The Book of Bibles

by Andreas Fingernagel, Christian Gastgeber, Andreas Fingernagel

Let there be light: Medieval bible manuscripts in impeccable reproductionIn the beginning was the word, and in the Middle Ages were kings, princes, and high-ranking religious members whose wealth and influence produced illustrated bibles of extraordinary craftsmanship.
This Bibliotheca Universalis edition brings together 50 of the finest medieval bible manuscripts from the Austrian National Library. With examples from every epoch of the Middle Ages, the collection explores visualizations of the bible in various theological and historical contexts. In impeccable reproduction quality, these stunning images may be appreciated as much as art historical treasures as they are important religious artifacts.
Texts by Andreas Fingernagel, Stephan Fussel, Christian Gastgeber, and a team of 15 scientific authors describe each manuscript in detail, exploring both the evolution of the Bible and the medieval understanding of history. A glossary of important terms is also included so that those not versed in bible history can enjoy the texts as well.
About the series: Bibliotheca Universalis Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.Bookworm s delight never bore, always excite!"

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Art History

461 pages, Hardcover

Published January 2, 2016

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and interesting, in that I really have never thought about the scripture transmission from origins to age of printing. Love how art and word come together.

[Jacabaeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful images with informative text. Can be very dry and a chore to read, however.

[Ignacio Unamuno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como cualquier libro de la editorial Taschen, El libro de las Biblias es fascinante por su contenido gráfico. Los textos que acompañan a las imágenes se mantienen breves y precisos.

Sin embargo, su contenido puede llegar a ser demasiado erudito. Se presentan muchos datos para el interés de los anticuarios, como el material de fabricación de los libros, los detalles ornamentales, el estilo de las grafías y otras cosas por el estilo. En este sentido, el libro es muy tradicional. Esto puede llegar a ser frustrante porque las fascinantes imágenes que se reproducen tienen una riqueza interpretativa que no se explora. Sólo la sección consagrada a la exégesis bíblica ofrece algunas indagaciones en el significado de los textos. Pero no se elabora suficientemente.

En cuanto a la selección de imágenes, el libro está bien, pero tiene fallas. Una de ellas es la repetición incesante de escenas del libro del Génesis. Al menos en las primeras páginas, las imágenes sobre la Creación se repiten una y otra vez. Se deja de lado otras escenas que pudieron ser enriquecedoras, como los episodios relatados en Jueces, en Reyes y en Crónicas. Sólo encontré una imagen del libro de Job, lo cual es desafortunado. Y por algún motivo la presencia del Nuevo Testamento es esporádica. Esto no se entiende en lo absoluto, ya que el libro pretende contener información de la Edad Media, época cuando todo se inclinaba al Evangelio.

Por último, hay que decir que, aunque la intención era buena, realmente no se entiende por qué se incluyeron volúmenes islámicos en este libro.

[Tiago F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly disappointing. While I love illuminated bibles and the art is beautiful, it was tedious to read. It was interesting in the beginning, but it quickly became repetitive and boring. I quit 1/3 of my way in.

The book is organized by examples of illuminated bibles, which are not at all appealing once you have gone through several of them. The topic is fascinating, but how it was presented and organized was not.

I don't care who made the book or who illustrated it. It's always some random guy I never heard of, and I will never hear again. Nor other details such as who had it made or on what dates this or that was finished. It's the type of history I hate and find pointless, just a random collection of disjointed facts with no underlying narrative.

It would have been much better to try to describe a coherent story about illuminated bibles, their context, what they have in common, what they differ on, and so forth. Rather, I felt like I was forced to read a bunch of Wikipedia articles about random bibles.

[Elizabeth Peltola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprisingly accessible book to pick up and and browse through. I enjoyed the short articles on the many manuscripts from different parts of the world. To have beautiful illustrations from medieval manuscripts, from libraries many of us can't readily access, compiled into one volume was a treat! I revisit this book from time to time to enjoy the beautiful, and often deeply theological, illustrations of Biblical stories.
I hope more like it will be published.

[Luke Brodine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated collection of manuscripts that are not typically highlighted when it comes to the subject. No Book of Kells or the like here, which actually proves more interesting to consider how they came about and why they survived. Yes some of the writing is tedious but the narrative going through sheds light on why this form of art and devotion shaped religious lives before the printing press made scriptures far more accessible.

[Robynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that can be appreciated by anyone who loves art, regardless of any religious affiliation.

[T SP · Rating 4 out of 5]

This art history book explains the history of not only illuminated bibles, but of Christian history and medieval European politics within the context of said bibles