Description
Complete and special edition of the 15th-century manuscript, “The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry.” Illuminated by the Limbourg Brothers and Jean Colombe, the original codex is housed at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.
First edition in the Friends of the Codex “Art Books” collection. 2018 edition, numbered and limited to 959 copies with Arabic numerals and 25 copies with Roman numerals. Sold out. The copy we offer has Roman numerals.
Hand-bound in a gold-plated sapphire vanol hardcover, creating an original and unusual binding. The title page is printed on the spine, has a gold-plated guide strip, and hand-sewn and folded booklets. Small format: 16 x 21.5 cm. 420 full-color pages (no gold-plated inserts) on special pergamenata paper. Weighs just over 1 kg.
Presented in an exclusive slipcase, lined with gold-plated sapphire vanol, with a plain spine and a bronze title page. Size: 18.5 x 24 x 5.2 cm.
This unique copy is offered together with the study book of the facsimile edition of this same work published by Patrimonio Ediciones, in five languages, published in 2010.
Hardbound with an illustrated dust jacket. Size: 25 x 34 cm. Texts in Spanish, French, English, German, and Italian by the authors of the studies: Raymond Cazelles, Jean Longnon, and Millard Meiss (1904-1975). Translators: Beatriz Mariño López and Brigitte Klein. Includes 143 color illustrations.
ISBN: 9788495061386. Copy in perfect condition, sealed, new, unused.
“The Very Rich Hours of Duke Jean de Berry” is probably the most important illuminated manuscript of the 15th century, the king of illuminated manuscripts, or as the French say, “le roi des manuscrits enluminés.” It was commissioned by Jean, Duke of Berry, around 1410 and executed for the most part by the Limbourg brothers.
The manuscript comprises 420 pages, almost all of which are partially or completely illuminated, and is considered one of the finest examples of international Gothic painting, despite its small size.
In addition to the psalm illustrations, the calendar is particularly noteworthy, with depictions of the different months of the year and the tasks, usually agricultural, carried out in each of them.
The Limbourg brothers were famous medieval miniaturist painters from the city of Nijmegen (Netherlands). Around 1410, Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg were commissioned to create what would later be considered the last great medieval illumination and one of the most valuable books in history, known as “The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry.”
In the first half of 1416, Jean de Berry and the three Limbourg brothers (all under 30 years of age) died of unknown causes, and “The Very Rich Hours” remained unfinished. An unidentified artist (possibly Barthélemy van Eyck) worked on the famous calendar miniatures in the 1440s, when the book was apparently in the possession of Renée I of Naples, and in 1485 Jean Colombe completed the work for the House of Savoy.
The dimensions of the original codex are 21 x 29.4 cm. It contains 64 extraordinary full-page miniatures and 66 smaller ones spread across the 392 manuscript pages (it also contains 28 blank pages), as well as hundreds of capital letters, initials, and moldings, all richly decorated, creating one of the most important miniature painting museums in the history of art.
This is an exclusive, sold-out edition, the only copy available. A beautiful and extraordinary luxury codex at a very affordable price, despite the enormous labor costs involved in each copy. An edition affordable for everyone.
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