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Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms ("^ALooking at" Series) First Edition

by Michelle Brown (Author)

4.6 35 ratings

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Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms, Revised Edition (Looking At)
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What is a florilegium? What is an incipit? What is batarde script? This book--part of the Museum's popular Looking at series--offers definitions of these and numerous other techniques, processes, and materials used in medieval illuminated manuscripts. Concise and readable explanations of the technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer are presented in an easily portable format. With numerous illustrations, many of them in color, this volume will be invaluable to all readers wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of illuminated manuscripts.

ISBN-10

0892362170
ISBN-13

978-0892362172
Edition

First Edition
Publisher

J. Paul Getty Museum
Publication date

July 28, 1994
Language

English
Dimensions

6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches
Print length

128 pages
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Michelle P. Brown
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About the Author

Michelle P. Brown is a Curator of the Manuscript Collections of The British Library.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ J. Paul Getty Museum; First Edition (July 28, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0892362170
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0892362172
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,063,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,039 in Calligraphy Guides
- #3,352 in Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions
- #8,086 in Arts & Photography Criticism

Customer Reviews:
4.6 35 ratings

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Michelle Brown
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I am Author Michelle Brown i love writing my book i wrote called This girl's life:Being the child of a war veteran It's a memoir about a little girl survival in the home of her war veteran dad who beat and tortured her for years. And she was afraid to tell anyone because her dad had threatened to kill her. So she kept quiet for years and the beatings never stop the reason i wrote about the abuse is because it kept giving me nightmares. And i didn't know how to stop them other than to release the anger in me and i realized that i needed to stop being a victim and become a survivor. So now i am on a quest to help other survivors out there to over come there fear.When someone is abusing you they have control over you.You have to release that control and take back your life.It was hard for me but i did it and i am proud of myself and you can do it to.
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Michelle P. Brown
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Michelle P. Brown FSA is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at SAS, University of London, and is a Visiting Professor at University College London. She was formerly the Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts and Medieval Manuscripts at the British Library. She specialises in cultural history and materiality from the late Roman period to c.1500, in medieval art history and manuscript studies and in the local history of Cornwall. She is a Lay Canon of Truro Cathedral and was formerly a Chapter Member and Lay Canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London. She is also interested in social justice and in art and spirituality.
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Jenifer Jones

Great illustrations for each definition.

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024

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Great book. Easy to read definitions with color illustrations for most words. Very nice, small book...well worth the money. Purchased with small history book on illumination, and an instruction book on miniature painting. A magnifying glass will help see the tiny details, as the illustrations are not huge, but are in full color and on every page. Very nice book despite the small size, which does help control cost of publishing. Excellent color printing.

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Jan Dierckx

A small but handy tool for those interested in the Middle Ages.

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2009

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127 pages, 60 color illustrations.
This is one of the most beautiful books about illuminated manuscripts I know. The layout of the entries, the explanatory notes, and the many (mostly) color illustrations make this book a very handy and synoptic handbook.

Because the editor planned an edition of rather moderate dimensions, some sacrifices had to be made. The rather important production of illuminated manuscripts by the Islamic world and far east countries like China and Japan are not included. I even wonder if they should have been included because the technical terms are more than sufficiently illustrated by the West-European examples. After all this is not an art history-book with an exhaustive intellectual content.

Everyone with an interest in the Middle-Ages of western Europe should have this book in his library. A lot of technical terms provide also some insight in medieval society. I would like to give an example. An excerpt from the notes for the entry 'Breviary': "...From the eleventh century on, the various volumes used during the Divine Office (psalter, antiphonal, lectionary, martyrology, and others) were combined to form the breviary which was initially only used by monks but was popularized - in a slightly abridged form - by the Dominicans and Franciscans in the 13th century...."

It's beautiful, it's interesting. What more can I say?

12 people found this helpful

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J. Wagner

Not What I Expected

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2010

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While I realize that the book is a guide to technical terms, you need to know what they are on a manuscript first before you can look it up! Think of it like a dictionary for manuscripts, if you're looking at a manuscript described as an octavo, you can look it up and find the definition in this book. On the other hand, if you're looking at a manuscript and have no idea what an element on the page is called, you're out of luck.

I was hoping the book would be a breakdown of manuscripts by their parts in a more educational formats, but alas, that is not the case. This book is for you if you have the technical terms presented to you and you are needing the definition.

That said, it's got great information and wonderful illumination examples inside. I'll be keeping the book anyway.

7 people found this helpful

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B. Marold

A very good "first book" on the subject.

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2013

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Like another reviewer, this book was not entirely what I expected, since I glossed over the part which said that it was "A Guide to Gechnical Terms" suggesting a dictionary. The book is arranged entirely on an alphabetical listing of terms relating to pre-Guttenberg illustrated books. What was surprising, and possibly a bit "putting offish", is that the entries cover a wide range of material, roughly divided into the areas of 1) Bookbinding techniques, 2) Symbols painted on the pages and 3) Historical information about major Illuminated manuscripts.

It is this variety which makes the book suitable for reading cover to cover. You never know what you don't know, or what may be relevant. I'm sure there are books which cover these three subjects individually. I was expecting that the book would cover the symbology and heraldry of the illustrations, but I welcome the others.

If you have NO books on illuminated manuscripts, then I suggest this one. If you have lots already, this one may be too shallow. It is certainly a good "first book" on the subject.

9 people found this helpful

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Jill Kimm

Great book for calligraphers

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2013

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I found this title in the bibliography of the free online paleography course InScribe (historyspot.uk.org), and highly recommend the book and InScribe. (InScribe has an interactive transcription tool for multiple medieval hands. It is not "finished," but what is available is great.)
The book is a thin, sturdy, paperback Getty book first printed in 1994. It is arranged like a dictionary and has tiny color reproductions that are well-chosen, lovely examples of dictionary entries. A calligrapher, I find the book quite useful. Entries include writing and illuminating, liturgical, and Western (not Hebrew or Islamic) cultural terms. Examples, unfortunately, are too tiny for me to copy.

2 people found this helpful

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Mark Howells

A great little dictionary of illumination.

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2000

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This little volume provides brief definitions of all the important phrases and terms used in the study of illuminated manuscripts including forms, techniques, themes, and periods.
Great for understanding the differences between an historiated initial and an inhabited initial - or between an antiphonal and a gradual.
Most of the representative images are in color and are well chosen to illustrate the definitions. Perhaps their only drawback is their small size due to the size limitations of the book itself.
A great companion while reading to "Medieval Illuminators & their Methods of Work" by Jonathan J.G. ALexander or "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts" by Christopher De Hamel.

58 people found this helpful

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propertius

Answering Most Questions In An Exquisite Format

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018

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This beautifully appointed book should serve the perfect guide for all but the most adnaced students in the field. Terms are explained in concise and understandable terms and appropriate images are provided in beautiful colored photographs.

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Amazon Customer

Open up to a whole new world

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2015

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Excellent book for the person who wants to get a good basic grasp of these fabulous illuminated manuscripts & books. Beautifully coloured , some even gilded indicating the importance of sections or chapters as we know them today

2 people found this helpful

michelle brown

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2016

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excellent book, efficiently provided

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Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms ("^ALooking at" Series) First Edition

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