L’Office De La Sainte Vierge En Latin Et En Francois, Avec Des Instructions Pour Passer Chretiennement La JournéE DediéE A Madame La Dauphine [Binding / Illumination]. Illustrated,Women & Writing

BOUND IN SHARK OR TURTLE-SKIN, WITH GOLD SILK ENDPAPERS. 4to. [19.2 x 12.4 cm]. (24), 605 pp, (11), plus engr. frontispiece and 5 further engr. plates. All pages lightly ruled in red. Bound in contemporary shagreen (shark or turtle-skin) with two clasps (one lacking); all edges gilt, gold silk pastedowns, and a variety of pink and green silk placeholders. Head and foot of joints a little cracked, otherwise well-preserved; one of two metals clasps remaining. Internally excellent, pages clean and fresh. "Ninth Edition" (first, 1681?); all editions are rare in census. The binding as well as illumination were executed in a workshop specific to this genre of printed devotions for women, and this is a particularly fine example. Each engraving has been bordered in gilt, while each text page facing an engraving has been illuminated in a curious, alternating light blue-and-gilt style with gilt borders. All pages ruled in manuscript red ink; all in all, a delightful production perhaps bound as such for a female courtier in the circle of the Dauphine. Shagreen – made from either turtle or sharkskin – enjoyed a brief vogue in the late 17th century, with consumers impressed by the skin’s toughness (being impervious to blades etc.). Strangely, there is a colophon on p. 188, at the end of the section "Prières pour les Morts". Pages 172-175 discuss the process of becoming a nun; no counterpart is given for the male ceremony, again reinforcing the idea that the intended readership for this Office was female.