The Book of Miracles

by Till-Holger Borchert (Author), Joshua P. Waterman (Author)

17 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-3836542852

ISBN-10: 9783836542852

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Apocalypse then: Newly uncovered illuminations from the Renaissance depicting miraculous phenomena

The Book of Miracles that first surfaced a few years ago and recently made its way into an American private collection is one of the most spectacular new discoveries in the field of Renaissance art. The nearly complete surviving illustrated manuscript, which was created in the Swabian Imperial Free City of Augsburg around 1550, is composed of 169 pages with large-format illustrations in gouache and watercolor depicting wondrous and often eerie celestial phenomena, constellations, conflagrations, and floods as well as other catastrophes and occurrences. It deals with events ranging from the creation of the world and incidents drawn from the Old Testament, ancient tradition, and medieval chronicles to those that took place in the immediate present of the book’s author and, with the illustrations of the visionary Book of Revelation, even includes the future end of the world.

The surprisingly modern-looking, sometimes hallucinatory illustrations and the cursory descriptions of the Book of Miracles strikingly convey a unique view of the concerns and anxieties of the 16th century, of apocalyptic thinking and eschatological expectation. The present facsimile volume reproduces the Book of Miracles in its entirety for the first time and thus makes one of the most important works of the German Renaissance finally available to art lovers and scholars. The introduction puts the codex in its cultural and historical context, and an extensive description of the manuscript and its miniatures, as well as a complete transcript of the text, accompany the facsimile in an appendix.

Text in English, French, and German

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Till-Holger Borchert studied art history, musicology and German Literature at the universities of Bonn and Bloomington (IN). An acknowledged expert in Early Netherlandish paintings, he has been chief curator at the Groeningemuseum in Bruges since 2002. He has also curated numerous exhibitions in the sphere of art and cultural history, including in Brussels, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Madrid and New York. Borchert teaches art history at the universities of Aachen and Memphis (TN) and heads the Flemish Research Centre for the Arts in the Burgundian Netherlands.

Hardcover: 568 pages
Publisher: TASCHEN (January 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9783836542852
ISBN-13: 978-3836542852
ASIN: 3836542854
Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 2.7 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.7 pounds
Average Customer Review: 17 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1706 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Art History
- #6230 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Criticism
- #9589 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > History

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17 customer reviews

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Stage Door

Great images; very disappointing reproductions

March 7, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The original images themselves are beautiful, strange, enigmatic, evocative, brilliant. Everything that one might expect. My disappointment lies in the quality of the reproductions: One would think that, in this day and age of digital media, where one can so easily make and print high resolution scans or digital photos, that there is no reason for anything less than the most sharp and detailed reproductions, with true, full, rich colors and a palatable sense of depth and tone. Especially at this price. But, unfortunately, the images as reproduced here in this book are somewhat hazy and blurry. They are not horrific, just nowhere near as good as they could or should be. And that is a huge disappointment.

The question is, why? Obviously, a lot of effort was made to produce a beautiful book package, with the clamshell box, the Florentine paper endpapers, the paperback catalogue included, etc. The original 16th century handbook was a rare and important find, and it has been reproduced here as the special art publishing event that it deserves to be - in all but one very important aspect: The actual reproduction of the images. It kind of boggles the mind that Taschen would go to all this trouble, and then bungle the "main event". We should be able to look at these images and feel as though we are looking at the originals, but that is hardly the case. Instead I feel as though I am looking at a color Xerox copy circa 1983. (And don't be fooled by the images online, which, for the most part, look amazingly sharp and rich and quite promising. But those images have been shrunk way down, and when one sees the full size images in the book . . .well, it is just rather sad).

The beguiling beauty of the images makes the book worthwhile; I won't be sending it back. But I think that had I seen the quality of the reproductions in hand (instead of buying it "blindly" on Amazon), I would have had serious doubts about actually spending the $100, and probably wouldn't have. Quite frankly, the reproductions in the paperback catalogue are about as good as the reproductions in the hardcover, which is inexcusable. What a let down, and what a missed opportunity.

99 people found this helpful

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johann

Beautiful presentation. Was a little nervous to purchase because ...

March 28, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Gorgeous book. Beautiful presentation. Was a little nervous to purchase because one of the reviews said the print quality was poor, but I went ahead anyway because it's a Taschen publication and have always loved the quality of their books and I am so glad I did. No issues whatsoever with the print quality!

2 people found this helpful

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The Ornamentalist

a gorgeous facsimile of a truly fascinating book

April 27, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is one of he most incredibly gorgeous object I have ever held in my hands. What a gorgeous facsimile of a truly fascinating book!

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Norman Fleck

Missing folios

June 2, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is remarkable. There are 2 parts. the first part describes the book and its historical era. The second part has the actual reprints. The only disappointment is that the last two folios, 191r & 192r are missing in the second book

13 people found this helpful

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Five Stars

May 27, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Was a present for my granddaughter birthday and she loves it.

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Mario Acosta

Five Stars

December 25, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

EXC!

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Five Stars

February 13, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Beautiful

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Walter Dunphy

Excellent tour in another world

February 21, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is not a book to "read" - it is a trip into a world that we have lost. Whatever be your religion (or perhaps none) this is a glimpse into the way people of a not-so-distant past saw their world. We can only wonder at (and maybe regret the loss of) their sense of wonderment at the mystery of life.

9 people found this helpful

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The Book of Miracles

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