[MANUSCRIPT - PRAYERBOOK].
[1st rubric:] Form zu betten unser liebe[n] frawen mantel, Gebet. [incipit:] Cegrüest seiestu o süesse aller heiligste junckfraw maria ...
[Ravensburg?], [ca. 1670]. Small 16mo in 8s (10 x 8.5 x 4 cm; leaf: 9 x 7.5 cm). German manuscript in red and black ink on paper, written in an upright, semi-cursive gothic hand, with so-called lombardic initials in red, rubricated throughout. With 11 lines per page, text block 7 x 5.5 cm. Contemporary blind-tooled pigskin over bevelled wooden (beechwood?) boards, sewn on 3 double supports, In total more than 100 impressions of about 9 stamps. Further with 2 strap fastenings with brass clasps (each with an owners(?) stamp: 1.5 mm roman capital initials "LH" above a 3 mm head in profile, facing right), catchplates and anchor plates, plain headbands, blue edges. With 27 mm roman capital initials "BR" in brown ink on the foot edge. [423], [3 blank] pp. plus 3 endleaves at the front and 5 at the back.
€ 8,500
A charming little 16mo Catholic manuscript prayerbook in German, written in red and black on paper in a contemporary blind-tooled pigskin binding, the manuscript and binding probably made in a monastery in Ravensburg or the surrounding region. It begins with prayers to the Virgin Mary on 19 leaves (a1-c3) and continues with three series of rosary prayers on 47 leaves (c3-i1), further prayers to the Virgin Mary on 28 leaves (i1-m4), prayers for various days from Palm Sunday to Easter on 18 leaves (m4-o5), prayers for the twenty-four hours on 56 leaves (o5-x4), further rosary prayers in five parts on 21 leaves (x4-z8), the litany of all saints on 20 leaves (z8-2c3) and the litany of specific saints, including Augustine, on 10 leaves (2c3-2d4).
The manuscript is very regular in its structure, except that a few blank leaves have been removed.
One or more early owners of the present manuscript have written 6 pages of further prayers on the endpapers (2 at the front and 4 at the back), most in a single contemporary hand, including "ein gebeid der Reponsori deß H: Bonaventura ..."; "So du nun mirackel suchst der Godt ..."; "Wo man alle nacht mit Jesu schlaffe soll, ..."; "Fünff vögelen singen, daß es in den Rainen ..." (five songs, numbered 1 to 5). There is also a 2-line inscription on the back paste-down. Parts of the front paste-down, which probably contained an owners inscription, have been removed or defaced, but one can still see bits of an early inscription. The manuscript shows some minor and mostly marginal foxing, a hole in l6 and 7, a small marginal tear in l8 and insignificant ones in a few other leaves, but it remains in good condition. The binding has a hole in the pigskin covering the spine, along one of the supports, is slightly soiled and most of the blue colouring of the edges of the leaves is lost. The centrepiece on the front board does not appear to be worn, but its image (probably the Virgin Mary or a female saint) is nevertheless difficult to make out: perhaps the binder did not impress it strongly. The binding also remains in good condition.
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