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 illuminated capitals in red, blue and burnished gold leaf. The text is in Latin and is surrounded by elaborate iron engravings that include plants, animals and mythical creatures. Six of the engravings are allegories from the Dance of Death, depicting a skeleton with various female figures. Printed vellum Book of Hours leaves are very scarce, as they were only produced between 1496 and 1530. Beginning with the large "T" on recto is Job 10, which translates in part as:

My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
Show me why You contend with me.
Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,
That You should despise the work of Your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees?
Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
That You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin,
Although You know that I am not wicked,
And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

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Condition: B+

Light toning and soiling.