Illuminated Manuscripts Masterpieces of Art

For the Lovely artworks and complementary prayers

A word of caution: this is an attractive little book suitable as an introduction to the subject for an interested beginner, but it is far from scholarly, and in one respect at least is rather seriously misleading. Quite early on, as the second full-page plate, it reproduces what it calls a 'Manuscript from the Book of Kells, Ireland, c. 800' from 'A Private Collection'. This is puzzling, since you don't have to be particularly learned about illuminated manuscripts to know that The Book of Kells is one of the treasures of Trinity College Library, Dublin, and certainly doesn't belong to any private individual. This wouldn't really matter if the reproduction was indeed from the Book of Kells, but it isn't. It has a superficial resemblance to one of the illuminations in the Book of Kells - Christ Enthroned, Folio 32v - but there are many differences of colour, detail and general quality, and it is captioned as being a portrait of St. Matthew. There IS a portrait of St Matthew in the Book of Kells (Folio 28v) but it is completely different from this illustration, which - in the absence of any other evidence - I can only presume to be a modern pastiche.This is all very strange, since the Book of Kells is hardly an obscure work, and if the author - or more likely the publishers and/or the picture editor - is mistaken on this point, it is difficult to trust them on other matters, though I hasten to add that to the best of my (very partial) knowledge the other attributions in the book are correct.I wouldn't want to put people off altogether, which is why I've still allowed it three stars. It will certainly give pleasure and inform, but it would be best to refer to other volumes (such as the books by Janet Backhouse and Christopher de Hamel, or Bernard Meehan's introduction to the Book of Kells itself) for complete accuracy.

A compact knee book of 127 pages. Every page displays richly embellished images showing plates from a variety of sources indexed on the last few pages. The book covers a variety of subjects in the Christian and Divine Dedication domains. Copies of the richly illuminated medieval pages printed on semi glossy heavyweight paper. A lovely book for relishing and digesting the delightful colourful designs.

When looking for a book featuring Medieval manuscripts, I was finding lots of expensive books with very little substance justifying the price. This book was ideal, with many many pages and examples, for the small price.I would definitely recommend this for people looking for a good overview of types of Medieval manuscripts, with a dollop of history and context thrown in.

Page after page of beautiful illustrations Almost 100 pages of full page illustrations and 27 pages with smaller illustrations and text.

Wonderful colour illustrations. Many one per page.

Lovely book - the illustrations and information are great. Thoroughly enjoying lookinf at the detail of the vsrious works

This is a well illustrated and interesting book. Good seller and quick delivery.