[Armes de Marie Leszczynska, épouse de Louis XV] - Office de la Semaine - 1674

Treasure of royal piety and grand bibliophilic splendor, this exceptional Book of Hours bearing the arms of Queen Marie Leszczynska perfectly embodies the intimate spiritual refinement of the court’s devotions during the reign of Louis XV.

HOLY WEEK, according to the Breviary & Missal of Rome.
New edition, in Latin & in French.
In Paris, at Pierre Le Petit, Printer & Ordinary Bookseller to the King, rue Saint-Jacques, at the Croix d’Or, 1674 (with privilege and contemporary pieces).

A very large quarto in full red morocco. Spine and boards richly decorated. Wear and losses at the corners and headcaps in particular. Beautiful binding nevertheless. Interior well preserved. Missing the title page (and perhaps a frontispiece?). The illustrated section comprises 2 superb plates out of text and engraved in copper within the text (notably the Last Supper and the Resurrection), finely cut by the master burinists of the era, enhanced with initials, tailpieces and ornamental borders.

Luxuriously bound, the boards stamped at their center with the great golden arms of Queen Marie Leszczynska (bearing the arms of France joined to those of Poland-Lithuania), topped by the closed royal crown, all surrounded by a wide border of rich decorative flourishes and small gilded tools. Spine with gold-tooled compartments and gilt fleurons, title piece in red morocco bearing the inscription “SEMAINE SAINTE”, casings and turn-ins adorned, gilded edges.

Books bearing the arms of Marie Leszczynska — daughter of Stanislas I and devout wife of Louis XV — stand out for their aesthetic exactitude and their sought-after religious sobriety. Having belonged to the sovereign’s intimate circle at Versailles or Fontainebleau, this copy of the Holy Week served as a daily liturgical guide during the Easter solennities, an emotional testimony to the personal piety of a learned queen and patron, whose personal library remains one of the most coveted by bibliophiles keen on royal female provenance.