Horæ Deipare Virginis Marie secundum usum Romanum :pleris[que] Biblie figuris at[que] chorea lethi circu[m]munite, nouis[que] effigiebus adornate, vt in septet[m] Psalmis penitentiali[bus], in vigiliis defunctoru[m], & in horis S[an]cte[m] Crucis, in horis quo[que] S[an]cti Sp[irit]us videre licebit.

Exarate [qui]de[m] Parisiis : industria bibliographi Thielmanni Keruer, preclare Vniuersitatis Parisiane librarii iurati in vico Sancti Iacobi ad signum Vnicornis 1519

Price $26,000

  • The full-page miniatures include:
  • printer’s mark (a1r)
  • Man of Astrology  (a1v),
  •  Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist (b1r),
  •  Capture of Christ (b3v), 
  • Tree of Jesse (b8v),
  • Annunciation (c1r),
  • Visitation (d1r),
  • Birth of Jesus (d6v),
  • Annunciation to the Shepherds (d8v),
  •  Adoration of the Magi (e2v), 
  • Circumcision (e4v), 
  • Flight into Egypt (e6v),
  • Coronation of Mary (f2r),
  • Bathsheba bathing (g6v ),
  • Death of Uriah (g7v),
  • Nathan’s reproaches against David (g8v),
  • David’s repentance (h2r),
  • David and the prophet Gad (h3v),
  • David’s promise to Bathsheba (h5r),
  • David gives the crown to Solomon (h6r),
  • The three dead (i3v),
  • The three living (i4r),
  • Adam and Eve are driven out of Paradise (k1v)
  • ,Adam and Eve at Work (k2v),
  •  Adam Praises God (k3v),
  • The Condemned Canon (k6v),
  • Life and Death (k7v), Purgatory (k8v), 
  • Death (l3v),
  • Job (l4v),
  • Three Vices and the Child (l5v),
  • Kiss of Judas (m3v)
  • Jesus before Pilate (m4v) ,
  • Jesus the King of the Jews ( m5v)
  • , Carrying of the Cross (m6v),
  •  Crucifixion (m7v),
  •  Deposition fr om the Cross (m8v),
  • Entombment (n1v),
  •  Christ in the Underworld (n2v),
  • Resurrection (n3v),
  • Jesus visits Mary after the Resurrection (n4v),
  •  Noli me tangere (n5v),
  •  Emmaus Pilgrims (n6v),
  •  TheUnbelief of Thomas (n7v),
  • Pentecost: Holy Spirit, the Apostles, and Mary (n8v),
  • Litany of the Virgins (o1v),
  • Trinity (o7v),
  • Christ in Reviling (q2v).

Exarate [qui]de[m] Parisiis : industria bibliographi Thielmanni Keruer, preclare Vniuersitatis Parisiane librarii iurati in vico Sancti Iacobi ad signum Vnicornis commorantis, Paris, Thielman Kerver 1519

Octavo printed on vellum. 16.6 x 10.7 cm. Signatures: (Calendar on leaves A3r- A8v.) a-k8, L-Q8, R4.

26 lines per page in red and black, with printer’s mark and 47 full- page, partly coloured miniatures, numerous small miniatures in the frames and numerous. colored initials. Bound in modern full blue Morocco leather binding with 4 bands. And Title stamped between spines.

The contents and order of this book of is: printer’s mark, almanac 1519-1538, Astrological man, calendar of saints, gospels, readings, psalms, each page with crible borders which are are filled with medallions of biblical scenes, vegetal and zoomorphic vine work, partly with drolleries and vanitas motifs calendar images, a creation cycle, anapocalypse cycle, signs of the Last Judgment, a dance of death accompanied by a bas-de-page series of the dead and the infernal image of the mouth of Hell, Susannah and Prodigal Son cycles, and Sibyls.

Thirteen metal cuts from two octavo series previously employed by Thielmann Kerver; 29 cuts from a new series executed for Kerver in the style of German prints (including some based on woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer and Hans Schäufelein); and 3 (one repeated) in the same style, not in a series.

In addition to the most standard Books of Hours subjects, this edition include taset of 31 additional subjects for the Hours of the Cross, the Hours of the Holy Ghost, the Penitential Psalms and the Office of the Dead

as described in: Harvard College Library. Catalogue of books and manuscripts. French 16th century books, pages 363-365. There are also 35 small cuts in the text (including onerepeat, P1v/Q2v), of which 8 are from from a series previously employed by Kerver and 26 (one repeated) from a new series in Kerver’s late style. These mostly depict saints and scenes from the Passion.

For a detailed description, see Tenschert & Nettekoven, cited below. Tenschert & Nettekoven ascribe the anatomical man cut, one of the previouslyused octavo series (3 cuts) and the previously used series of small cuts, as well as the design of a large cut in Kerver’s late style, to the Master of the Apocalypse Rose of Sainte Chapelle, also known as the Master of the Unicorn Hunt; they ascribe the other previously used octavo series (10 cuts) to the workshop of Jean Pichore. The creator of the new series of octavo cuts and small cuts is unidentified. Kerver’s device on title page (variant of: Silvestre,L.-C. Marques typographiques, 50; Renouard, P. Marques typographiques parisiennes des XVe et XVIe siècles, 4 99). Tenschert & Nettekoven assign most to series by the Master of the Unicorn Hunt or Pichore’s workshop for Kerver; some are copies after series by the Master of the Unicorn Hunt for Simon Vostre; some, including the signs of the Last Judgment beginning on H5v, are in Kerver’s late style.

This Book of Hours is printed by Kerver who worked from 1498 as a printer together with Georg Wolf and Jean Philippe. Around 1500 he worked alone in his own workshop, where he printed many livres d’heures. He also carried out printing commissions for severalpublishers such as Jean Richard, Pierre Regnault and Gillet Remacle. In 1511-1517, he went into business with the Parisian publisher SimonVostre.

919J. Horae B.M.V. (Tenschert & Nettekoven),;Nº. 117 (vol. 3); Bohatta, H. Livres d’Heures,; 1032 (5 Dec. 1519 ed. of 132 fols. (A-R); Bohatta, H. Livres d’Heures,; 1033 (19 Dec. 1519 ed. of unspecified fols.); USTC Universal short title catalogue,; 183928; Bibliographie des éditions parisiennes du 16e siècle,; BP16_103749; Adams, L-1031; Brunet, J.-C. Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres (5e éd.),; v. 5, column 1622, no. 194; Moreau, B. Inventaire chronologique des éditions parisiennes du XVIe siècle,; v. 2, page 536 (1519, no. 2086); Praet, J. van. Catalogue des livres imprimés sur vélin de la Bibliothèque du roi,; v. 4, page 15, no. 18

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