French Books of Hours
French Books of Hours
The Book of Hours was a 'best-seller' in medieval and early modern Europe, the era's most commonly produced and owned book. This interdisciplinary study explores its increasing popularity and prestige, offering a full account of the Book of Hours as a book - how it was acquired, how it was read to guide prayer and teach literacy and what it meant to its owners as a personal possession. Based on the study of over 500 manuscripts and printed books from France, Virginia Reinburg combines a social history of the Book of Hours with an ethnography of prayer. Approaching the practice of prayer as both speech and ritual, she argues that a central part of the Book of Hours' appeal for lay people was its role as a bridge between the liturgy and the home. Reinburg describes how the Book of Hours shaped religious practice through the ways in which it was used.
- Combines a social history of the Book of Hours with an ethnography of prayer
- This account of prayer as speech and rite fills a gap in our understanding of religious life
- Shows how the Book of Hours reflects the varied ways people prayed at the close of the Middle Ages and during the sixteenth century
Reviews & endorsements
"This significant contribution to the history of Christianity will interest a wide range of students and scholars. Highly recommended."
Choice
"French Books of Hours brings together in one accessible book a wealth of information, relevant to horae, available in more specialized studies of liturgy, prayer, iconography, religion, and magic."
Elizabeth L’estrange, Renaissance Quarterly
"Reinburg treats the Book of Hours in an innovative light, illustrating the rich variety of these medieval bestsellers and showing the many ways medieval and early modern people read these books, the multivocality of their prayer, the interaction between collective and individual engagement with the texts, and the multiple practical usages of the books for both devotion and literacy. Given its wideranging conclusions about the evolving nature of prayer, this book will be useful to medieval and early modern scholars in a number of fields, including religion, literature, art history, and history. Reinburg’s book should prove accessible to advanced undergraduates and useful to those broadly interested in the history of spirituality, emotion, and prayer, especially as regards the emergence of individual devotion."
Jenny C. Bledsoe, Hortulus
"… the editors have assembled contributions that are sparkling with ideas and new perspectives, as well as presenting a vast amount of new information. This publication will be a necessary point of reference for many years to come."
Rowan Watson, AMARC Newsletter
Product details
November 2014Paperback
9781107460065
312 pages
229 × 152 × 17 mm
0.42kg
39 b/w illus. 2 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I. A Social History of the Book of Hours: Prologue to Part I
- 1. Culture and commerce
- 2. Owners and their books
- 3. Prayer book and primer
- Part II. An Ethnography of Prayer: Prologue to Part II
- 4. Words and rites
- 5. A fragment of a religion
- 6. Prayer to the Virgin Mary
- Conclusion
- Bibliography.
