PRAYER TO THE HOLY VIRGIN. By Pierre Louis de Valtan. Manuscript on vellum, 12 double-sided leaves (except the 1st and last) with 20 lines, text in ruled brown ink, header in red and colophon in blue. 1st page with initial in blue monochrome for the Salue Mater. Marginal decoration in blue with fleur-de-lys in a diamond grid. Gold lettering on alternating blue or red background. In 8 (12.5 x 20.2 cm) full brown morocco, smooth spine decorated with fillets and title along the length, with two small fleurons. Boards decorated with two series of three fillets with CC monograms in the corners. Silk lined endpapers, with roulettes and fillets. Binding signed Henry Joseph (Pierson's successor in 1895, and deceased in 1918). Minor rubbing on one corner. A wetness has affected the 1st page up to its central part, with deterioration of the decoration and damage to the text. Freckles and small stains on the last leaves, small loss of vellum on the upper corners of the last leaves. Pierre Louis de Valtan was Councillor to King Charles VIII, and his butler during the Naples expedition. This opuscule was presented to the king by the author in 1495. A few handwritten lines from the 15th century on the last page read: "Ce dessus nome donna ceste horaison a mas Phes Du Molin (Philippe du Moulin) len desusdit", with the signature of Ph du Moulin. This work was published in the Bulletin de la Société d'Agriculture de la Sarthe. 2nd series Tome VII 1860, pages 60 and following. According to a note by Mr J. Chappée, this book was a gift from Abbé Sifflet (vicar of St Benoit), found in the archives of the parish of Notre Dame de Torcé in the Sarthe and published by Abbé Jacques Louis Antoine Maris Lochet. Expert : François Jullien