Rare Book School
Preliminary Reading List

Introduction to Illuminated Manuscripts

Roger S. Wieck

Preliminary Advices

For Catholicism, medieval and otherwise, students should read:

1. Swanson, R.N. Religion and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215-c. 1515. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
2. Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars:  Traditional Religion in England, c.1400-c. 1580, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992; rep 1994.  Read: Part I, “The Structures of Traditional Religion.”

Also useful to consult would be a copy of the Baltimore Catechism, paperback copies (edited by either Father McGuire or Father Connell) from the 1950s can sometimes be sought out. An online version is also available.

Students should familiarize themselves with the basics of liturgy and of medieval time by reading

1. Harper, John. The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century:  A Historical Introduction and Guide for Students and Musicians. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991. Read:  Part I “Liturgy in the Western Church,” Part II “Medieval Liturgy,” and Appendix I “Important Features of the Liturgical Calendar”
2. Clemens, Raymond, and Timothy Graham. Introduction of Manuscript Studies. Ithaca, NY:  Cornell University Press, 2008. Read:  Chapter 12 “Liturgical Books and Their Calendars.” 

All students should bring to class a Latin/English Missal (pre-Vatican II only!).

For illuminated manuscripts in general, read Christopher De Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. 2nd edition. London: Phaidon, 1994 (1st edn 1986).

We will be spending some time on Books of Hours; read either

1. Wieck, Roger. Time Sanctified:  The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life, New York, 1988 (2001, second edition).
2. ____. Painted Prayers:  The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art, New York, 1997 (1999 second printing).

If neither of the above two books is available, students can read Chapter 13 “Books of Hours” from Clemens and Graham cited above.