Bernard was a produtive writer on various aspects of the Bible and Christianity. As a devoted Mariologist, he emphasized Mary's central role in Christian theology and preached effectively on Marian devotions, making the present publication one of the most representative and influential of all his works. It was pivotal in shaping Medieval and Renaissance Marian devotion.

Antwerp rapidly emerged as a dominant center for illustrated books in the late 15th century, with Gerard Leeu, the printer of the present work, at the forefront of this movement. He was among the most prolific printers of his time, using over 850 different woodblocks across his works:
"Antwerp rapidly became the main centre for illustrated books in the Low Countries and Gerard Leeu was without doubt the most prolific printer of them, with more than 850 different woodblocks used in the books he produced. He collaborated with anonymous engravers, whose names came from their place of activity: from the First and Second Gouda woodcutters, to the Master of Haarlem and the First Antwerp Woodcutter. Leeu also obtained many other engravings from colleagues such as Jacob Bellaert (fl. 1483-1486) from Haarlem, or Heinrich Knoblochtzer (c. 1445-1500) from Strasbourg. As evidence of his good relationships with certain other printers, Leeu did not hesitate to lend them woodblocks, as, for example, he did with Johann Koelhoff (c. 1502) in Cologne and Arend de Keysere († 1489) in Ghent. After his death, his collection of woodblocks was dispersed amongst several printers, such as, in Antwerp, Adriaen van Liesvelt (fl. 1494-1500), Dirk Martens, Roland van den Dorp († c. 1500) and Henrick Eckert, as well as the Zwolle-based Peter Os van Breda (fl. 1480-1510). Leeu is a perfect example of a printer who used all available means to get hold of the materials required to illustrate his editions, and, in contrast to some others, he never resorted to using less competent engravers who would simply copy woodcuts that appeared in the publications of competitors." (Adam, The Emergence of Antwerp as a printing centre, p. 21).

The present work has a most fascinating provenance. The earliest recorded ownership of this book places it in the Abbey of the Prémontrés of Berne, located near Heusden in the Netherlands. It was most likely placed in this library immediately or shortly after printing, judging from the inscription on the title-page. The Abbey of Prémontré  was among the monasteries suppressed after the French Revolution and it was demolished in 1790.
At some point, the book crossed the North Sea and found its way to England. By the mid-20th century, it was housed in Portsmouth, specifically at the Bishophouse, and became part of the Virtue & Cahill Library collection.
The book was later sold at Christie’s auction on July 5–7, 1967 (catalogued as Nr. 8), where it was purchased by Bernard Breslauer.
In 1968, Breslauer sold the book to Otto Schäfer, the noted German collector and industrialist. Schäfer’s collection in Schweinfurt was renowned for its focus on early printed books and illustrated incunabula. During its time in the Schäfer Collection, the book was exhibited in 1973 as part of the “Druckgraphik des 15. Jahrhunderts” exhibition, organized for the Fränkische Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft in Schweinfurt.

BM 15th century IX, p. 193
Goff B400
Hain-Copinger 2864-2865
Schäfer 42
ISTC: ib00400000

OCLC only listS one copy in the US (Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library)