Book of Hours. Use of Sarum

4to (224 x 155mm.), text in Latin with some rubrics and prayers in English, printed in red and black throughout, each page within woodcut borders, woodcut illustrations, woodcut printer's device on final verso, WITH EXTENSIVE ANNOTATIONS TO THE CALENDAR IN AN ELIZABETHAN SECRETARY HAND, seemingly written by a Welsh speaker living in London, listing births, deaths and other significant dates, also with a short note in Welsh in the same hand in a shield within the decorative border to A5v ("y dydd | hwn i | doeth | hynny" [on this day that came [to [pass]]), also with THREE LINES FROM AN ASTROLOGICAL POEM IN WELSH IN A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ITALIC HAND on A2v ("Kranke llew mowyn osbwell [?] | Tafel sarff sydd seithydd seithwell | Gafer dwfywr pyske or mordir pell" [Cancer, Leo, unusual Virgo | Libra Scorpio, Sagittarius is seven times better | Capricorn, Acquarius, Pisces from far sea-shore]"), with further scattered annotations in English and Latin in several hands throughout, the usual scoring-out of the word Pope and references to Thomas Becket, nineteenth-century calf tooled in period style, lacking title-page, calendar leaf for January-February and i7, several leaves repaired at foot (occasionally with some loss to woodcut border or signatures), B8 and C1 torn at foot with some loss of text, a few leaves cut close at head, annotations frequently cropped, rebacked retaining original spine

Hoskins 71; STC 15944; not in Bohatta or Lacombe

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.
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1526 was the year in which Regnault started his profitable printing of books of hours for the English market. It is thought that he was perhaps working in association with Wynkyn de Worde, who ceased publication of such books at this time (see The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, III, p. 503).

THIS COPY RETAINS TANTALISING TRACES OF EARLY READERS AND RARE WRITTEN FRAGMENTS IN THE WELSH LANGUAGE. An Elizabethan reader has added dates to the calendar, including a few public events such as the earthquake in the Dover Straits on 5 April 1580 (which was felt throughout South East England and Northern France), the death of the Master of the Rolls Sir William Cordell on 17 May 1581, and the execution of the Babington plotters in September 1586, and many events of personal significance. He was evidently a Welsh immigrant to London - he records that "this fyrste of [May] 1551 I cam[e] to London beyn[g] then 18 of a[ge]" - where he married (he records the death of his wife on 6 August 1579) and had children and grandchildren (also recorded in the volume). The continued use of this book through the Elizabethan period suggests, of course, Roman Catholic sympathies, as does his note to 17 November commemorating the death of Queen Mary rather than the accession of Queen Elizabeth. A variant version of the three lines of Welsh verse, which are in a different and somewhat later hand, are also found in at least one other manuscript of similar date (Cardiff Central Library, Hafod MS 3, fol.171).