Our Personal Favorites
There are now more than 1,200 different facsimile editions of manuscripts from the Middle Ages, but which are the most beautiful, the most opulent, the most interesting or the most exciting? In our very personal selection, we have taken into account not only the beauty of the original manuscript, but also the quality of the facsimile.
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
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Paris and/or Bourges (France) — 1410-1416 and 1485-1489
Our picture of the Middle Ages, created by the Limbourg brothers for the Duke of Berry: one of the most beautiful, valuable, and famous manuscripts in the world
Book of Kells
Iona Abbey (United Kingdom) — ca. 800
Included on the UNESCO World Heritage list and arguably the most famous manuscript in the world: the mystical masterpiece of Insular illumination
Pericopes of Henry II
Germany — 1007-1012
Made at Reichenau on behalf of Germany's only canonized emperor: one of the most beautiful, splendid, and greatest masterpieces of Ottonian illumination
Mainz Gospels
Mainz (Germany) — 1230-1250
A German Codex Aureus in the treasury of Mainz Cathedral: written in gold ink and adorned with luminous miniatures in the "jagged style"
Bible of Borso d'Este
Ferrara or Modena (Italy) — 1455-1461
Each one of the 1,200 pages has been masterfully illuminated with incredible attention to detail: the grandiose climax of the Renaissance
Black Prayer Book
Bruges (Belgium) — 1466-1476
Black parchment and luminous colors commissioned by Charles the Bold: one of only a handful of surviving black manuscripts
Stuttgart Psalter
Scriptorium of St. Germain-des-Prés (Paris, France) — 820-830
Every single Psalm illustrated with great attention to detail: the most richly illuminated Psalter of the Carolingian era
Rohan Hours
Paris or Angers (France) — 1430-1435
The beginning of a new era in book illumination: masterful, full-page miniatures in a lavishly illuminated book of hours
Peterborough Psalter
London or Norwich (England) — ca. 1300
Over 100 golden miniatures: scenes from the Old and New Testaments, combined into a single image cycle
The Art of Falconry by Frederick II
Rotunda or Naples (Italy) — ca. 1258-1266
De arte venandi cum avibus, one of the most famous manuscripts of the Middle Ages: the masterpiece on falconry written by the Staufer Emperor Frederick II himself
Morgan Crusader Bible
Paris (France) — ca. 1250
From King Louis the Saint to the Shah of Persia to New York: one of the most beautifully illuminated and famous manuscripts of the Middle Ages
Bedford Hours
Paris (France) — ca. 1423-1430
The famous Bedford Master's magnum opus : one of the richest and most beautiful illuminated manuscripts of all time
Bible moralisée of Naples
Naples (Italy) — 1340-1350
Picture strips for the Old Testament and full-page miniatures for the New: a visually stunning masterpiece, created by the greatest artists of the Early Italian Renaissance
Boccaccio's Decameron
Gramont (France) und Ghent (Flanders) — 1445-1450
100 famous short stories with 100 perfectly matching miniatures: a large-format masterpiece commissioned by the Burgundian Duke Philip the Good
Gradual of St. Katharinenthal
St. Katharinenthal Abbey (Switzerland) — 1312
Magnificent miniatures on a golden background: one of the most beautiful Gothic manuscripts, used as a large choir book until the 19th century
Gulbenkian Apocalypse
London (United Kingdom) — 1265-1270
Breathtakingly beautiful, golden miniatures for the Pope: one of the most beautiful English apocalypse manuscripts of the early Gothic period
Grandes Heures der Anne de Bretagne
Tours (France) — 1503-1508
One of the most beautiful books of hours in the history of illumination and at the same time a herbolarium: miniatures and paintings created by the great Jean Bourdichon for the French Queen
Codex Manesse
Zürich, Lake Constance region — after 1310 to ca. 1340
The famous great song manuscript from Heidelberg: a unique treasure of German literature, medieval history, and Gothic book illumination
Dead Sea Scrolls
West Jordan — ca. 120 BC - AD 70
The most important archaeological find of the 20th century: the famous scrolls with 2,000-year-old texts from the Bible