Description

This publication is the first to appear in a major new series of catalogues covering all Western medieval illuminated manuscripts in Cambridge, excluding only the manuscripts in the University Library which are being catalogued separately. The entries are based on the most recent studies undertaken by the Cambridge Illuminations Research Project; they are organised geographically by place of origin, and, within that grouping, listed chronologically. The present two-volume catalogue deals with the early manuscripts produced in the Frankish Kingdoms, the splendid, richly illustrated books from the Northern and Southern Netherlands ranging from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, illuminations from the Meuse region, manuscripts both in Latin and the vernacular from the late eleventh to the end of the sixteenth century from Germany, and lastly an interesting group of books from Bohemia, Austria and Hungary. The focus of the catalogue is on the illumination, and includes detailed listings of all miniatures, decoration and ornamentation, which are made easily accessible by the inclusion of an exhaustive iconographic index. Entries also include much information on the textual contents of the manuscripts and on their provenance, as well as the most recent bibliographical references. Every manuscript catalogued is also illustrated, generally with several images, providing readers with a corpus of some 750 illustrations which are all reproducedin full colour