"Imitation de la Très Sainte Vierge" [Société S. Jean l’Évangéliste, 1888]

[Anonymous]. L’Imitation de la Très Sainte Vierge.

Tournay: Société S. Jean l’Évangéliste (Desclée, Lefebvre et Cie, Éditeurs Pontificaux), 1888. 4.25" x 3", 120pp. Hand-painted vellum over boards, covers framed in red and green rules with a central crowned monogram in red and black; spine lettered in red with decorative devices. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Illustrated throughout with numerous woodcut-style devotional scenes within ornamental borders. Light soiling and a bit of bowing to vellum, minor wear at corners and spine ends; internally clean with a contemporary gift inscription to front flyleaf. Very Good.

A compact late 19th-century French devotional, attractively produced, with a particularly appealing hand-decorated vellum binding and dense program of devotional illustration. The scale, materials, and finish place it firmly in the tradition of personal prayer books intended as presentation or gift volumes.