Folio Society Published Works Number 2023
Fitzwilliam Book of Hours - The Fitzwilliam Book of Hours Limited Edition
We buy and sell items like these, so please contact us if you have similar items for sale, and we will make you an offer if we are interested.
To check if we have this item, or similar items, in stock, please click the Check Stock link below. Alternatively, use the links on the left to search our large online database of items for sale, or to visit the rest of the site.
Check Stock
Fitzwilliam Book of Hours - The Fitzwilliam Book of Hours Limited Edition (Published in by The Folio Society in 2009. A magnificently illustrated medieval treasure in which every page is a masterpiece. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge holds one of the largest and finest collections of Books of Hours in the world, with over 250 examples dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Amongst so many treasures, MS 1058-1975 stands out. This extraordinary book is made unique by the abundance and richness of its art and the near-flawless preservation of its pages. 63 full-page miniatures. Over 350 delightful decorative borders. The combination of an extraordinary wealth of full-page miniatures, exquisite borders adorning every single page of text and the almost perfect condition of the manuscript make this Book of Hours unique. Created in around 1510 in Bruges, the time and place where the Flemish art of illumination was at its apogee, every page is a visual feast. Miniature follows miniature, while the profusion of floral borders delights the eye, each one a wonderfully observed masterpiece of naturalism. Beautifully preserved, this volume is one of the very finest extant Books of Hours. Religious life in the Middle Ages was divided into eight hours of prayer: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. Laypeople followed a reduced form of the full religious day for their own personal devotion – the result was the Book of Hours. More of these have survived than any other form of illuminated manuscript, testament to their popularity and the esteem in which they were held. The wealthier the patron, the more personalised the collection of texts in the Book of Hours and the more rich and elaborate the decoration. By the late 15th century, Flemish illuminators had emerged as the most highly regarded, innovative and fashionable in Europe. The Fitzwilliam Book of Hours is a perfect example of their finest work. Limited to 1,180 numbered copies of which this is number 52. Bound in specially commissioned silk jacquard. Page edges stained and gilded on three sides. Printed on Furioso paper with Hahnemuhle Bugra Butten endpapers. Ribbon marker, 370 pages, 8 x 5¼ ins. Presented in a cloth-bound solander box with gold blocking. Commentary volume: quarter-bound in cloth with paper sides and inset title label. 144 pages. 8 x 5¼ ins. )
