BOOK OF HOURS 1300-1325 Faithful Leather-bound Reproduction Facsimile Limited to just 10 Deluxe leather-bound copies, bound by a master bookbinder/old medieval manuscript expert with 40 years of expertise in book restoration. Language: Latin - Old French Leatherbound: Burgundy Leather Pages: 246 pages Dimensions: A4 , 210 x 297cm , 8.3" x 11.7" This Book of Hours was created in northeastern France in the early 14th century, possibly for the marriage of Louis I of Châtillon (died 1346) and Jeanne of Hainaut, as the Châtillon de Blois arms are depicted on folios 19 recto and 81 verso, and the arms of Hainaut also appear in the borders, including in conjunction with the Châtillon arms on folio 19 recto. The manuscript is exceptional for the abundance of drolleries and lively hybrids that inhabit nearly every page. Stylistically these images have been linked to a workshop in the Artois region, possibly based in Arras, in northeast France. Although the manuscript is incomplete, lacking its calendar and likely some images, its surviving illumination provides an excellent example of the playfulness of art during this period. The first folio with miniatures and last two folios were added early in the work's existence. It is written in textura formata (a formal Gothic script found in elaborate manuscripts of the period), with the text in black ink and rubrics in red. Three artists' hands are distinguishable. Books of Hours are private devotional books that were enormously popular with wealthy Catholics in medieval times. They were typically structured around the hourly prayers observed in monasteries, and devout Catholics were expected stop eight times a day and recite the appropriate liturgy. Despite their strongly religious origin, the books served more as status symbols and fashion accessories than paths to heaven, a fact testified to in the large number of copies that survive in exceptional condition. Shipped with Express FEDEX/UPS worldwide for free