1440 Book of Hours - Illuminated Medieval Manuscript
Description
Send to friend
Circa 1440 Illuminated Medieval Manuscript: Book of Hours.
Leaf from a book of hours, on vellum, in Latin, France (Paris?), Use of Paris, c. 1440. Text in “Black-Letter Gothic” script in dark near black ink in a skilled uniform hand. 16 lines ruled in red, with rubrics in red, and yellow wash to all capitals, all inside wide margins (approx. leaf size: 7” X 5”). Bright versal initials in burnished gold upon mauve and blue grounds with white tracery, and contrasting line-fillers of similar design.
In medieval times all books were handmade. Known today as medieval manuscripts. These manuscript volumes were often very beautiful due to the time and effort scribes put into their making. Pages were usually made from vellum, which required a parchment maker. Paper was not commonly used until later. But that was only the beginning—a scribe must then be employed to hand-copy the entire book, letter by letter—the printing press would not be invented until the mid 1400s. Depending on the length of the book, this could take a year—or longer. Often, in earlier medieval days, monks would complete this task. Their monastic life—often fairly solitary and philosophical—fit the job’s requirements very well. In fact, monasteries produced most books until the 13th century. But learning was increasing, and major universities were expanding. Those outside the monasteries began to take up the work of bookmaking to increase the supply of written material. When each script was finished, it was adorned with an artist’s work—known as illumination. Illumination brought gold and colors to the pages of these books – but the more illumination contained in each book, the more it cost to produce, and to purchase. (Larger books were also more expensive.) However, people so loved the illuminated accents that their inclusion would be carried on for centuries, even after the invention of printing. After a book was illuminated, it was bound and sent to a bookseller – who not only sold the books to those interested in certain titles, but also supervised the finalization of the bookmaking process. Still, books were scarce during this time period— largely due to the immense work and materials involved in making even one copy.
Random Selection From Our Collection
Accompanied with Certificate of Authenticity from the Christian Heritage Museum
www.christianheritiagemuseum.com
