Breviarium secundum consuetudinem Romanae Curiae.

Latin manuscript on vellum, c. 29 x 21 cm, [1 bl.]-448-[1 bl.] (mostly) ruled ff. (mod. pencil foliation), making 47 quires of 2 (2), 6 (1), 8 (1) or 10 ff. (43), professionally written in black/brown and red ink, 2 columns of 35 ll. (some minor marg. soiling, a few original vellum flaws, stain on f. 224v). Catchwords (at end of quire).

Old blind-decorated leather over wood, covers with blind-decorated ruled frames, central ornament and gilt corner pieces, spine on 4 raised bands with gilt ornaments, shelf-mark (?) at bottom edge, paper endpapers, a.e.g. (sl. rubbed, sm. def. at head and tail, gilding soiled, endpapers lifted). In very good condition.

Contents: ff. 1r-6v Calendar (with Zodiac data!) in brown and red ink, with red and blue penwork initials; ff. 7r-448v “Breviarium secundum consuetudinem romane curie”. Decoration: 4 ff. with beginning of texts written within red and gilt borders surrounded by gilt flowery decoration in red, yellow, green and blue, filled with dots and sm. buds or star-like forms (7r, 219r, 281r, 421r); 4 gilt historiated initials (5-7 ll.) in red, crimson and blue (7v, 219r, 421r) or red, crimson, blue and green (281r); 16 gilt initials (4-5 ll.) in blue, green, and crimson with flowers extending into the margin; 6 gilt 6-line initials in blue, crimson and green with green penwork extending into the margin (236r, 242r, 252r, 270v, 286r, 370r); a 7-line gilt initial in blue, crimson and green (f. 143r); numerous red or blue 2-line initials with light violet penwork extending into the margin; rubricated throughout. Prov. "E R" (old initials on front flyleaf). - “donum eximium Abbatis Franc. Lomellini” (verso of front vellum flyleaf). - “Spectat ad Bibliot[h]ec[am] SSmme Anunciate Genue | ex Dono facto Ill[ustrissi]mi R[everendi] D[omi]ni Abbatis Fran[cis]ci Lomellini | Augustini Filij | 1709. die 20. Maij” (f. 216r), i.e. the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, the Genoa Cathedral; in 1591 the patrician Lomellini family continued its reconstruction and favoured the cathedral for centuries (ms. note). - [Georges Petit].