Usu­al­ly, I don’t list a book as “read” unless I read the whole thing, but this is a spe­cial case. The Très Rich­es Heures is a medieval bre­viary, famous for its artis­tic val­ue as an illu­mi­nat­ed man­u­script. I doubt that many peo­ple have ever read the entire text, which is mere­ly a col­lec­tion of prayers, mak­ing tedious read­ing. Such books were made for lay­men who wished to bring some ele­ments of monas­tic prac­tice into their dai­ly lives. They pro­vid­ed a cal­en­dric sched­ule for read­ing pas­sages from the Gospels, the Psalms, and lita­nies, and also helped one keep track of the many feast and saints’ days. Most were in Latin, but some were in local ver­nac­u­lars. Thou­sands of these man­u­scripts sur­vive, but a hand­ful that were pro­duced for wealthy nobles are spec­tac­u­lar­ly illu­mi­nat­ed. The one pro­duced for the Duc de Berry is con­sid­ered to be one of the prin­ci­pal mas­ter­pieces of medieval art. It is some­times said to be the most valu­able book in the world. Read more »