The Illuminated Book of Psalms: The Illustrated Text of all 150 Hymns and Prayers

by Anonymous

The Book of Psalms is married together here with artwork from medieval manuscripts and intricate borders to create a beautiful jewel of a book that is produced with a silk cover, flexible binding, and ribbon marker, in the style of a unique, illuminated keepsake. All 150 passages from the Book of Psalms, which is revered in many sects of Judaism and Christianity and is one of the best known, most beautifully written sections of the Bible, are included. The 50 works of art from illuminated manuscripts, as well as dozens of borders and smaller illustrations are printed in five colors including simulated gold ink.

• ISBN10: 1631910043
• ISBN13: 9781631910043
• Publish Date: 15 September 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc
• Edition: Illuminated Edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I had to make a new shelf for this one as I generally don't own a lot of (any) religious texts, but I am a sucker for illuminated manuscripts and this is a beautiful modern-day collection of various illuminations set to the full text of the book of Psalms.  I also have to admit that it was a great opportunity to passive-aggressively poke a finger in the eye of a brother-in-law who lives under the delusion that his pseudo-intellectual atheism makes him superior to those whose faith lies outside themselves.  I'd had it up to my eyeballs with his snide comments the last few months and this book came to me at the right time for it to conveniently reside on my coffee table for the duration of his visit.   

No, this does not make me a good person.  It was immature really, but it seemed better than sticking him with a fork during Christmas lunch, which is what I really wanted to do.  I have no idea if he even saw it, but it made me feel better to do it.   (N.B. Please know that I do not make any judgements about atheism in general, just this one person's profoundly insulting and disrespectful attitude.)   

I spent a few hours on January 2nd flipping through it, enjoying the truly breathtaking artistry and combination reading/skimming the psalms themselves.  I grew up hearing quite a few of them at mass, but I enjoyed discovering the ones I'd never heard; some can be quite entertaining; some stirring and some are downright epic.   

I don't read much in the way of religious texts; I was extremely fortunate to have a very solid education in theology growing up and I don't have a lot of patience for what a lot of mainstream texts consider important to being a "Christian".  But this book, this book is one that I'll take down and enjoy from time to time, with its painstaking artistry and its prose that offers a little bit of something for whatever mood you're in.