Book of Hours. Use of Sarum

Median 4to (244 x 167mm.), text in Latin with some rubrics and prayers in English, printed in red and black throughout, woodcut initials and illustrations (some full-page), each page with a woodcut border, woodcut printer's device on final verso, mentions of St Thomas a Becket, the word "papa" and a few other sections crossed through (resulting in a few small holes in I8), nineteenth-century green morocco-backed marbled boards, yellow edges, sixteenth- and nineteenth-century manuscript annotations in English, lacking title-page (supplied in nineteenth-century manuscript facsimile) and AA8, first and last few leaves slightly soiled, occasional light damp-staining, binding rubbed

Law Society, stamp on first page

STC 15953 (listing 8 copies); Hoskins 79

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."

Prevost also printed a Sarum Missal for Birckman in the same year (STC 16206). For other liturgical works printed for Birckman, see lots 106 and 108. About two thirds of Sarum hours were printed abroad at this time.

The manuscript title-page was copied from the Douce copy in the Bodleian Library and even includes a sketch of the illustration and framing of the title-page. On the front flyleaf are some bibliographical notes in ink on the recto and in pencil on the verso, in more than one hand, comparing this with other editions and mentioning the prayers printed in English ("all of them shew in what a state of ignorance the world must have been in at the time these were in use").