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Meiss, Millard; Beatson, Elizabeth H & Plummer, John (commentary).
Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry [with] Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry [English commentary] [2 volume Fine Art Facsimile boxed set].
Publisher: Faksimile Verlag Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland;
Date of Publication: 2003
Stock Code: 10789
No 706 in a Limited Edition of 980 copies only. Quarto, pp 458. Sumptously bound in green-grey goatskin to the style of the binding, and sewn and tooled in the workshop of bookbinders Steiner of Scharding, with 7 raised bands, heavily decorated with floral and foliate motifs to compartments and both boards. Gilt dentelles; all edges gilt. The contents faithfully reproduced using digital methods developed by Print & Art and the Restoration Department of the University Library of Graz, with colour printing and reproduction of the silver, gilt and gold patina by Print & Art and the golf leaf in the ornaments entrusted to GmbH of Neuss. English commentary: originally published 1974 but revised for this publication in 2003; bound in brown quarter calf with gilt titles to spine and matching brown cloth-covered boards. Both volumes housed together in publishers’ sturdy plexiglass case with sliding panel for access. Both volumes in fine condition, in the near fine case, with a few minor surface scuffs to case only. Faithful recreation of the illuminated manuscript The Cloisters 1954 acc no 54.1.1. at the Cloisters Collection, Metropolitan Museum, New York. Slightly less well-known but just as magnificent as the Duke’s Tres Riches Heures, this personal prayer book is one of the most celebrated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. It aws also produced for him by the three Limbourg brothers, and is widely considered by connoisseurs to be their finest work. The Duke (1340-1416) was the third son of King John the Good of France and this lavish volume with its rich decoration, vibrant detail and vivid colours is a masterpiece of high medieval art, which includes a unique cycle of important ecclesiastical events and religious figures of significance to the Duke. The original is the only surviving example of a complete book produced by the Limbourg brothers, as they died of plague whilst the Tres Riches Heures was in production. Heavyweight so a contribution towards increased postage costs will be requested for overseas delivery. Sold