A History of Illustrated Manuscripts

Contents: I.; Books for Missionaries.; 7th-9th centuries: the written word as an essential tool for the early missionaries of Britain and Ireland, who produced books of extraordinary sophistication II.; Books for Emperors.; 8th-11th centuries: books as treasure and as luxurious objects of display and diplomatic gifts in the courts of Charlemagne and his successors III.; Books for Monks.; 12th century: the golden age of the monastic book, when monks in their scriptoria produced manuscripts for their libraries IV.; Books for Students.; 13th century: the rise of the universities and the emergence of a professional book trade to meet the new need for textbooks V.; Books for Aristocrats.; 14th century: the Age of Chivalry -- a wealthy and newly literate aristocracy generating a new type of book, the secular romance VI.; Books for Everybody.; 15th century: the emergence of the Book of Hours as a devotional book for ordinary households as well as the aristocracy VII.; Books for Priests.; 13th-16th centuries: the Bibles, Missals, Breviaries, Psalters and other service books and handbooks that sustained the life of the Church VIII.; Books for Collectors.; 15th-16th centuries: the revival of classical learning and the creation of de luxe manuscripts for wealthy humanist patrons