1867 Recueil de prières: Gilt-Gauffered and Hand-Painted Floral Page Edges

Recueil de prières de Madame de Fenoil, printed by H. Corner, Lyon, France. Published 1867. 

Originally compiled by Madeleine de Fenoyl, this prayer collection became one of the most popular and frequently reprinted private devotional books in France throughout the 1800s.

This rare edition features a brown leather cover, a central medallion depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all page edges are gold gilt-gauffered and hand-painted with a floral motif in green and red, gold-tone metal frame around front and back covers with intricate gold-tone clasp closure. 776 pages. 

Gauffering involves heating small tools and manually stamping intricate, repeating indentations into the page edges. In this case, an artisan then used micro-brushes to paint colored enamels or lacquers inside the pressed indentations. The design on this book features rich emerald green rosettes accented by delicate crimson red buds.