Summerfield B491: Visualizing Borders, Structural Innovation

Summerfield B491: Visualizing Borders, Structural Innovation

Networks and cycles of imagery that correspond to textual divisions delineate the structure of Summerfield B491. Full-page miniatures mark the beginnings of each important textual section and canonical hour, and a continuous flow of carefully conceived marginal images created from modular metalcuts reinforce these divisions. These modular images, printed separately from the other elements of the page, could be repeated throughout the book and deployed in different contexts. When combined in groups, these marginal narratives or themes continue across multiple pages, creating extratextual cycles. Among marginal narratives are depictions of events from the lives of Mary and Jesus that populate the borders in the Hours of the Virgin. Other themes include hunting scenes that reappear throughout the book and the Dance of Death that fills the margins of the Office of the Dead.

Summerfield B491

Spencer Research Library Special Collections, University of Kansas

c. 1502

Book of Hours

Spencer Research Library Special Collections Summerfield B491, fol. g_iir

Ink on paper, 16th c. printed Book of Hours