APHA / Chesapeake visit to the
Library of Congress to see
Books of Hours
Thursday, April 22, 2010

On Thursday, April 22 an enthusiatic group Chesapeake Chapter members gathered at the Library of Congress with chapter member Dan DeSimone, Curator of the Rosenwald Collection, for a talk about Books of Hours and to see nineteen excellent examples from the LOC collection.

From About.com. "A book of hours was a prayer book containing appropriate prayers for specific hours of the day, days of the week, months, and seasons. Books of hours were usually beautifully illuminated, and some of the more notable ones are among the finest works of medieval art in existence."

Dan pulled nineteen from the LOC collection for us to get close to. We divided into two groups so we could get a closer look, one handled by Dan and the other by Mark Dimunation, Chief of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Library of Congress.

Dan gave us an overview including tracing the history of Books of Hours from the 1300s into the 1500s which gave us a nice experience of seeing them pass from manuscripts to printed books.

The illustrations in several of the books were simply stunning.

Here are some photos of the event.

Dan DeSimone introducing us to the Books of Hours and the Library of Congress collection.

The view of Dan addressing our group and the awaiting Books of Hours.

One of the stunning images from Dan's talk.

Dan working with his group.

Mark working with his.

APHA chapter member Jackie Coleburn, who also works at the Library of Congress addresses some detail about the books.

One of the the author's favorite illustrations with a wonderfully delicate botonical border.

It was also interesting to see the wonderful clamshell boxes and slipcases that accompanied each of the books. Some had come from booksellers when the book was offered or had been sold and some had been commissioned by Lessing Rosenwald Collection stands out among the distinguished resources of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Taking

The table that also came from the Rosenwald gift made a perfect environment for look at the books from his collection.

Jill Cypher and Tray Nichols look at one of the smaller examples.

And the view from the other way around.

A closeup of one of the closures.

And two nice examples of the bindings.

It is really nice to have chapter members with access to such wonderful collections and it provides a wonderful way to spend a morning.
After the talk and tour thirteen of us gathered for lunch at a near by Asian restaurant.

Photos by Ray & Tray Nichols.