The de Brailes Hours: Shaping the Book of Hours in Thirteenth-Century Oxford

The de Brailes Hours is the earliest surviving independent Book of Hours, dating from about 1240. The work of William de Brailes, of Oxford, it is lavishly illustrated throughout with miniatures and historiated initials of fine quality, with an interesting sequence of scenes. As the first example of this new type of text, its design and iconography have much that is experimental; equally remarkable is the illuminator’s handling of the complex programme of illustrations.

Claire Donovan provides a detailed discussion of the Hours, its iconography and its place in the thirteenth-century Oxford book trade, with five appendices, notes and bibliography. About two-thirds of the manuscripts is reproduced in black and white, with sixteen full-page colour illustrations of some of the finest illuminated pages