“Books of hours are fascinating because they touch so many parts of their reader’s experience of the world,” said Larisa Grollemond, assistant curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum. “And because they were made in such large numbers, the changes in their production and decoration can also tell us a lot about the medieval book market over time.”
The later Middle Ages saw a change in the market for books of hours. An increase in literacy and upward social mobility contributed to a growing desire for these manuscripts among citizens of ordinary means. To satisfy the growing demand, illustrations were copied from existing examples and standardized.
After the invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century, the “mass production” of books of hours reached new heights. Books of hours, printed in hundreds of different editions toward the end of the century, would become one of the first commercially successful ventures in the new medium.
Take a closer look and learn more in the new Google Arts & Culture exhibit “Transcending Time: The Medieval Book of Hours.”
