Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/423



This charming volume is the most successful attempt that has yet been made to reproduce at a moderate expense the rich colouring and effect of the elaborate miniatures which enrich the illuminated manuscripts of the latter half of the fifteenth century. Most of those who have visited the manuscript department of the Bibliothèque Royale at Paris have seen and admired the "Hours of Anne of Brittany," with its numerous embellishments, which may be considered the finest examples that exist of the brilliant school of artists who at that period (it was executed about the year 1499) devoted their talents to this lucrative branch of art. These illuminations consist of a series of subjects connected with each month of the calendar, with borders, Sec, also bearing reference to the season; a considerable number of pictures of sacred subjects; and many other ornamental devices and letters. The subjects of the borders, which are gorgeously rich, are flowers, with various kinds of insects. The volume before us contains the whole of the calendar, with its miniatures and borders. They are partly printed in colours, by Mr. Owen Jones (whose artistical skill in this department is so justly celebrated), and partly coloured by the hand by Mr. Humphries; and by means of both processes the resemblance of the copies to the original is surprising. Twenty years ago no one would have believed it possible to produce such a volume at five times the price, so great is the perfection and facility to which the processes necessary for its production have now been brought. In the part occupied in the manuscript by writing, the editor of the copy has inserted the more useful entries of a calendar for the year 1845, so as to render the ornaments of the past applicable to the present. It forms an elegant and appropriate Christmas gift, and will help not a little to make our countrymen and countrywomen conversant with arts and manners as they existed in former days. We rejoice to see that the publishers intend to issue similar volumes in succeeding years; we hope it may be a profitable enterprize.

We will not undertake to describe the numerous borders of gold and colours, with beautiful and accurate drawings of the flowers peculiar to each season, and hosts of butterflies, moths, beetles, caterpillars, &c. contained in this illuminated calendar. The miniatures of the months are not only attractive as finished pictures, but they comprise faithful delineations of the buildings and costumes of the age to which they belong. The month of