Surveys of Illuminated Manuscripts

A 1995 reprint of a book published in 1849. I am always reluctant to recommend books whose color plates come from the chromolithography process of the 1800's, not because the plates aren't worthy pieces of art in their own right, but because they are almost always inaccurate. The process used in these plates requires the printer to hire an artist to redraw the illuminated page that was to be printed, then cut stones for each of the colors and tints being applied. It was a long, difficult process. The colors are often poorly mimicked and the artists tended to redraw elements according to the aesthetics of the day rather than reproduce elements they considered barbaric or improper. On the other hand, these nineteenth-century books took illumination out of the monastery and brought them to the general public with the best technology available, and I can only admire and commend such a worthy effort. The text of the book is quite good, and the color plates, if viewed in the above context, are very nice. I would recommend this book as an addition to the library of someone already familiar with illuminated manuscripts, or for someone who studies the Victorian revival of interest in the Middle Ages. As one of the first books for someone just beginning to learn about illuminated manuscripts, however, I'd have to give this book a Not Recommended.

These are mostly attractive initials, but they aren't very medieval. Jones used what he learned about Medieval art to create some very lovely, very Victorian letters. If you are looking for inspiration for a nineteenth century piece, this is for you. If you want to do pre-1600 work, then this is a definite Not Recommended.

Another exhibition catalogue, with the usual good qualities. It is interesting to note the difference in the skill level of Italian illuminators versus Northern illuminators--while there are certainly exceptions to this rule, the Italians don't really come into their own until the later Renaissance. The contrast between Italian painters versus Italian illuminators is striking. Recommended.

Nice survey of scripts, with some excellent enlargements of the plates, allowing a very close look at the script. Intelligent discussion accompanies the plates, so this is a survey that works both as an instructional text and a visual reference. Recommended.

Survey presenting some of the illuminations from 52 items in the Getty Museum collection, ranging from the late 900's through the 1500's. The majority of works are German. Nice visual survey; in many ways similar to the surveys published by the Geo. Braziller company. Recommended.

An exhibition catalogue with a heavy dose of history; perhaps 1/3 of the book is dedicated to pre-1600 items. Many color plates. Somewhat Recommended.

A catalogue of all the known manuscripts and manuscript fragments in New Zealand. The text is concerned with the location and provenance of the various items, but there are a few interesting tidbits to be gleaned from reading through it. Also contains 198 plates (24 in color); a few of the examples are a bit unusual. Somewhat Recommended.

9 scholorly essays about particular aspects of devotional books, 8 color plates, and 98 black and white plates. This book is lovely if you are academically inclined, but if you are just looking for a visual survey, you might prefer something less expensive (I paid list price for it, which was at least US$115, maybe more) and more plate-intensive. Plates are primarily from 13th-15th century. Although I really enjoy this book, the cost versus the potential use for most scribes forces me to give it a Somewhat Recommended--and that, only barely. The book really stikes me as an academic exercise in gaining tenure in a "publish or perish" enviornment, and the saving grace is that some of the plates are unusual and most are unique to the publication. The information in the essays is excellent, don't misunderstand me, but scribes on a limited budget would be best served by getting this from a library and spending the US$100+ on several eye-candy surveys. You can take notes for free, after all.

Again, short text discussing the subject followed by about 40 color plates with commentary. This is one of my favorite books. Recommended.

An exhibition publication; a large survey covering Dutch work of the 15th century. Beautiful plates are accompanied by informative commentary. If you love this style, this is the book to get. Recommended.

Surveys manuscripts made in the empire of Charlemagne. Eighth and ninth century. Recommended.

Nice survey of the manuscript art of Ireland and Great Britain during the seventh and eighth century. There are a limited number of manuscripts represented in these 40 plates, but, then, considering that these books were painted more than 1200 years ago, this is not surprising. Recommended.

Intelligent text plus a generous amount of color reproduction make this a decent survey of book illumination of the fifth through eleventh century. Somewhat Recommended.

Probably one of the nicer popular surveys of the history of the book. Covers bookmaking through its beginnings to the early 20th century. Recommended.

An older survey, no longer in print. An excellent discussion of the subject. Most of the plates are in B&W. The color plates are poorly reproduced. On the whole, though, I'd give the book a Recommended--the information is great even if the color plates stink.

I love this study. I was hard-pressed in deciding whether to list this book as a study or a survey--it is a study of the making of a medieval book, illustrated by a number of photos of manuscripts not found in other studies of the subject matter. Because of the many manuscripts used to illustrate the points, I chose survey. This is a very readable short history of the book. Highly Recommended.

This is a modern haggadah intended for use during Passover, rather than an historical haggadah presented as a study of a beautiful illuminated manuscript. It is, however, illustrated with details and plates from six historic haggadahs owned by the British Library; it is beautifully medieval. Recommended.

An exhibition publication. The title pretty much says it all. More narrowly focused than some of the other books on the subject. Lots of beautiful examples of troemp l'oeil, and the miniatures are astounding. Recommended.

Concise history and commentary on 40 plates illustrating manuscripts from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century--the years of the "International Style". Recommended.

A little gift book, very inexpensive. Contains 17 color plates from a French book of hours produced about 1450-1475. Recommended.

Rather short discussion of the history of type design followed by some 220 plates of calligraphy and type examples, ranging from the incised lettering of the Romans to the popular typefaces of the first third of the twentieth century. 131 of the plates are of handwriting or type produced prior to 1600. Somewhat Recommended.

An exhibition catalogue. The collection encompasses a wide variety of styles of the 12th through 16th centuries. A lovely, eclectic collection. Recommended.

It's a small book (measures about 4"x 4.5") containing about 300 pages, most of which are devoted to color plates. Recommended.

The title pretty much says it all. Another coffee table book on manuscripts; an extraordinary number of color plates with minimal text. Mixed in with the hundreds of splendid examples of the art (most not usually found in publications) are several rather bad examples of the art; a treat to see for every scribal artist who has ever wondered if the scribes of the middle ages ever made mistakes! As visual references go, this one definitely rates a Highly Recommended.

A short book consisting primarily of details of pages and, to a lesser extent, reproductions of manuscript leaves. Text is definitely secondary here, which is probably just as well. The exploded details in this book are nice for examining technique. Somewhat Recommended.

Another excellent survey, about 40 color plates with commentary covering the end of the Roman era of illuminated papyrus and parchement scrolls and the beginning of the Christian Illuminated Codex. Recommended.

A very nice survey of calligraphy. Almost no text, primarily plates. I particularly appreciate the inclusion of a number of plates from sources not usually seen. After you examine enough books of calligraphic plates, you begin to note that most of the plates are from the same sources, especially those plates representing the sixteenth-seventeenth centuries--the time of the writing masters. It gets boring. Whalley provides some fresh air; if you only get one book of calligraphic plates, this is the one to get. Recommended.