This book is so cool, we can't believe it. It is a liturgical guide for feast days produced in the Benedictine monastery of Ambronay in 1740, and it is neither print nor traditional manuscript. Instead, the entire text was created using stencils on vellum. If you look closely, you'll see every letter is cut to make it hold together for inking. Imagine the work that went into creating this!
Extra interesting for us is that the illuminated decorations were never completed. That allows us to see the process they employed to create the book--sketching out the decorations, then carefully filling them in. It is another case of a devotional book being created as an act of devotion. Stunning, inspirational, and a joy to handle.
Come in and ask for Codex MS 003530 to experience it for yourself.