Jan Zamoyski's Prayer Book

Jan Zamoyski's Prayer Book is a French printed prayer book from around 1485.

Jan Zamoyski's Prayer Book is the only copy in the world of the first printed edition of the French book of hours. The book was published around 1485 probably in the printshop of Jean du Pré in Paris. Between the sixteenth and the twentieth century, the copy was held by the library of the Zamoyski family. It is traditionally identified as the prayer book of Jan Zamoyski. After the World War II, Jan Tomasz Zamoyski deposited the family library with the National Library of Poland, to which it now belongs. From May 2024, the book is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth.

The prayer book contains hours destined for the diocese of Tours. It is printed in Gothic type on parchment. A text is written in Latin and French. The size of the book is 10.5x8 cm. The 14 full-page figurative images preceding selected texts of the Gospels, the Hours, penitential psalms and prayers for the dead, were painted on woodcuts. The other decorative elements include three small portraits of the evangelists. The other decorative elements include three small portraits of the evangelists, bejewelled frames, small initials with floral and zoomorphic motifs and plant borders on the margins of some pages.