Books of Hours survive in their thousands in libraries, museums and private collections across the Western world, reflecting both the personal piety and the fashionable taste of the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe. They owe their name to a single essential text, the Hours (or Little Office) of the Virgin Mary, but otherwise their contents may vary quite considerably. This book acts as an introduction to some of the most beautiful and historically interesting manuscripts in the collections of the British Library, and contains 140 reproductions from this rich tradition. Selected and with an introduction by Janet Backhouse, former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library, Illuminations from Books of Hours offers an unparalleled opportunity to see a wide range of examples from these precious manuscripts, many of which will have never been seen before.
- ISBN10 0712348492
- ISBN13 9780712348492
- Publish Date 1 August 2004
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 1 November 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher British Library Publishing
- Imprint The British Library Publishing Division
- Format Paperback
- Pages 160
- Language English