"hours For The White Penitents Of Montpellier" First Edition 1654 - M. Henry De La Croix

"Hours for the White Penitents of Montpellier"
First Original Edition of 1654.

The hours were compiled by Brother Henry de La Croix de Castries, Master of Ceremonies of the Chapel of the White Penitents of Montpellier in 1649, 1653, and 1654.

Printed and Published by Mr. Daniel PECH,
Printer to the King and City of Montpellier in 1654.

With the permission of Monsignor Guillaume De Guillermin,
November 26, 1653.

The very rare "Hours" intended for the officers and brothers of the devout company of the White Penitents of Montpellier, a brotherhood established in the sixteenth century under the name and invocation of the Holy Spirit and placed under the protection of the Blessed Virgin.

Which include the three services of Our Lady, the Service of the Dead, those of the four solemn Feasts, the Service of the Passion, those of Holy Week, etc.

The three editions followed one another, all very rare:
the first in 1654, published in Montpellier,
the second in 1700, and the third in 1729, published in Avignon.

Descriptions
This 1654 edition is printed in two columns,
in large red and black type.
There is a first manuscript on the first endpaper (See Photos).
There is a second handwriting on the last pages,
(Brother Curbelier, Elder Son) in pen and black ink.

Pages 155, 157, 161, 165, 289, and 473 have a leaf collage over a tear.
The book consists of a flyleaf and the Permission. There is a first notebook of 42 pages,
there is the main body of the book of 578 numbered pages,
a second notebook at the end of the book of 28 pages
and two handwritten pages,
making a total of 650 pages printed in 1654 (371 years ago).