Antique Dutch Catholic Prayer Book Red Leather Metal Hardware Belgium 1840s
Antique Dutch Catholic Prayer Book Red Leather Metal Hardware Belgium 1840s
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The binding is the whole reason to own this book. Red leather over boards, gold-tooled in scrolling floral panels on both covers and spine, with eight white-metal corner pieces set with dome-headed boss studs and two decorative rosette mounts, all anchored by a working harp-motif clasp that still closes. Books dressed this way in mid-nineteenth century Belgium were not everyday objects. They were made as gifts, almost certainly for a first communion or confirmation, intended to be carried to Mass and kept for a lifetime. This one was. Tucked between its pages are a pressed flower, a handful of small chromolithograph floral stickers, a Victorian devotional card with children in period dress, a "Mater Dolorosa" pietà print, and a printed memorial card for Catherine Boursier, who died in Charleroi, Belgium, on 5 October 1880 at the age of seventy-seven, and her husband François-Joseph Désert, who followed her in 1885. Forty years of a Belgian Catholic family's devotional life, intact.
The binding carries honest age throughout and should be understood as a heavily used devotional object, not a shelf piece. The red leather is rubbed and worn across both covers, with significant surface scuffing, areas of leather loss exposing the board, and general dulling of the gold tooling, though the tooled designs remain visible and legible. The spine shows the same wear pattern with the title partially legible. The white-metal corner furniture and boss studs are present and intact, showing appropriate oxidation and patina. The clasp mechanism is functional and closes. The text block is toned to a warm amber throughout, consistent with age, with some page edges uneven from use. The sewing is exposed and shows some fraying at the spine gutter, visible in the interior photographs; the book opens freely but should be handled with care. The title page is detached and absent. The tucked ephemera, memorial card, devotional prints, floral stickers, and pressed flower, are all present and in the condition in which they were found.
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Every antique and vintage item we carry has lived a life before arriving in your home. These are not factory-made products. They are objects with history, character, and the marks of time.
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