Early Printed Breviary Bifolium with Woodcuts and Musical Notation
Attributed to the Giunta Press (Early 16th Century)
Conjugate bifolium (two connected leaves) from an early printed Latin breviary, featuring red and black typography, woodcut illustrations, and printed chant notation. The leaves remain joined as issued, preserving original format and imposition across four pages (pp. 63 and 70).
Text is set in Gothic type with rubrication throughout, including headings such as De benedictione and De monacho faciendo, consistent with monastic liturgical use. The first opening contains multiple inset woodcut scenes integrated within the text, while the second includes a full column of printed musical notation on four-line staves for chant. Decorative initials in red appear throughout.
The combination of blackletter type, red and black printing, woodcut illustration, and printed music is characteristic of early 16th-century liturgical printing. According to accompanying correspondence from the prior owner, the leaves are from a Giunta-printed edition, a major Italian press active in Venice and Florence and well known for producing richly illustrated liturgical books of this type.
