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Further Reading about Medieval Manuscripts
Primary Sources:
The Belles Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry. Commentaries by Millard Meiss and Elizabeth H. Beatson. New York: George Braziller, 1974.
The introduction to this facsimile of one of several examples of a great patron employing the talents of a great team of artists-Jean, Paul and Herman Limbourg-provides biographical information on these brothers, and the commentators have attempted to assign individual attributions indicated on the color plates.
ND3363 .B5 B4 1974
The Grandes Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Introduction by Marcel Thomas. New York: George Braziller, 1971.
A facsimile edition of one of the most prodigious examples of the Limbourg brothers' art commissioned by that aristocratic patron, the Duke of Berry.
ND3363 .B5 G713 X
Holt, Elizabeth G. (ed.). A Documentary History of Art. Vol. 1. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957.
This volume includes translations of two texts relevant to medieval manuscripts. The first is the section concerning the process of fashioning gold into very thin sheets for manuscript decoration from "An Essay upon Various Arts" by Theophilus dating to the mid-10th century. Although the author was not a practicing artist, he makes these steps clear for those who need to do this process. The second, regarding the "Belleville Breviary", which records the name of the artist, Jean Pucelle, has explanatory text regarding the significance and relationships among the Biblical figures depicted in this medieval church service book. These and other texts published in this anthology allow the artists of the past to explain their craft directly.
N5303 .H762 v. 1
The Hours of Catherine of Cleaves. Introduction and Commentaries by John Plummer. New York: George Braziller, 1975.
The facsimile edition that reunited the pages of this manuscript in their original sequence from the two New York collections where it was housed, the Guennol Collection and the Pierpont Morgan Library, salutes the achievement of this anonymous painter that demonstrates the range of decoration possible for the painted page during the 15th century.
ND3363 .C3 P55 1975
King René's Book of Love. New York: George Braziller, 1975.
The facsimile of the manuscript made for Duke René of Anjou illustrates the allegorical quest of King René's heart, personified as Knight Coeur. The manuscript paintings include some of the earliest nighttime indoor and outdoor scenes painted during the 15th century.
ND3399 .R4 U58
The Très Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry, Musée Condè, Chantilly. Introduction by Millard Meiss. New York: George Braziller, 1969.
This facsimile edition of this manuscript with the twelve full-page calendar paintings reproduces some of the most familiar images of 15th century French art. The painting cycle was started by the Limbourg brothers and completed by Jean Colombe. The full-page reproductions recount the visual conception of these artists. The life and castles of their patron, the son of King Jean II, le Bon, King of France, are lovingly portrayed in the paintings.
ND3363 .B5 T713 1969
Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Painters Sculptors and Architects. 2 vols. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Distributed by Random House, 1996.
The recounting of the lives and achievements of Italian artists by the Renaissance Italian artist, Giorgio Vasari, includes biographies of manuscript painters such as the Veronese artist Francesco Monroe (1471-1529).
N6915 V322513 1996
Secondary Sources:
Aeschilmann, P. D'Anconat. The Art of Illumination: An Anthology of Manuscripts. London: Phaidon Press, Ltd., 1969.
The text outlines the development of European miniature painting, pointing out that the tradition began with the decoration of manuscripts in the classical period. Examples dating from the 5th century of decorated purple-dyed vellum manuscripts made for bibliophiles of Rome are presented. The discussion of manuscript production is divided into four sections. Two-thirds of the volume are the plates, and two-thirds of the plates are in black and white, with the color ones tipped into the volume on blue cardstock, a bit disappointing because the lack of color illustrations does not do justice to the description of the manuscript painting techniques detailed in the text.
ND2920 .A513
Battelli, Giulio. Lezioni di Paleografia. 3rd ed. Rome: Città del Vaticano, 1949.
This lexicon of paleography categorizes the prevalent medieval scribal hand and outlines their distinctive characteristics. The text could be supplemented with more full-page reproductions of the manuscript examples being discussed.
Z114 .B388
Branner, Robert. Manuscript Painting in Paris During the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1977.
This final survey of manuscript painting during the middle of the 13th century by a scholar noted for working with great intensity begun before his death and brought to publication by his widow, examines the workshop production of manuscripts in an era when it had moved out of the monastic setting to the coordinated efforts of the atelier, producing reliable text copies for the university student as well as the aristocratic patron expecting a well-turned out product with text, decoration, and painting illustration. This study organizes it in terms of the finished manuscripts produced by the team of scribes, illuminators, and painters. Many details illustrated and numerous appendices tracing the groups of manuscripts discussed by workshop dissemination relationship.
