FACSIMILE BOOK OF HOURS VAT. ROSS. 94, COMPLETE, AS
NEW
BEAUTIFUL FACSIMILE BOOK OF HOURS ‘Codex Vaticanus
Rossianus 94’ from the Bibliotheca
Apostolica Vaticana with commentary. Lovely miniature book of hours in brown
leather with raised bands and gilt decoration. Page edges are gilt. Nestled in
a suede box with accompanying commentary.
Published Zurich, Belser Verlag, 1983, 2 volumes,
facsimile volume 240 pages, leather cover, gilt edges, 12mo; accompanying
commentary (in Spanish) by L.M. Tocci, 42 pages, 8vo, cloth hard cover.
Excellent condition. As New.
About the Original.
The precious manuscript Vat. Ross. 94 is a codex of
small dimensions (9.5cm x 7.2cm x 3cm), small even for a prayer book. It is
written in the French Gothic script, which is even and elegant, with elongated
and yet generous letters; it comes from the end of the XV. or beginning of the
XVI. Century. The codex lacks the heraldic elements or property marks that
would enable its origin and history to be determined. We only know its more
recent history. It belonged to the Roman Giovan Francesco de Rossi, who at the
end of the 18th century bought valuable books all over Europe. After his death,
the widow donated the collection, which consisted of over 1,000 manuscripts and
around 9,000 rare printed books, to the Society of Jesus, which had it brought
to Vienna. From there it was brought back to Rome in 1921 and was placed in the
Vatican Library.