Inside the Codex Rotundus lays a 266 page book of hours in Latin and French.
The manuscript is unique in form and size: the pages are cut approximately circular in shape and measure a little over 9cm in diameter. The book binding feat here is enormous: since the layers are bound together on a mere 3cm book spine, the body of the book must be held together by 3 clasps.
The original clasps were re-used when the book was rebound in the 17th century; each clasp an artful monogram shaped in the form of different gothic alphabetic letters.
Reblogging because it is awesome.
For the next time you need to do a scroll that features Death. Because of reasons.
Guillaume de Digulleville’s Le pèlerinage de la vie humaine, Death steps across body of Pilgrim on bed with Grace of God behind his head, Walters Manuscript W.141, fol. 92v
Ohmygosh tell me about it. Trompe-l’œil makes me cry. It’s beautiful, but I am a paste-eating child when I’m asked to attempt it. Tasty, tasty paste.
BTW, I’m totally doing the mental super-sekrit-scribal-handshake. Rock on, scribes! And welcome! (Also, bb!scribe makes me giggle. <3)
First of, Google is weird when it comes to finding specific images in illuminated manuscripts. My two absolute favorite resources are the British Library and the Bodleian Library. There are, of course, plenty of other libraries and institutions that have digitized cataloges that you can search, but BL and Bodl are my go-tos.
BableStone: 72 Views of the Tower of Babel – This blog has a cool run-down of various images of the Tower of Babel in manuscripts, along with citations (yea citations!) and links. If the links don’t work, use the shelf/manuscript number to search the collection (those links should work) and find it. (I’m having some issues with it, so if you run into problems, let me know and I will help you track down individual images.
I really like this one.
illustration by Michiel van der Borch to Jacob van Maerlant’s Rhimebible MMW, 10 B 21 folio 9v Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, Netherlands Netherlands (Utrecht), 1332
“Tower of Babel” or “Babel” would be good search terms to use in Bodley and BL. “Building” and “architecture” aren’t bad, but you will get less.
A lot of 12th and 13th century portraiture use architectural elements for framing, like this portrait of King Solomon:
Additional 11639 f. 116 Miscellany of biblical and other texts (‘The Northern French Miscellany’ or earlier ‘the British Museum Miscellany’): including the Pentateuch, Haftarot, Tiqqun Sofrim, Five Scrolls, prayer book for the entire year with Haggadah, legal texts, poetry, calendars, Book of Tobit in Hebrew, etc. France, N. 1277-1286 [Link]
The Visconti Hours also has some cool architectural elements to it, but it’s a later period. It’s not tromp, but it’s still more realistic than earlier stuff. It’s not fully digitized online, but you can pick up a facsimile copy (with notes) for fairly cheap.
LF 155, Visconti Hours – The Gates of Gaza National Library, Florence Facsimile to purchase: [Abebooks]Facsimile in libraries: [Worldcat]
I hope that helps! Let me know if you need more. 🙂
Maybe I’m searching wrong, but I can’t find anything about fancy old buildings built in Africa, like giant churches and state buildings plastered everywhere from Europe. I tried looking for specific countries but still nothing. Surely they’re not…
Basically, if you don’t already follow medievalpoc, you need to. Seriously. Click the little + button. Her research is amazing, and you, as a medieval historian (amateur or professional), or even just “a person who is interested in medieval stuff” will adore it. I promise you.
So whenever there is someone called into court who isn’t there/is unavailable, someone should offer an essoinment on their behalf.
Many apologies, Your Majesties – allow me to essoin Lord Boris, for he is occupied in the kitchens following the exquisite feast you have just enjoyed.
We shall not essoin Lord Boris – bring him before Us post-haste!
This Book of Hours has the most peculiar shape: its pages resemble lily leaves (the yellow background is a paper sheet used for contrast).
It was made for king Henry II of France, who used it for private devotion – the Book of Hours contained prayers and other short texts, which were read at set times during the day.
