There seems, however, no reason why the artistic skill and elaborate methods of reproduction of the present day should not produce magnificent books--indeed the "Imitation" of Thomas à Kempis, and other continental examples prove that this is amply possible.
The next few years will probably show that readers are still desirous of possessing beautiful books, and that artists are still found capable of producing them.
MANUSCRIPTS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED AS EXAMPLES
(Partly taken by permission from the Victoria and Albert Museum Handbook)
--+------------- +-------------------------+---------+--------------------- No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. | | Produced. | | | --+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- 1|Vergil |...... |Vatican Lib.,|3rd or |Doubtful which is the |(fragment) | |Rome, Cod. |4th cent.|older | | |Vat. 3225 | | | | | | | 2|Vergil |...... |Vat. Lib. |4th cent.|" | | |3867 | | | | | | | 3|Rom. |...... |Imp. Lib., |" | |Calend.(f.) | |Vienna | | | | | | | 4|Genesis (f.) |...... |" |5th cent.|Gold and silver text | | | | |on purple vellum; 88 | | | | |miniatures. | | | | | 5|Genesis (f.) |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Much burnt in 1731. | | |Cott. Oth. B.| | | | |6 | | | | | | | 6|Iliad (f.) |...... |Ambros. Lib.,|" |Fine handwriting and | | |Milan | |clever pictures. | | | | | 7|Joshua (f. of|...... |Vat. Lib., |...... |15 leaves, 32 ft. |Roll) | |Rome | |long, 11 in. wide. | | | | |Contains from ch. | | | | |222 to 1018, brush | | | | |outlines to | | | | |miniatures. Rivers, | | | | |etc., personified in | | | | |Byzantine manner. | | | | | 8|Dioscorides, |...... |Imp. Lib., |_c._ |Personifications of |etc. | |Vienna |500-5 |abstract qualities. | | | | | 9|Bible of |...... |Laurent. |_c._ 540 |Valuable as a |Montamiata | |Lib., | |theological document, | | |Florence | |but poor work, and in | | | | |bad condition. | | | | | 10|Syriac |Monastery of|" |_c._ 586 |Brought to Florence |Gospels |Zagba, in | | |in 1497. Remarkable | |Mesopotamia | | |Crucifixion, see | | | | |_Byzantine_, 1. | | | | | 11|Terence |...... |Nat. Lib., |9th cent.|Copy of a 5th-cent. | | |Paris | |MS. pen-drawings. | | | | | 12|Pentateuch |Tours |Nat. Lib., |7th cent.|Called the Ashburnham | | |Paris, Nouv. | |Pentateuch; 19 large | | |acq. 2334 | |miniatures.