Illuminated Manuscripts
Subject forum for ART317
- this forum is open only to CSU students studying Art317 Art and Books
Essays
Styles of Illuminated Manuscripts
Types of Illuminated Manuscripts
Text in Illuminated Manuscripts
Web links
Bibliotheque Nationale
The French Bibliotheque Nationale site (in English) contains images from a range of manuscripts from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Choose from three navigation paths - themes such as religion, history, sport; introductory text, which provides useful background information with links to images; or manuscript by manuscript. The site includes the Duc de Berry's Petit Heures. It takes a few clicks to get to the pages with images but there are many of them, each with identifying information and a large image.
A Hundred Highlights from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek
This site, from the National Library of the Netherlands, contains a vast array of visual images ranging from early manuscripts through to twentieth century typography. The section on illuminated manuscripts includes both Dutch and French examples. The section on incunabula includes examples where the text has been printed and the images hand illuminated, as well as examples where both text and illustration is printed.
British Library: Turning the Pages
This web site provides a look inside several of the treasures of the British library. There are several manuscripts available, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Sforza Hours and the Serborne Missal. You can ‘turn the pages’ of the manuscripts and zoom in to see details.
Early Manuscripts at Oxford University
This web site provides access to digital images of a large selection of early manuscripts. Most are less well known books and they are not as lavishly illustrated as some of the better known examples. If you wish to look at pictures, look at the earlier leaves of the manuscripts. A lengthy disclaimer pops up the first time you choose to view an image and you have to click that you accept these conditions before the image is presented.
Dscriptorium
The Dscriptorium web site at Brigham Young University was set up to provide access to digital images of medieval manuscripts. The manuscripts are mainly French ones dated to the fifteenth century and there are many illuminations among the images included. A brief description and explanatory note is provided for each mansucript. Although the site has not been updated for some time, the images provided are of a high quality.
The Book of Kells and the Art of Illumination
This web site was developed to accompany the exhibition of the same name held at the Australian National Gallery in 2000. The link titled 'The Manuscripts' leads to general information on manuscripts and to small images of selected manuscripts, with accompanying explanatory text.
Key examples
The Book of Kells
This web site is authorised by Trinity College, Dublin, which owns the Book of Kells. You will find a timeline relating to the manuscript and images of some pages from the manuscript.
The Book of Kells images
This web site contains a number of colour images from the Book of Kells. No captions are provided so you will have to look further afield if you require more information. Be warned, some of the image files are large and will take a while to download.
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Christus Rex is a private, non-profit organisation dedicated to the dissemination of information on works of art preserved in churches, cathedrals and monasteries all over the world. Their pages on the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry include scans of every page in the manuscript. Each full-page image is supplemented by background information and detailed images of selected portions of each page.
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry at the University of Chicago
This University of Chicago web page provides a brief overview of the Très Riches Heures, with links to scans of the calendar pages.
Bookmaking interlude 2
Coptic binding
These instructions explain how to do a coptic binding using a single needle and thread. There are multiple needle variations on this technique. Coptic binding looks difficult when described in words and pictures but it isn't that difficult to learn.
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