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Early drawings and illuminations : an introduction to the study of illustrated manuscripts, with a dictionary of subjects in the British Museum

Birch, Walter de Gray, 1842-1924, Jenner, Henry, 1848-1934 · 1879 · London : Samuel Bagster and Sons · 15 pictures

A scholarly introduction to illuminated manuscripts, written in 1879 by Walter de Gray Birch and Henry Jenner for London readers and students, with a dictionary of subjects drawn from the British Museum's collection. The plates show medieval religious images in gilt, ink and wash, including an enthroned Virgin with the Christ child, a scene of Christ harrowing hell, and an evangelist seated at a desk beneath an angel. A designer could draw on their framed compositions, decorative borders and stiff, shallow figure poses.

Illumination of books and manuscripts · Manuscripts

Internet Archive · Getty Research Institute · Public domain (published before 1931) · More from this library