NO RESERVE

"[Book of Hours Leaf]", Anon.

This leaf is from the brief transitional period when the new technology of printing with movable type was combined with the more labor intensive methods of hand painting. The earliest printers were trained in the manuscript tradition and incorporated the conventions of historiated initials and illustrations into their early work. At first they left those spaces blank for the illuminator to complete entirely by hand. Later they developed printing methods (using woodcuts or iron engravings) to decorate the leaves.

This sheet includes prayers for various Saints, including St. Laurence, St. Mark and St. Luke, printed in black and red ink, surrounded by engraved scenes from the bible. The sheet translates in part as:

St. Luke the Evangelist (October 18):
Let holy Luke, thine evangelist, we beseech thee, O
Lord, intercede for us, who for the honour of thy
name bore ever in his body the mortification of the
cross. Through our Lord.

St. Mark the Evangelist (April 25):
O God, who by thy grace didst exalt blessed Mark,
thine evangelist, to be a preacher of the Gospel :
grant, we beseech thee, that we may ever profit by his
teaching and be defended by his prayers. Through our Lord.

References:

Condition: A

Light soiling at bottom right where the page was turned.