Bibles and Bestiaries: A Guide to Illuminated Manuscripts for Young Readers

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining introduction to the book before printing
Review: This short book attempts to introduce the illuminated manuscript to young audiences. It's a quick read for adults. The information contained in the text is reasonable; just enough to introduce the huge differences between modern and medieval technology without going into overwhelming detail.

As an adult, I particularly enjoy the fine, color reproductions of illuminated pages, many of which are presented at actual size. I also enjoy the author's inclusions of examples of scribal errors; we are so accustomed in this day and age to the flawless reproduction of the computer era that it is nice to be reminded of the values of hand-production.

In all, it's a very nice book for young people, and a nice introduction for an adult wanting just a little information about manuscripts. If you collect books about illuminated manuscripts, as I do, it's worth getting, but if you want just one book for an adult reader looking for a broad, scholarly study of manuscripts, you'd be better off with de Hamel's "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts."

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining introduction to the book before printing
Review: This short book attempts to introduce the illuminated manuscript to young audiences. It's a quick read for adults. The information contained in the text is reasonable; just enough to introduce the huge differences between modern and medieval technology without going into overwhelming detail.

As an adult, I particularly enjoy the fine, color reproductions of illuminated pages, many of which are presented at actual size. I also enjoy the author's inclusions of examples of scribal errors; we are so accustomed in this day and age to the flawless reproduction of the computer era that it is nice to be reminded of the values of hand-production.

In all, it's a very nice book for young people, and a nice introduction for an adult wanting just a little information about manuscripts. If you collect books about illuminated manuscripts, as I do, it's worth getting, but if you want just one book for an adult reader looking for a broad, scholarly study of manuscripts, you'd be better off with de Hamel's "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts."