An unrecorded edition of the Roman Missal, sumptuously bound in a piece of recycled, eighteenth-century embroidered silk, possibly cut from ecclesiastical cloth or vestments. Intertwining green stems bearing sunburst-yellow tulips, red carnations and pink buds, all picked out in silk thread, weave over a striking, vibrant turquoise silk background. An additional tulip spans the length of the spine to crown a crudely-stitched, comical face at the foot.
The fabric covering was evidently not purposely produced for this volume; while it sits neatly, the design was not made to fit the dimensions here, and, as noted by specialist Dr. Mary Brooks, the embroidery continues on the fabric used for the turn-ins, which would not be usual for a professionally made cover, for reasons of economy in time and use of materials. The style of the decorative floral design here strongly echoes that used in ecclesiastical textiles, vestments and altar dressings in Italy after the Counter-Reformation and into the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and indicates that this silk binding may well have been repurposed and recycled from ecclesiastical linens.
There was an established tradition by the eighteenth century of recycling and reusing holy linens on the Continent and in England; after the Reformation in England, fragments of altar cloths were ‘upcycled’ into domestic furnishings, and within the established Church, full copes and larger textiles were cut up to be reused as vestments. The fabric here appears to be continuous; Dr Brooks suggests that, if it is ecclesiastical fabric, it would be too wide to be a stole, and so may have come from a chasuble or other vestment.
It is also in keeping with Italian embroidery design for religious linens in this period, when more vernacular themes in decoration were favoured over religious subjects; ‘Italian vestments followed the fashion of baroque architecture in which flamboyance was the touchstone of a worldly, almost hedonistic concept for glorious churches. Workshops in Rome were celebrated for needlework almost exclusively of gold, the patterns being of a bold scrolling form, sometimes with additional bright colours…luxuriant flowers, scrollings and swags represent non-religious decoration of the highest order’; ‘religious subjects were frequently more prominent in domestic eighteenth century needlework than in important ecclesiastical pieces’ (Synge, p.172).
The toothily smiling face stitched at the foot of the spine - il verde, a green man? - and the more naive line of stitching along the top edge of the binding, simply decorated with flowers on the turn-ins present something of a mystery; perhaps later additions by the amateur needleworker, likely needlewoman, who initially repurposed the fabric.
The lavish binding befits a devotional volume such as this, and its wear further demonstrates that it was extensively used. The wear to the joints and fragile silk indicate that it was opened repeatedly, and splashes of wax to the silk of the upper cover suggest it had a practical function during services. The first four leaves (O5-O8) of the Canon of the Mass - the element of the whole Missal that would have been the most frequently and repeatedly used - has been supplied from another, later copy, presumably because the original leaves were used to pieces. There are remnants of pink silk page markers exclusively for that particular section, to enable easy navigation. Additional, later pages bound into the end of the volume are masses for particular Sundays and feast days, reinforcing this book’s function as a working volume.
We have found no other copies of this edition of the Missal; Venetian printer Francesco Bodio printed other devotional, liturgical - and secular - works in this period, but the present edition appears to be unrecorded. The frontispiece and six further full page engravings are by Giovanni Merlio, better known with engraver Stefano Scolari, for a monumental panorama of the city of Venice (1656).
Worming and staining to title page, title leaf backed, thumbing and minor staining throughout.
With many thanks to Dr Mary Brooks for sharing her expertise, based on photos of this binding. Lanto Synge, The Art of Embroidery (Woodbridge: 2001). Not listed on OPAC SBN, USTC. No copies found on OCLC.
