Facsimiles with Luxury Bindings
Although not many, some medieval manuscripts were nevertheless furnished with a splendid cover, often with gems or ivory. Here you will find a selection of facsimiles with the most beautiful and most elaborate bindings.
Codex Aureus of Echternach
Echternach Abbey (Luxembourg) — 1020-1050
Made at the behest of Theophanu, adorned with a breathtakingly splendid cover: perhaps the most magnificent and beautiful manuscript of all time
Lorsch Gospels
Aachen (Germany) — ca. 810
Held in the hands of Emperor Charlemagne, adorned with a masterful ivory cover: a world famous highlight of Carolingian book art
Sacramentary of Henry II
Benedictine Abbey of St. Emmeram, Regensburg (Germany) - 1007-1014
Golden book decoration for the king: a political statement and an ivory-decorated masterpiece of Ottonian book painting from the St. Emmeram monastery
Lindisfarne Gospels
Lindisfarne Abbey, Holy Island (United Kingdom) — ca. 700
Book art for eternity adorned with glowing carpet pages: the birth of Insular illumination and a style-defining masterpiece for centuries
Coronation Gospels of the Holy Roman Empire
Palace School of Charlemagne, Aachen (Germany) — shortly before 800
Part of the Imperial Insignia, written in gold ink on purple parchment: each German emperor swore his oath with his hand on this book
Speyer Pericopes
Speyer or Trier (Germany) — ca. 1220
A cover of precious stones, miniatures made of gold: an extraordinarily magnificent masterpiece for Speyer Cathedral
Salzburg Pericopes
St. Peter'S Abbey, Salzburg (Austria) — ca. 1020
70 golden miniatures and enrobed with 12 masterful ivory plates: a unique treasure of Ottonian illumination
Bamberg Psalter
Bamberg or Regensburg — 1220 / 1230
A binding with miniatures under translucent horn plates: the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic in a cathedral treasure with gold-glowing miniatures
Prayer Book of Lorenzo de' Medici
Florence (Italy) — 1485
Italian Renaissance art in filigree perfection: the wedding gift from Lorenzo the Magnificent to his eldest daughter Lucrezia
Farnese Hours
Rome (Italy) — 1537-1546
Painted by Giulio Clovio: a unique and perfect fusion of the elements of Renaissance and Mannerist art
Prayer Book of Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria
Germany — End of the 16th Century
Created in the court workshop of Emperor Rudolf II: realism and amazing details of animals and plants in a treasure of late medieval illumination
Torriani Book of Hours
Italien — 1490-1495
For the Italian ancestors of the princes of Thurn and Taxis: a book treasure in a small format with a fascinating decorative cover