Leaf on vellum from a printed Book of Hours.

Book of Hours leaf, printed by Thielman Kerver* in 1505. It is printed on vellum in black with many initials hand-painted in red, blue, and gold.
On the verso is a large miniature of the Visitation: Mary and Elisabeth meet. On the recto: the flight to Egypt - because Herod wanted to kill the Child ( Matt. 2 )
*The firm of Thielman Kerver is best known for its lovely printed Books of Hours, many of which include hand-painted miniatures and initial letters. Thielman Kerver, one of France’s most prolific printers, began printing Books of Hours in 1497 and continued until he died in 1522. His widow, Iolande Bonhomme, took over the firm and continued to produce liturgical books of different types until 1556. Brunet notes that even though Kerver printed many different Books of Hours, his work is less common than his colleagues, Simon Vostre and the Hardouins. Brunet suspects that is because fewer copies on vellum were printed, and paper copies were destroyed. This may also account for the rarity of the present leaf.