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he superb Facsimile Edition of the illustrated manuscript held by The Estense Library at the University of Modena.

Few illustrated manuscripts from the later period of book illumination creates so much harmony as the German language Glockendon Hours from the year 1534. The superb miniatures included in this prayer-book are by Nicholas Glockendon, from Nuremberg's most celebrated artistic family.

The manuscript which was produced on the finest parchment with Gothic Italic handwriting includes 256 pages sized 215 x of 165 mm. Each text grouping has 28 lines. The titles of the individual chapters were written with radiant, red ink. The scribe, a particularly gifted calligrapher, is unknown.

The modern book reader will be amazed at the readable text illustrated by Nicholas Glockendon with 42 colour miniatures on the life Jesus and with the magnificent coat of arms of the Mainz archbishop. In this he has laid the foundations for the paintings of scenes from the Old Testament that visualise the events in the New Testament. The biblical scenes play into a very tangible medieval environment, urban Jerusalem of the 16th Century glows through the illustrations. The lovingly executed streets and buildings, houses and Palaces fit into the picture of a German city of modern times. The countryside's with their mountains, rocks, castles and hamlets could be anywhere in the German mountain region. Nikolaus Glockendon's paintings in this volume show us the everyday life of his time.

In addition to his own paintings there is an expressive copperplate created by his friend Albrecht Dürer of a portrait of the sponsor, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, dated 1523 and used as a frontispiece.

However, not only the paintings and the smooth style of writing contribute to the elegance of the manuscript, but also the initials starting the 62 chapters of the book. These were produced by Georg Stierlein, a book illustrator and collaborator with Glockendon's in their Nuremberg workshop.

Both masters and the great scribe have co-ordinated perfectly with one and other in the production of this work. The only improvement on the radiance of the paints was the careful placement of gold in the miniatures by Nikolaus Glockendon, another powerful improvement however, is the gold leaf used on many of Stierlein's initials.

The facsimile: All 256 pages (128 sheets) the painting and the text plus Albrecht Dare's copperplate have been produced in the original format (215 x of 165 mm). To produce the facsimile the most modern digital scanning technology was used. The printing took place on state of the art, electronically controlled colour printing presses.

The different gold types used by Nicholas Glokendon and Georg Stierlein have been reproduced using varying hand-crafted techniques. Individual pages with their irregular sizes exactly match the original.

The Binding: In 1907original binding was restored. The undamaged original clasps, engraved with the "Agnus Dei," complement the calfskin cover. The Facsimile binding is an exact replica of the original which, since 1861, has been adorned at the centre of the cover with the Coat of Arms of the House of Savoy, the Italian Royal House.

The Facsimile and commentary volume are protected by and acrylic glass case.

Please note: This facsimile volume is now sold out.

A documentation kit containing 2 sample pages, in the original size, from the Glockendon Hours Fine Art Facsimile Volume, plus an illustrated, 14 page information brochure, is available for $US47.