitute some of the finest examples of Renaissance devotional art in printed books.

The volume’s 105 leaves collate A3-7, B7, C7, D-E8, F2-8, G-H8, I1-2, I4-8, K7, L-O8. The volume lacks 8 leaves: the first leaf, January and December in the Calendar, B8 (full-page illustration), C8, F1 (full-page illustration), I3 and K8. The volume measures about 16.5 cm by 11.2 cm by 3.3 cm; each leaf measures about 160 mm by 106 mm.

The text follows the usual progression of a Book of Hours, with the Calendar, selections from the Gospels, Stabat Mater Dolorosa, prayers to the Virgin Mary, the Hours of the Cross and the Passion from John: 2, the Hours of the Holy Spirit, the Hours of the Dead, the Hours of the Virgin, penitential Psalms and Litanies, prayers to the Trinity, the Virgin and the Saints, colophon and printer’s device.

The nine full-page illustrations depict the following scenes: The Annunciation; The Passion; the Adoration of the Virgin Mary; the angel appearing before to the shepherds; the Adoration of the Magi (with the infant Jesus seeming to bless the Magi); the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple; the Flight into Egypt; the Virgin on her deathbed; and Hardouyn’s fine and ornate printer’s device.

Internally, the volume is generally in excellent condition. The print is quite clear and dark throughout (please note that camera flash has washed out some of the pictures below). The illumination is remarkably bright throughout, with hundreds of illuminated initials in vibrant red, blue and gold. There is rubbing only of the capital on the first leaf and another on the third leaf from the end; otherwise, the illumination is in beautiful condition.

The volume is bound in full 18th century French calf, with an ornately gilt spine divided by raised bands into 6 compartments. The binding is somewhat worn, with the rear board detached and the front board holding by two of the cords. The book block is holding together well. As may be seen in the photos below, the leather is lacking from the lowest compartment of the spine.

While the internal condition is generally excellent, the specific faults to be noted are as follows: the leaves themselves are trimmed closely in the upper margin, with slight loss of the printed border; the first leaf lacks the lower outer corner, and the first four leaves have been skilfully repaired with additions from another copy; three leaves show small excisions from a blank margin, not affecting the text, and the final leaf shows a single small chip from the upper margin, with slight loss; and there is slight rippling of some of the leaves, not affecting legibility. The volume’s general appearance is extremely attractive.

In all, this is a rare and very attractive early printed Book of Hours on vellum, with hundreds of illuminated initials throughout in vibrant red and blue gouache with gilt highlights, printed in octavo by Germain Hardouyn at Paris in 1508, adorned with 9 full-page metal-cut illustrations and fully 27 smaller metal-cut portraits of saints, printed in gothic lettres batardes throughout, with ornate metal-cut borders on every leaf depicting Biblical, floral and bucolic scenes, comprising 105 vellum leaves in total, bound in 18th century French calf, a beautiful example, offered with no reserve.