Book of Hours

4to (225 x 155mm.), printed in red and black on paper, each page within a woodcut border (some dated 1536, 1537 and 1539), 14 full-page woodcuts, title-page and frames of calendar coloured in a later hand, white-on-black woodcut criblé initials, modern calf binding retaining full panels of a strictly contemporary Parisian calf gilt binding by Étienne Roffet, a central lozenge with circles at the corners outlined in black, gilt plaquette centrepiece, outer border composed of gilt fillets outlined in black and filled with a pattern of gilt semicircles, spine gilt in compartments in strictly period style (to match the covers) and lettered HORAE, gilt edges, modern crushed black morocco suede-lined folding box, pencil note in French on flyleaf relating to a copy in the sale catalogue of Hippolyte Destailleur from 1891, first three leaves and k2 with marginal repairs, a2 torn and repaired with slight loss to a few letters, binding rebacked and repaired along edges

PF, bookplate; Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870-1935), morocco booklabel (slightly worn), but not the copy described as lot 1068 in his 1938-1939 sale

Bohatta 1212 ("Sim. de Colines pour Geofroy Tory"); Lacombe 426; Mortimer, Harvard French 306; Renouard, Colines, p.378

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."

Geofroy Tory first designed cuts for books of hours in 1525, making a clean break from the cruder style of illustration used by the other Parisian ateliers. "The architectural designs obviously are derived from Tory, composed largely of his characteristic italianate motifs. The figures also show Tory's break with the earlier styles of French illustration. In contrast to the sketched outlines of Tory's cuts, however, these blocks are fully and elaborately shaded. If... the Tory cuts were intended to be illuminated, these Colines cuts were conceived with the opposite intention, with a concentration on small details to give an effect in black and white impossible to duplicate in color" (Mortimer, p.399).

Étienne Roffet was relieur du roi from 1539, and he worked from about 1537 to about 1548. For the tools used on this binding, see Foot, Henry Davis Gift III, 15, a binding made for François I, and the central plaque was also used on Roffet's binding for François I of a 1540 Estienne Bible. The design is very similar to some early Grolier bindings such as the 1501 Martial (Bookbindings from the library of Jean Grolier, 1965, no.39), tentatively dated to the early 1540s.