The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts 2012 ~ Deluxe Edition Abbeville Press ~ Christian Heck, Remy Cordonnier

Title: The Grand Medieval Bestiary: Animals in Illuminated Manuscripts

Author: Christian Heck, Remy Cordonnier

Description: First Edition stated, first printing with full number line. Boards in burgundy cloth. Top edge gilt. Dust jacket and matching slipcase. Book, dust jacket and slipcase are all in fine condition. Nearly 600 color illustrations. Publisher's promotional sheet laid in. 619, [1] pages. 15 x 11 x 2.25 inches.

The Grand Medieval Bestiary, in this magnificent large-scale edition, is a treasury of medieval art and culture. It is presented in the manner of a proper bestiary, featuring hundreds of beasts organized alphabetically, from alauda or lark, whose morning song was thought to be a hymn to creation, to the vulture, which enjoyed a certain respect due to its impressive appearance, but was also a symbol of gluttony. Each entry is a mine of curious lore, engagingly described.

The opening chapters explain the prevalence of animals in illuminated manuscripts, reflecting their importance in medieval thought, an importance due in part to the agricultural society of that age, in which a variety of species--and not just docile pets--were the daily companions of man. Animals also had a greater symbolic significance than they do today: in popular fables, such as those of Reynard the Fox, they held up a mirror to the follies of mankind, and on the religious plane, they were understood as an integral part of God's creation, whose attributes and behaviors could be taken as clues to His plan of salvation.

The larger part of this book explores the complex and fascinating iconography of the individual creatures most frequently depicted by medieval miniaturists.

Christian Heck, formerly chief curator of the Musee d'Unterlinden in Colmar, is a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France and professor of art history at the Universite de Lille-III. He is an authority on illuminated manuscripts and on late-medieval painting north of the Alps.

Remy Cordonnier, who hold a doctorate in art history, is head of the cultural heritage department of the library of Saint-Omer, France. He has published numerous articles on medieval iconography, particularly concerning animals.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Jacket Condition: Fine
Slipcase Condition: Near Fine

Publisher: Abbeville Press Publishers
Place: New York - London
Year: 2012

ISBN: 0789211270

Keywords: illuminated manuscripts, Middle Ages, animals in art, mythical animals,