A late 15th century edition of the Missal, according to the
custom of the Holy Roman Church, printed by Johannes Hamman for Nicolaus of
Frankfordia. This edition has been printed throughout in red and black, with
rubrication primarily in red, and a few blue initials. There is a printer’s
device to the last printed leaf, and musical notation throughout. There is a
woodcut of The Crucifixion as well, tipped into the volume.
Leaves 108 to 111, the Canon section, are lacking, although
the crucifixion woodcut has been tipped in (whether the woodcut from this same
exact copy or another cannot be confirmed). The lacking leaves have been
replaced by 16 manuscript leaves on vellum, written by a contemporary hand,
rubricated in red and blue ink against a gothic script, with a large, detailed
initial, with the last two pages written in a simpler hand. The additional
leaves appear to be the missing canon section (the large detailed initial a
very good rendition of its printed original), as well as additional texts. There
are 4 additional manuscript leaves on vellum at the end, following the colophon
and printer’s device. There are several tabs still present.
This Missal bears the ownership inscription of one
Benedictus Metsu, a priest, who may have also been the potential scribe to have
supplanted the additional manuscript leaves. There is also a typed note tipped
in signed by one Fr. Lyna, chief curator of the Royal Library of Belgium at the
time.
ISTC records 44 existing copies of this edition in
libraries.
One volume in octavo, (12)+238 of 242 leaves, 20 manuscript
leaves on vellum
This volume is in good shape, with minor rubbing and wear to
the binding. The leaves have been tightly reinforced along the gutter with a
split, using some sort of thick paper, with some discoloration at the margins,
and softness to the margins as well. Quire I is suffering from heavier staining
and some tears to the inner margin, with i4 affected the heaviest and heavily
restored. There is pale staining towards the end. The text block has been
tightly and rigidly bound and restored.