{"product_id":"a-processional-on-vellum-from-the-hieronymite-monastery-of-belem","title":"A Processional on Vellum from the Hieronymite Monastery of Belém","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOne of Two Known Copies of the Lisbon \u003cem\u003eProcessionarium\u003c\/em\u003e of 1526\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eProcessionarium secundum consuetudinem ordinis sancti Hieronymi.\u003c\/em\u003e Lisbon, Germão Galharde, 1526.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the rarest surviving Portuguese liturgical books of the early sixteenth century: the Lisbon \u003cem\u003eProcessionarium\u003c\/em\u003e printed by Germão Galharde in 1526 for the Hieronymite Order, preserved here in one of only two known copies and printed on vellum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume was produced for the great Hieronymite monastery of Belém, founded by King Manuel I near Lisbon at the height of Portugal’s imperial expansion. Few liturgical books are more closely connected to the political and spiritual ambitions of the Portuguese Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA–P8 II10 = 119 leaves. Printed in black and red on vellum. Quarto (approximately 190 × 122 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a half-page woodcut of the Crucifixion, numerous woodcut initials in red and black, red lombards, and musical notation printed in black on red four-line staves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary blind-stamped calf binding over wooden boards, with broad intersecting fillets forming compartments filled with floral and rosette tools. Remnants of the original clasps survive. Preserved in a modern half-morocco case.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Hieronymites and Manueline Portugal\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eProcessionarium\u003c\/em\u003e was printed for use within the Hieronymite Order, whose monastery at Belém occupied a central position within the religious and dynastic culture of sixteenth-century Portugal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKing Manuel I founded the monastery beside the Tagus shortly after Vasco da Gama’s return from India. The site became inseparable from the age of Portuguese maritime expansion, imperial wealth, and royal piety. Vasco da Gama himself later received burial there, as did Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa in subsequent centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present \u003cem\u003eProcessionarium\u003c\/em\u003e belongs fully to that historical moment. Though modest in scale compared to monumental choirbooks, it formed part of the daily ceremonial life of one of the most symbolically charged monasteries in Renaissance Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGermão Galharde and Early Portuguese Printing\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe printer Germão Galharde occupies an important place in the history of Portuguese typography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally from France, Galharde settled in Lisbon and became one of the principal printers active under Manuel I and João III. His workshop produced liturgical, legal, and humanist texts during the formative decades of Portuguese printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present \u003cem\u003eProcessionarium\u003c\/em\u003e reflects the restrained elegance characteristic of Iberian liturgical printing in this period. The alternating red and black typography, the carefully structured musical notation, and the strong woodcut initials preserve the visual language of late medieval devotional books while already moving toward a more stable Renaissance typographic order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Rare Survival on Vellum\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rarity of the edition is extreme.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly two copies appear to survive, both printed on vellum. Unlike large choirbooks chained within ecclesiastical spaces, processional books were handled constantly outdoors during ceremonies and feast days, making survival rates exceptionally low.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy therefore preserves not only a rare Portuguese imprint, but a fragile liturgical form that was especially vulnerable to loss through use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Hieronymite monastery of Belém near Lisbon. Later in a Portuguese private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; Anselmo 502; Bohatta; Brunet; Graesse; USTC; not in the British Library.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 23:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_1_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume I\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46851828711612,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p207_img03-Photoroom.png?v=1779394175","url":"https:\/\/atelierzweig.com\/products\/a-processional-on-vellum-from-the-hieronymite-monastery-of-belem","provider":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}