Missal of Langres of 1517: the Only Known Copy Printed on Vellum, Richly Illuminated by Etienne Colaud

Missale diocesis Lingonensis [...]. Paris, Jean Petit, 1517. Printed on parchment. With two full-page, one large and more than 100 metalcuts, illuminated by Etienne Colaud and his workshop. Folio (311 x 224 mm). Bound in 18th century red morocco.

This Missal was most likely printed in 1517 on commission of the influential Bishop of Langres, Michel Boudet, chaplain to Queen Claude de France. If the edition is very rare anyway, this is the only copy printed on vellum; the more than 100 woodcuts and numerous metal-cut initials were illuminated in gold and colours by the outstanding Parisian master Etienne Colaud and his workshop. The complete and immaculately preserved book from the heyday of the Burgundian bishopric came in the early 18th century to the Dijon statesman Jean Bouhier, later – possibly coming from Edward Harley – it was in the possession of the Russian noble family Demidoff in Moscow and ultimately in the library of the Russian Tsars in Tsarskoe Selo.

This Missal has been described in great detail in our catalogue 90 “Wunderkammer”, no. 19, available in our Online Shop.

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