HOURS OF THE VIRGIN, 1755, GORGEOUSLY BOUND

(CATHOLIC CHURCH) MAZZINELLI, Alessandro. Uffizio della Beata Vergine Maria. Roma: Presso I Fratelli Pagliarini, 1755. Octavo, contemporary full red morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine and covers, raised bands, green morocco spine label, patterned paste paper endpapers, all edges gilt. $5000.

Elegant mid-18th-century edition of a devotional volume in honor of the Virgin Mary, illustrated with 15 copper-engraved plates, plus numerous elaborate headpieces and decorative capitals, splendidly bound in contemporary full red morocco-gilt.

This 1755 Marian prayer book is dedicated to Maria Antonia Ferdinanda, Infanta of Spain and Duchess of Savoy, known for her piety. The work is illustrated with 15 full-page copper-engraved plates, many done by Silvestre Pomarede after various painters of the Bolognese school, along with numerous elaborate headpieces and decorative capitals; each of the five sections has a separate title page with engraved vignette (several of the title pages printed in black and red) and separate pagination.

Contents with intermittent light foxing; binding lightly worn overall, spine head chipped, front joint starting, signs of older restoration at lower extremities. A beautifully illustrated volume, in a spectacular contemporary Roman binding.