Medieval shaped books are really nifty! Check out this heart-shaped one. 🙂
Chansonnier Cordiforme (1470s), also known as Chasonnier de Jean de Montchenu. “Cordiform” just means “heart-shaped.” This music manuscript was commissioned by canon Jean de Montchenu, later Bishop of Agen (1477) and Bishop of Vivier (1478-1497), in Savoy between 1460 and 1477. Link to the whole thing (PDF): [Link]Bibliotheque nationale de France catalog record: [Link]You can listen to the music, recorded by Anthony Rooley and the Consort of Musicke in two parts: [Part 1], [Part 2]
Here are some items that may help you in your search for a comprehensive history of mail/maille/chainmail:
A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour, as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II, by Samuel R. Meyrick (1824). 3 vols. Worldcat [Link]I’ll point out that a contemporary review of Meyrick’s work was not favorable. You can read it here: [Google Books]
A glossary of the construction, decoration, and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times: together with some closely related subjects, by George Cameron Stone (1999). Worldcat [Link]You can see a preview on Google Books – it appears that each entry is rather comprehensive, so this is potentially very good. Publisher’s Description: Widely considered the classic book in the field, George Cameron Stone’s A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times is an indispensable resource and reference tool for anyone interested in arms and armor. Originally published in 1934, it remains an essential guide to the field. To describe the worldwide range and variety of weaponry, Stone drew upon the more than 4,000 items in his private collection of Eastern arms and armor, as well as the European arms collection of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a variety of other sources. Since the author subsequently bequeathed his entire collection to the Metropolitan Museum, this volume serves as an abbreviated visual reference to that institution’s Arms and Armor collection. By profession a metallurgist, the author focused on techniques of manufacture and workmanship to derive his method of codifying the typology of weapons, relying on an alphabetized dictionary format to avoid the confusions he found in a field without standardized nomenclature. This “glossary” format makes it easy for anyone to locate material on the astonishing variety of weapons covered. These include arquebuses, blunderbusses, flintlocks, wheel locks, matchlocks, and other antique guns; German armor; French rapiers; Roman short swords; Turkish crossbows; all the Japanese bladed weapons (katana, wakizashi, naginata, etc.); the East Asian kris in its countless permutations; and many more. Illustrated with 875 detailed figures, incorporating thousands of individual photographs and drawings, the book was written from the unique viewpoint of an expert who devoted a lifetime to the field. Hard to locate today (original editions are worth hundreds of dollars), Stone’s Glossary represents a peerless resource for scholars, experts, collectors, students, hobbyists, and institutions — any student of the long history and development of weapons and armor around the world. Worldcat [Link]
British and foreign arms and armour,by Charles Henry Ashdown (1909) Archive.org (read online): [Link]Wordlcat: [Link]
NetSERF’s goal is to provide those interested in any aspect of the Middle Ages a single index of all the best medieval resources available on the Internet.
This reaches out to the word-geek in my and gives me so many gleeful feels.
The British Library has a lot of digitized manuscripts online, which is awesome for SCA Scribes. Two of their best known treasures haven’t yet made the move from their old site, “Digitized Manuscripts”, to the new one, “Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts” – the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Luttrell Psalter. That’s because the Lindisfarne is a Cotton manuscript and the Luttrell is an Additional, and both of these collections haven’t yet made the transition yet.
The old site (DM) is actually really cool – when you click “View Bindings,” you get a viewer that allows you to page through the digitized manuscript and zoom in on elements. The new site (CIM) only gives you one high-res image and one slightly smaller one (in additional to thumbnails). They do have some detail scans, but it’s not the same (as you can imagine).
Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS Nero D.IV)
[Link]c. 700-3rd quarter 10th Century Lindisfarne, Northumberland Eadfirth, Bishop of Lindisfarne (690-721)
Luttrell Psalter (Add MS 42130)
[Link]1325-1340 for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Irnham, Lincolnshire
You can see the BL’s Access/Reuse/Copyright notes concerning images here: [Link]
