This elegant Missale was used by Catholic priests in the diocese of Padua in Northern Italy during the sixteenth century. Although the Missale Romanum was destined to be the more widely used for the Canon of the Mass, local texts came into vogue after the invention of the printing press. This edition has a publisher's plate on the title page, depicting the figures of St. Stephen and St. Valentine. The last page contains the printer's plate of Peter Liechtenstein, Venice. Decorative margins and initials together with pictorial woodcuts enhance the Gothic type used in the printing of this rare book. The binding is of tooled leather with metal clasps.[ME]