Illuminations

This book is great, it's just not what I expected. Its more of a picture book for children then it is a source book for medieval illuminations. It goes letter by letter through the alphabet with one large image or drawing or illumination, if you will, on each page. I was expecting something with more variety and more actual medieval illuminations.Let me reiterate, this is a nice book for children, with large pretty images. It is not a good source of medieval illumination scroll designs. I was looking for something to help me advance my illumination techniques for my work in the SCA and this book is not for that.

Very satisfied with the product, price, and the shipping and delivery. Thank you!

You can't beat the artwork...beautiful illustrations.

Great book. Fast delivery. A-ok.

"An illumination is a picture, design, or decoration drawn on a manuscript page" (Jonathan Hunt, from the "I" page in "Illuminations").Jonathan Hunt uses this ancient--colorful and exquisitely detailed--method to introduce readers to a glossary of terms and concepts from the Middle Ages. Arranged in alphabetical order, readers are often introduced to more than one concept per letter, for example on the page devoted to "Knight," terms like chivalrous men-at-arms, king, lord, lady, page, squire, fief and the Round Table are mentioned.As another reviewer suggests, this is not really an alphabet book for younger readers. Although "Illuminations" is done in picture book format--and the illustrations are a pleasure to browse--because of the way Hunt lovingly approaches his subject, it is an ideal introduction to Medieval times for upper elementary grade students, and perhaps all the way up through secondary. In reading it as a school librarian, I learned some things I didn't know before.In my review of Marguerite De Angeli's Newbery Awarding winning Medieval novel, "The Door in the Wall," I suggested that a book like "Illuminations" would be ideal for introducing middle-grade readers to the language and terminology of this fascinating period of history. This is a resource that teachers and students in our elementary school often turn to. Highly recommended.If you get this book, be sure to read "A Note From the Author;" About the Art;" "Suggested Reading;" and the Bibliography in the back.

This is one of the few books that I wish I could give separate star ratings for text and illustrations. I totally loved the glorious illuminated pages.Although the title does not give you a clue, this is an ABC picture book, using things from the Middle Ages as the ABC words. The words are interesting, but quite obscure, for example, A is for Alchemist, M is for Merlin, O is for Oriflamme, Q is for Quintain, and U is for Unicorn. The book is fun but has limited use for young children. Older children studying the middle ages might want to research the meaning of those words. Grades 3-6.

Art work is amazing and so detailed! We loved looking at pictures and exploring the drawings for texture and techniques.