Devotee of Mary - Learning Prayer Book - H. Bertens - c. 1930

Dutch-language Catholic prayer book Vereerder van Maria (Devotee of Mary), compiled by Dr. H. Bertens and printed by Henri Proost & Cie. in Turnhout. A beautifully crafted devotional book from the interwar period, bound in brown leather with blind-stamped floral corner ornaments and a gold-colored title on the spine.

The compact prayer book contains an extensive collection of Catholic prayers and devotions, including communion exercises, vespers, compline, litanies, and the Stations of the Cross. The ecclesiastical approval is dated Mechelen, January 31, 1928. A table of movable feasts for 1930 through 1959 helps further place the copy in the interwar period.

Particularly beautiful are the marbled endpapers and the fully gold-colored edges with a warm reddish glow. Together with the leather binding and the small size, these details give the book the character of a personal prayer book intended to be carried and used for many years.

The copy bears clear signs of that use. The leather shows wear on the spine, edges, and corners, and the book block is slightly skewed. Between the first and second gathering, at pages 14/15, the book block is locally loose in the binding. The rest of the book block is solid, and the pages have been preserved in predominantly good and clean condition.

Details:

• Title: Vereerder van Maria
• Type: Catholic church and prayer book
• Author: Dr. H. Bertens, R.C. priest
• Printer: Henri Proost & Cie.
• Location: Turnhout, Belgium
• Dating: ca. 1930, interwar period
• Imprimatur: Mechelen, January 31, 1928
• Language: Dutch, with some Latin texts
• Binding: brown leather
• Decoration: blind stamping and gold-colored spine title
• Endpapers: marbled
• Edges: gold-colored with a reddish glow
• Extent: 636 pages with additional prayer texts
• Dimensions: ca. 13 × 8 cm
• Thickness: 28 mm
• Condition: used, with wear to the leather binding and a locally loose binding between the first and second gathering