The best gifts

The most thoughtful presents are the things you've wanted all along without realizing it, or else were too lazy or clueless to buy them for yourself. Like this used, 1969 reproduction of the Duc du Berry Book of Hours John found for me on the Internet. The calendar pages are a feast to the eyes compared to the dinky, low-res images I've been downloading for the blog each month.

The 8x10 pages are about the same size as the 15th century masterpiece, so it gives a sense of the original scale and color. In medieval times you had to be fabulously wealthy to commission such a book for personal use, and the Duc du Berry owned a large part of central France in the 1400's. He was a great art collector and loved fine things like luxurious buildings, jewels, art and rare animals. He spent his time moving between his 17 residences with a large retinue of servants and followers.
After the Duc's death in 1416, the book was "lost" for almost 300 years while it bounced around Europe in private collections. In 1897 it was returned to France where it remains the most precious treasure of the Musee Conde:

It would be great to see the original someday-- but since it's a bound manuscript only two precious pages can be displayed at once. It's pretty nice riffling through my own personal, annotated Book of Hours. Thanks, John!