The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages : An Account of the Development and Progress of the Art of Illumination, as a Distinct Branch of Pictorial Ornamentation, from the IVth. To the XVIIth. Centuries

Humphreys, H.N. ; Jones, O.

ISBN 10: 1851702768 / ISBN 13: 9781851702763

Published by Bracken Books, London, 1989 reprint of 1849 first edition, 1989

About this Item

Cloth, folio, 33 x 28 cm, 126, [2] pp, 50 colour plates. From the blurb: "Although most of the artists who decorated the religious, literary and historical writings of the Middle Ages with their illuminated letters and figures remain anonymous, colour photography has made their work increasingly familiar to the present-day public. For many centuries, however, these exquisite miniatures were available only to those who had access to the manuscripts. Then, in the 1840s, new chromolithographic printing techniques were developed which made it possible to convey the glorious colours of the originals by superimposing different tints on one another; and with these technical improvements came a fresh interest in illumination: The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages is among the finest of the nineteenth-century books printed by the new process. The author and illustrator, Henry Noel Humphreys, who provided the scholarly text and copied the illuminations in the new medium, took care to include examples of the greatest possible range of styles and added a comprehensive list of important illuminated books to. his Introduction. The first of his colour plates depicts a folio from the seventh-century Lindisfarne Gospels, the last shows part of the Prayer Book of Louis XIV of France painted around 1,000 years later. As his selection makes clear, Humphreys was primarily interested in the decorative aspects of the illuminator's art, and in addition to making copies of whole pages, he has also borrowed sections of ornament and individual letters to enhance his text. An inspiration to the would-be illuminator, or to anyone seeking authentic medieval ornament to incorporate into modern design, this beautiful book is also an important reference work for the art historian and an example of Victorian printing at its best." Very Good in a dustwrapper with minor wear to the upper edge.

Seller Inventory # ABE-62523

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages : An Account of the Development and Progress of the Art of Illumination, as a Distinct Branch of Pictorial Ornamentation, from the IVth. To the XVIIth. Centuries
• Publisher: Bracken Books, London, 1989 reprint of 1849 first edition
• Publication Date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 1851702768
• ISBN 13: 9781851702763
• Binding: Hardcover
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Illuminated Manuscripts

About this title

Synopsis

Used. Very Good conditions. May have soft reading marks and name of the previous owner.