Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Illustrations 

Thank you for the kind comment, I'm glad that you enjoyed my video lecture!

You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it, Michael.

Thank you for your kind comment, and I'm glad that you enjoyed the video!

Thank you very much, Emily! I am glad that you enjoyed it :)

Thanks for the kind comment! Medieval manuscripts are such an interesting topic, and a real joy to work with.

Thank you, Camila, glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks, Ricardo, you too!

An excellent introduction to a fascinating topic! He has a new book coming out in the fall: The Manuscripts Club: The People Behind a Thousand Years of Medieval Manuscripts - something to look forward to. Thanks for getting in touch, Drew!

You're very welcome, Martha! Glad you enjoyed the video

My pleasure! Yes, PETA would have been appalled by medieval book production

You're very welcome! And nice pun - a classic that I occasionally use myself :) If you'd like to see more of our Medieval and Early Modern Manuscript Collection, it's been digitized and is viewable at archives.mtroyal.ca/c0003

@@peterhouston7079 Thank you very much , both for the archival offer and your graciousness at my appalling sense of humour.

You're welcome, Josephine, I'm glad you enjoyed my video lecture! I'd be happy to take a look at the manuscript you purchased. I'm no expert, but I could probably give you a general idea of when it was created. Please feel free to email me at phouston@mtroyal.ca - photos of the manuscript and any info the seller provided would be useful.

You're completely right, Matt, our book of hours was printed and illuminated by the Hardouyns - there's a colophon at the end that identifies them. In case you're interested, there's more info about our book of hours at archives.mtroyal.ca/hore-beate-marie-virginis-s-e-c-und-d-u-m-usum-ecclesie-romane

Hi Chris, thanks for the comment, and I'm glad that you enjoyed my video! I agree with you it's unfortunate how little appreciation illuminated manuscripts generally seem to get compared to other, larger works of art. I haven't come across that many documentaries on illuminated manuscripts, at least not longer, more detailed treatments. There are some wonderful short videos by the British Library and the Getty that I regularly use to show my students some of the artistic practices and the preparation of materials for manuscript production; in my channel, under "playlists," you'll see one called "Medieval Manuscript Production" with links to a dozen videos. With the pandemic, there's been a real boom in recorded webinars on manuscript topics, many available on RU-vid, that are worth checking out. But someone needs to make a really stunning, feature-length documentary on these miniature pieces of art for a popular audience.

Thank you for the reply! I wish I knew a film producer to suggest this topic!

You're absolutely right - the same Latin root as our word "veal." Thanks for your comment!

Thank you for your comments, and for catching a few of my mistakes! You're absolutely right - the initial is indeed a 'D' and not an 'O,' and it marks the beginning of matins, not prime. What makes you think that the Spanish choirbook leaf is from a gradual rather than an antiphonal? I was working from a bookseller's description there, so they may have misidentified it.

@@peterhouston7079 Greetings, The identification of the large leaf as a page from a gradual rather than an antiphonal is from reading the latin text, since it is part of the Mass rather than the Divine Office. Often seller so make such mistakes, that's probably why some will simply label them as pages from a choirbook. Not sure if you teach, but one very handy resource especially for those who may not have any liturgical latin is the reissue in 2015 of the Little Office of the BVM in a bilingual english/latin edition by Baronius Press. It is according to the Use of Rome, but it gives the full core texts of any Book of Hours.

Thank you for the additional information on the choirbook leaf and the reference to the bilingual edition of the Little Office. That could be a useful resource for my teaching. Thanks again!

@@peterhouston7079 You may be aware of these resources already and if you are I hope you will pardon the presumption. They will help those who may have weak or no knowledge of Medieval Latin. The first is the 2012 unabridged translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend with introduction by Eamon Duffy, handy for the identification of the a majority of the most popular saints and their legends and certain of the popular folk beliefs of them throughout the period featured in the sufferages in so many books of hours. The second is a 2001 reprint of a curious volume know as the 'Anglican Breviary. In spite of it's peculiar title it is in essence an English translation of the 1955 Breviarium Romanum in a single volume. Mindful of the fact that until relatively recently there were not single standard edition of the breviary as all were subject to local variation and all the religious orders have their own variations of the breviary and missal, most still do. Even though the 4 volume set Brevarium Romanum is stll in print it is rather expensive and only in Latin. There are some older bilingual editions they are out of print and prohibitively expensive. The Anglican Breviary is over 80% identical to the pre Pius V's breviary of 1568 and for ordinary student purposes can save a lot struggle and fumbling with google Latin translation of dealing with manuscript breviaries.

Thank you for the additional suggestions! These all look like very useful resources for my teaching about manuscripts, especially since they're translated into English. I teach at an undergraduate university so very few, if any, students have knowledge of Medieval Latin, and I certainly don't either. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know about these useful resources.

Hello Tonya, I think that what you're referring to are depictions of martyrdoms that often appear in hagiographies (accounts of saints' lives), church histories, and other religious texts. Martyrs were (and still are) honoured and celebrated by the Church for willingly sacrificing their lives for their faith. They're often depicted enduring horrific torture or being killed with serene expressions on their faces, emphasizing their unflinching heroism and their trust in God's salvation, knowing they will be rewarded with eternal life after their mortal life ends. I agree they can seem quite strange to a modern, secular viewer!

@@peterhouston7079 You should consider writing a book to explain all the crazy symbolism in these manuscripts. Shockingly enough, I recognized on of the illustrations as the unfortunate deaths of Saint Ursala and friends. I'm not Catholic, but the church's television station, EWTN, occasionally show history bios. Thank you for your response. I've been reading about, watching and studying these texts and the process of making them for a solid month. It's sad that we may never know the true meaning of knights fighting snails.