Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> Alexander explains that in the early period Christian monasteries and churches were the main centers for the copying of manuscripts and so the majority of illuminators were monks working in and for their own monasteries. From the eleventh century lay scribes and illuminators became increasingly numerous and by the thirteenth century professional illuminators dominated the field. During this later period illuminators were able to travel in search of work and to acquire new ideas they joined guilds with scribes or with artists in the cities and their ranks included nuns and secular women. Work was regularly collaborative and the craft was learned through an apprenticeship system. Alexander carefully analyzes surviving manuscripts and medieval treatises in order to explain the complex and time- consuming technical processes of illumination-its materials methods tools choice of illustration and execution. From rare surviving contracts he deduces the preoccupation of patrons with materials and schedules. Illustrating his discussion with examples chosen from religious and secular manuscripts made all over Europe Alexander recreates the astonishing variety and creativity of medieval illumination. His book will be a standard reference for years to come. (MP)