Illuminated Manuscripts: Treasures of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York

I am a great fan of William Voelkle, who is not only the expert on the Morgan's vast holdings, but one of the finest semiologists in the field. His expertise in these fields is evident, as this little book is a lovely peek at the Morgan's greatest illuminations. Much of the best is there, but a lot is not, such as the almost unbelievable series of choirbook fragments by Gherarducci, and the great unfinished Book of Hours, painted by Quarton and Barthelemy d'Eyck. These are personal favorites of many people, including Mr. Voelkle, and I for one lament their non-inclusion. The format of the book is an interesting way to group the pictures, and is a valid way to go, but from an art-history viewpoint, I think the groupings might have been better if chronologically placed. That said, this is the only book with a big chunk of the PML's treasures, all in color, and encompassing much at a really minimal cost... Makes a GREAT gift for people who are into medieval manuscript painting.

I was so pleased when this arrived. I had no idea that so much could be packed into so little space. Excellent quality photos, great detail, and the information on the original size of each manuscript is priceless! I'm in a historical recreation society and I can tell you this will go with me to every scribal and illumination event I go to.

This is one of my favorite illumination books. Being a practicing illuminator, I need photos much more than I need lengthy discussions, historical analyses, elaborate provenance notes, etc. They have to be color photos and they have to be large enough, and at a high enough resolution, that I can learn something from them--and maybe even copy an initial, a diapering pattern, a bit of the border, or more.This book satisfies all these criteria. In fact, the only thing I dislike about this book is the fact that it's so small, it's really hard to keep open while I paint from it. REALLY hard, because if you get large and heavy enough items to hold both sides down, inevitably the items obscure parts of the page you are painting from!Its size can be an advantage, though. I purchased this at the National Gallery in Washington, on a midday jaunt during a conference, then went back for the next conference presentation. When the speaker turned out to be droningly boring, I brought out this tiny book and paged through it inconspicuously under the table. Could I have done that with Janet Backhouse's monumental work? I think not...;)The selections are wonderful, and they're usefully broken down into sections based on content--excellent when you need to find a quick animal or floral image for a border, a rendering of a king or queen, or a picture of a dragon or other supernatural being. Not so excellent when you need to find an example of, say, a late 1400's eastern French book of hours (there are many, just not in any kind of chronological or geographical order). But then, there are other resources that do that. This book is interesting for its variety, its excellent reproductions, and its well-selected and unusual miniatures.

Excellent reproduction of a number of styles, with reasonable commentary. Very valuable for me as a newbie, to provide a sense of medieval style and composition. The size is at once very handy and very frustrating.

Best book I've seen that is this small and this well loaded. If you do this style of art and you want a good book to fit in the nooks & crannies of your art box, this works really well. Many different styles. The only downside is that the large original image is shrunk to fit on the page. Thus if you use it as a source, you must be familiar with the style and not use it as a reference to learning that style.