Featured Fragments of Book of Hours (Paris 1499-1535)

During the Middle Ages, Books of Hours were very much liked manuscripts for very rich people. They were written by hand and decorated with beautiful illustrations (so called illuminated manuscripts).

Books of hours are devotional books that are also used by secular people.

When around 1455 Gutenberg introduced printing in Europe, the demand for these books of hours grew. Because full color printing was not possible yet (until the 19th century), a kind of hybrid solution was developed. The text and b/w pictures were printed and the capitals and illustrations were still painted by hand.

From the late 1400's, Paris became a large production site for these books. The brothers Germain and Gilles Hardouyn (Hardouin) were important makers of these books. Gilles was the publisher and Germain the illustrator. Most of their books of hour were printed on vellum (lamb or calf skin). Books like this were still not available for common people, but only for the very rich.

In my collection I have 6 pages of different editions of these books of hours.


Printers mark of the brothers Hardouyn
Nice Capital in French edition

Borders with great details, still depicting Medieval times, but Renaissance style



Some capitals are painted in gold





This is a later version, printed in a Latin font and not in a Gothic one

 

And the nicest page of them all, dated 1530-1535. Flight into Egypt.

 

I like the very last image of Mercury being drawn by a pair of gryphons.

 

Beautiful, @Ex Libris . Thanks for sharing!

 

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

 

Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing.

 

Lovely collection, thank you for the background information.

 

This is a new leaf in my collection. For me the maker is unknown. The floral border with insects is more likely produced in the Low countries (Brugges or Ghent). The age is around 1530.

 

I love the border!

 

These books were not for the ordinary people in the early 16th century. Two editions, owned by Anne Boleyn and Catharine of Aragon, are exhibited together in Hever Castle in England.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/202...of-aragon-exhibition-hever-castle-prayer-book

 

I am curious as to how you can establish so precise a date for this handsome leaf?

 

It is just an estimation from my side. Here is a lot more information about these books:

https://stjohnscollegelibraryoxford.org/2023/02/05/st-johns-printed-manuscript/

 

I found something new for my Book of Hours collection. A French book about inheritance law (I think) from Toulouse (1618) bound in two recycled vellum pages (~1525), probably produced by the Hardouyn brothers as well.







Next to a very similar page.



All the pages in my collection so far.



How to devide your inheritance when you have 20(!) children.

 

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

 

Looking at these six pages, I suddenly realized how bad the books people print these days are. I doubt our modern books will survive 600 years from now. These ancient pages have such beautiful colors. They haven't faded in all this time. No wonder. Only natural ingredients were used in these colors.

 

Image how much work it would cost to produce such a page. First the making of the parchment, then printing each page one-by-one. After that the coloring of the capitals.

 

@Ex Libris I realize this is an old thread but I missed it the first time around so I'm glad it has been resurrected. Lovely to see your collection, have you added to it since your last post?
You were kind enough to weigh in on my 15th century single (though double-sided) page here. I mention in that thread my hope of someday taking a summer course at the London School of Paleography and I'm happy to say that I did! It was a one-week course in early June this year called "Making Medieval Manuscripts" and was taught by Sara Charles, author of The Medieval Scriptorium, Making Books in the Middle Ages.
What a fabulous week! It was a hands-on practice-based course. I made iron gall ink and also ground malachite and made green pigment, which I then used ~along with other authentic pigments provided by Sara~ to decorate a page of parchment. (No, I'm not going to show it here because I am most definitely not an artist.) I learned a bit about some of the different scripts used and also learned how to draw knotwork, among other things. All so very fascinating!
I hope to return again for a another course.

 

I am jealous! I wish there were such cool courses in my city.


I am a bit more focused on printed books, but certainly the period of writing and printing interest me. Several years ago I started with collecting recycled manuscripts that are used in book bindings.

 

Me, too! (I live near Detroit, Michigan, USA.)
Paying for flight tickets and a week's accommodation in London definitely adds to the cost but I found an affordable narrowboat to stay in.

 

I wonder if the technology could be replicated completely. How much would this book cost today?