P. Flavianus - Roman Catholic Sunday Missal - Leather Edition - 1946

A beautifully produced Roman Catholic Sunday Missal from 1946, compiled by the Franciscan friar P. Flavianus O.F.M. and published by Henri Proost & Co. in Turnhout.

The book was compiled as a practical Missal and prayer book and contains the Masses and prayers for Sundays and feast days, ecclesiastical hymns, penitential prayers, and other devotional texts. Particularly noteworthy are the supplements for the Dutch and Flemish dioceses, including the feast days of various Flemish saints.

This edition dates from the first post-war years and contains an ecclesiastical calendar for 1946. The imprimatur page bears a new ecclesiastical approval dated 29 June 1946 in Mechelen.

The production is particularly refined. The book is bound in brown leather with a blind-stamped geometric decoration on the front cover and title lettering on the spine. Inside are richly marbled endpapers in muted green, brown, and red tones. The red-and-gold-colored edges are also still clearly visible. In addition to typographic ornaments, the interior contains various religious illustrations and musical notation.

The leather binding shows clear signs of use and age, with wear along the edges and local damage to the leather. Nevertheless, the binding and the text block remain firm. A characterful, well-preserved devotional book from the Catholic life of the years immediately following the Second World War.

Specifications:

• Title: Roman Catholic Sunday Missal
• Subtitle: Very Practical Prayer Book
• Compiler: P. Flavianus O.F.M.
• Order: Order of Friars Minor / Franciscans
• Publisher: Henri Proost & Co.
• Place of publication: Turnhout, Belgium
• Year: 1946
• Language: Dutch and Latin
• Subject: Roman Catholic liturgy, Mass prayers, and devotion
• Production: bound Missal and prayer book
• Binding: brown leather with blind-stamped decoration
• Endpapers: decoratively marbled
• Edges: red-and-gold colored
• Illustrations: religious illustrations and ornaments in black and white
• Other contents: musical notation and ecclesiastical calendar for 1946
• Dimensions: approx. 15 × 9 cm
• Thickness: approx. 2.5 cm
• Origin: Turnhout, Belgium
• Condition: firmly bound copy with well-preserved interior; the leather binding shows clear wear, discoloration, and local damage to the edges and bottom