Missal, use of Rome

folio (376 x 245mm.), printed in red and black throughout, several pages with historiated woodcut borders, woodcut lombard and historiated initials, typeset music, 11 vellum leaves containing near-contemporary manuscript text (produced in France or the Low Countries) bound between leaves n2 and n4, containing prayers and instructions for the mass, with blue and red initials and one inhabited initial, with 3 fabric buttons pasted to edges of leaves as page markers (others now lacking), yellow initial-strokes, printer's device in red next to colophon, contemporary English or Netherlandish blind-stamped calf over wooden boards, in modern brown buckram folding box, lacking n3 with Crucifixion woodcut and without final blank, first leaf almost detached, a few old marginal paper repairs (those on m3-m5 and B3-6 affecting text but without loss), extremities rubbed, spine chipped, joints weak, lacking both clasps

early inscription on inside front cover (scored out); "Frere Jan Anthoine Augustien", inscription in French on inside back cover dated ?1561; Law Society, armorial bookplate

Censimento 16 CNCE 11508 (2 copies listed); Sander 4793; Weale-Bohatta 981 (this is one of four copies listed)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A rare Roman missal with additional manuscript text on vellum in a contemporary stamped binding.

For an almost identical binding, with the same diaper pattern created with triple fillets filled with a pineapple stamp, two outer borders of a flower with foliage and a crested tool (both small stamps repeated to look like a roll-tooled border) with rose stamps in the corners, see Oldham, English Blind-Stamped Bindings (Cambridge, 1952), plate V; the pineapple stamp is Oldham A.(5) 963. However, Oldham does not state the location of the binding in plate V nor whether it is definitely an English binding in the Netherlandish style or a Netherlandish binding. Pearson (English Bookbinding Styles, p.46) indicates that roll-tools, which shortened the time needed to create patterns on bindings, were in widespread use in England by 1510, though the use of individual tools to create borders was still being practised in 1520.

The combination of a possibly Netherlandish binding with the French inscription would indicate a provenance of a monastery in the southern Low Countries. The additional manuscript leaves have a sufficiently large text size to indicate institutional ownership.