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A History of Illuminated Manuscripts Paperback – September 26, 1997
Medieval manuscripts are among Western civilization's greatest glories. Laboriously written by hand and often sumptuously decorated, they have always been highly valued and remain as brilliant, fascinating and popular as ever.
Christopher de Hamel vividly describes the circumstances in which such books were created - from the earliest monastic Gospel Books to the most lavish Books of Hours. For the second edition of this book, the text has been revised and updated and the whole volume completely redesigned with a striking wealth of new colour illustrations.
- Print length272 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPhaidon Press
- Publication dateSeptember 26, 1997
- Grade level8 and up
- Reading age13 years and up
- Dimensions10 x 1.13 x 11.5 inches
- ISBN-100714834521
- ISBN-13978-0714834528
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"It is no mere history, but an original, lively and richly illustrated commentary."―Times Literary Supplement
"Gorgeous and informative. A wonderful introduction to handwritten books from the Dark Ages to the invention of printing in the fifteenth century."―Houston Chronicle
"Lavish, beautiful and sweeping look at the beginning of the printed word."―Graphic Arts Monthly
"Along with excellent illustrations, this large volume includes a bibliography and index of manuscripts."―The Good Book Guide
About the Author
Christopher de Hamel is a Fellow Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. For many years he was head of the Western Manuscripts department at Sotheby's in London. He is the author of The Book: A History of the Bible, also published by Phaidon, which has become established as a definitive work and magnum opus in itself.
Product details
- Publisher : Phaidon Press; 2nd ed. edition (September 26, 1997)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 272 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0714834521
- ISBN-13 : 978-0714834528
- Reading age : 13 years and up
- Grade level : 8 and up
- Item Weight : 3.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 10 x 1.13 x 11.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #539,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #211 in Book Design
- #305 in Calligraphy Guides
- #2,844 in Art History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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The second edition of De Hamel's book is structured as was the first: an informative introduction is followed by chapters which divide and discuss the manuscripts according to their intended users (missionaries, emperors, monks, students, aristocrats, everybody, priests, and collectors); an extended bibliography precedes several useful indexes. This Phaidon paperback edition is a beautiful book, with a white paper cover adorned with a full-color dust-jacket. Many new illustrations have been added, and there are many more color illustrations than there were in the first edition. More importantly, the text has been updated to reflect ongoing research in the field.
My only complaint about this edition is that many of the important full-color and full-page illustrations in the first edition (to which I often referred in my classes) have either been reduced in size or eliminated entirely in the new edition. There are also significant (and inexplicable) differences in the color reproduction of illuminations between the first (David R. Godine, Publisher) edition and this second (Phaidon Press) edition--sometimes the differences are so radical that only a close inspection (or a familiarity with the actual documents) reveals they are photographs of the same manuscript. And since many of these manuscripts are from private collections (to which Mr. De Hamel apparently gained access by reputation or through associations established during his tenure at Sotheby's), it would be impossible for most readers to know which of the differing reproductions are the more accurate. My own experience would suggest that not all the changes in the new Phaidon edition are indeed improvements.
Publishing faults aside, this is a fine book by a scholar with impeccable credentials and a gift for clarity and sensibility in his writing. I highly recommend it.
Some of the photographs are so detailed that you can see the individual brushstrokes and the colors are incredibly vibrant. This is by far the best book on illuminated manuscripts I have seen. Other books simply pale in comparison to the beauty, detail and color of this one.
As others have stated, there are prints of manuscripts in this book that have rarely been seen before. For those interested in re-creating manuscripts, there are several "unfinished" examples which allow you to see the sketches behind the color.
The book is divided into sections covering "books for students", "books for clergy", "books for everybody" etc. It is quite interesting to see the differences between the quality of the various books as well as Latin vs vernacular languages.
I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in art, illuminated manuscripts or medieval history.
But once I managed to calm down and start reading the text, I fell in love with the book even more. It is clearly written, yet technical enough to give a full understanding of the astounding illuminated manuscripts. Putting them in a historical context added so much more to my understanding and therefore appreciation. I have quite a few books on the topic. This one draws them all into a single fabric.