ND3149 .P5 B72
Brown, Michelle P. Understanding Medieval Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. Malibu, CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1994.
A glossary copiously illustrated with examples of manuscripts from the J. Paul Getty Museum collection defining the specialized vocabulary needed to describe these documents.
Ref ND2889 .B76 1994
Brown, Michelle P. The British Library Guide to Writing and Scripts: History and Techniques. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Summarizes the types, mediums and styles of transmitting the written text from the ancient world to the 20th century when the techniques of lettering have become the art of calligraphy. A useful source for the study of communication.
P211 .B6967 1998
Brown, Michelle P. and Scot McKendrick. Illuminating the Book, Makers and Interpreters: Essays in Honor of Janet Backhouse. London: The British Library and University of Toronto Press, 1998.
This collection of fourteen papers by scholars in medieval manuscripts, primarily of the English-speaking world, were compiled to pay tribute to the curator of the Department of Manuscripts at the British Library and her 35-year career. Not all of the manuscripts discussed in these essays are from the British Library collection.
ND2980 .I44 1998
Bühler, Curt F. The Fifteenth Century Book: The Scribes, the Printers, the Decorators. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1960.
The first section regarding the scribes corrects the common misperception that copyists were put out of work by the invention of the printing press. Rather, the author documents that they were still providing copies of scholarly texts that were not profitable to print, or books for wealthy patrons who did not desire to collect printed volumes for their libraries and usually commissioned the illuminators to continue providing the decoration.
Z240 .B93F
Cappelli, Adriano. Lexicon Abbreviaturarum: Dizionario di Abbreviature Latine ed Italiane. 6th ed. Milan: University of Hoepli, 1990.
This is a compilation of the abbreviations appearing in the text of Latin medieval manuscripts and their frequency of appearance in dated manuscripts. These abbreviations are organized into a dictionary format and it is an indispensable tool for determining a date for an undated manuscript.
Sp Coll Z211 .C24 1990
Deleroz, Albert. Paleography of Gothic Manuscript Books From the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
The author acknowledges that teaching the techniques for the identification and localization of manuscripts of unknown origin is extremely difficult but through the example of precise description of letter strokes and formulation he provides the necessary tools for doing so. These detailed descriptions of the calligraphy provide a sound basis for comparison to the handwriting of previously undocumented Gothic manuscripts with 160 reproduced examples. Deleroz describes the features of the lettering in order to define it. This survey of the field was written by the Curator Emeritus of Special Collections in the Universitetsbibliotheek Ghent.
Sp Coll Z106.5 .E85 D47 2003
Evans, Helen C. et al., eds. Byzantium: Faith and Power, 1261-1557. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.
The catalogue of the third in a series of four major Byzantine art loan exhibitions that included a number of pieces from the Holy Greek Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt never on view to the public before this showing. All media and areas that were influenced by this imperial presence were represented. The essay on manuscripts by John Lowden examines the images reflecting patronage in commissioned works, noteworthy monastic scriptoria, and models for images that were an integral part of the dissemination of the divine message of the book.
N6250 .B962 2004
Kristeller, Paul O. Latin Manuscript Books Before 1600, A List of the Printed Catalogues and Unpublished Inventories of Extant Collections. 3rd. ed. New York, 1965.
A compilation of the published and unpublished catalogues of Latin manuscripts in European library collections. This is a resource guide for students of classical and patristic literature, theology, philosophy and science of the middle ages and of the renaissance. The entries are organized by name of the city or town, location of the respective library, type of library, and a notation regarding the respective collection catalogue.
Z6601 .A1 K7 1965
Manion, Margaret M. and Bernard J. Muir, eds. Medieval Texts and Images: Studies of Manuscripts from the Middle Ages. Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1991.
This volume of eleven published papers, each one focusing on a specific painted manuscript or painting, is selected from then-current scholarship in the field, primarily doctoral research. It has eight color plates at the beginning of the volume of a particular painting discussed in one of the articles; the illustrations in the text are black and white.
Z6 .M43 1991
Meiss, Millard. French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry: The Late Fourteenth Century and the Patronage of the Duke. 2 vols., 2nd ed. London: Phaidon, 1969.
The collecting passions of this Valois aristocrat are demonstrated in terms of his patronage of manuscript painters, the central focus of this work, written by a scholar affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. Biographical information regarding the artists, history, and authorship of their works made for this indefatigable bibliophile. The second volume exclusively comprises the plates, the majority of which are in black and white.
ND3147 .M37
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