Bernard MeehanRezensionen

This is quite possibly the most beautiful book I've ever read. It's certainly the only one I've read with a magnifying glass handy to make sure I didn't miss any of the details.

I have seen the Book of Kells personally, but nothing prepares you for the wealth of fascinating detail that Bernard Meehan reveals in his erudite discussion of the book. He goes into its history, structure, script, illustrations, symbolism, authorship, physical structure and a whole lot more. Meehan highlights fine aspects of the illustrations that the untrained eye would never see, they are so tiny. The artistry and calligraphy he describes are breath-taking and engender awe for what these scribes and artists were capable of more than 1200 years ago.

Le plus beau des livres médiéval expliqué½

This was a difficult book to read at first. Then I got the hang of the abbreviations and citations and it became clearer. I am in awe of the Kells. The artistry, the colors, the intricacy, the mystery of the kells is enticing. You can look at them for hours and see something new every moment. The are the "work, not of men, but of angels."½

A quick but academic read about the illuminated manuscripts copied by monks in ancient Ireland. Luckily it is heavily illustrated to avoid my head spinning from the frequent use of language specific to the trade of manuscript studies

Good general introduction to the book and its history. Shows a few of the less common folios and gives some detail close ups. 117 illustrations, 110 in color.

The Book of Kells: possibly the pinnacle of medieval artistic achievement. This book provides a great introduction to the manuscript and its pictures are almost entirely in color.

Illumination art, 110 illustrations.

I and Pangur Bán my cat
'Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will
He too plies his simple skill. Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net. 'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try. Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

IR/00083