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.

Unusual vellum leaf printed in Gothic textura type with a superb border hand colored in red, blue and burnished gold leaf. The text is in Latin and is surrounded by elaborate iron engravings that include hunters and mythical creatures. Printed vellum Book of Hours leaves are very scarce, as they were only produced between 1496 and 1530. Beginning with the large "A" on verso is a prayer that translates in part as:

Hail, true blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which flowed from his side with the water:
Be thou my counsel, protection, and defense of body and soul
In this life and in the world to come,
For endless ages of ages. Amen.

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Condition: B+

Light toning and soiling.