The Bedford Hours (Manuscripts in the British Library)

The Bedford Hours is one of Britain's major treasures. An outstanding example of late medieval manuscript art, it was written and illuminated in the early 15th century for John, Duke of Bedford, younger brother of King Henry V, and his wife, Anne of Burgundy. The principal artist of the leading Parisian workshop in which it was produced takes his name, the 'Bedford Master' from his English patron.Expertly planned and professionally executed, The Bedford Hours is celebrated for the enormous range of its pictorial scheme, with many superb large miniatures in brilliant colours, and exquisite marginal details.Here Janet Backhouse examines the overall design of the Hours, discussing the historical background to its production and ownership, with 60 colour and black-and-white plates showing full pages and details beautifully reproduced from the manuscript.