📖 Overview
Marking the Hours examines hundreds of medieval Books of Hours - prayer books that were widely used by English laypeople from the 13th to 16th centuries. Through careful analysis of marginalia, inscriptions, and modifications made by their owners, this study reconstructs how these books were actually used in daily religious practice.
The research draws on surviving prayer books from major collections across Britain and Europe, revealing personal notes, family records, and adaptations that transformed these mass-produced volumes into unique historical documents. Notable examples include books owned by specific families across generations, complete with birth and death records, as well as volumes modified during the English Reformation.
This work moves beyond traditional scholarly focus on the books' artistic merits to understand their role as practical objects used in daily devotion and family record-keeping. Through these personal traces, patterns emerge about literacy, religious practice, and social attitudes in medieval and early modern England.
The analysis provides insights into how medieval English people understood and practiced their faith, while raising broader questions about the intersection of prescribed religious observance and individual spiritual expression.
👀 Reviews
The book has limited online reader reviews. From the available feedback:
Readers valued:
- Clear explanation of Book of Hours' role in medieval religious life
- High-quality color images of manuscript illustrations
- Accessible writing style for non-specialists
- Detailed analysis of marginalia and ownership marks
- Focus on how regular people used these prayer books
Main criticisms:
- Price point considered high for a relatively slim volume
- Some found the coverage of certain periods too brief
- A few readers wanted more context about manuscript production
Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.33/5 (6 ratings, 0 written reviews)
Amazon: No reviews available
LibraryThing: 4.5/5 (2 ratings)
One academic reviewer noted: "Duffy brings manuscripts to life by showing how real people interacted with these books over centuries." However, with so few public reviews available online, it's difficult to gauge broader reader reception.
📚 Similar books
The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography by Alan Jacobs
This history tracks how a single prayer book shaped Protestant English identity through its evolution, reception, and use in daily life.
The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy The book reconstructs traditional Catholic beliefs and practices in England before the Reformation through examination of parish records, primers, and church artifacts.
Art and Devotion in Late Medieval Ireland by Rachel Moss The text examines prayer rolls, books of hours, and religious art to reveal how medieval Irish people expressed their faith through material culture.
The Book of Margery Kempe by Margery Kempe (translator) This first-person account from a 15th-century English mystic provides direct insight into medieval Christian devotional practices and spiritual life.
Image, Text, and Religious Reform in Fifteenth-Century England by Shannon Gayk The work explores how images and texts in prayer books and religious manuscripts shaped lay devotion and religious reform in late medieval England.
The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy The book reconstructs traditional Catholic beliefs and practices in England before the Reformation through examination of parish records, primers, and church artifacts.
Art and Devotion in Late Medieval Ireland by Rachel Moss The text examines prayer rolls, books of hours, and religious art to reveal how medieval Irish people expressed their faith through material culture.
The Book of Margery Kempe by Margery Kempe (translator) This first-person account from a 15th-century English mystic provides direct insight into medieval Christian devotional practices and spiritual life.
Image, Text, and Religious Reform in Fifteenth-Century England by Shannon Gayk The work explores how images and texts in prayer books and religious manuscripts shaped lay devotion and religious reform in late medieval England.
🤔 Interesting facts
🕮 Many Books of Hours contained personalized touches from their owners, including family birth and death records, making them invaluable sources for genealogists and social historians.
⚜️ The most expensive medieval manuscript ever sold was a Book of Hours - the Rothschild Prayerbook - which fetched $13.6 million at Christie's in 2014.
📖 Eamon Duffy is considered one of the leading historians of medieval Christianity and has challenged long-held assumptions about pre-Reformation English religious life.
🖋️ Books of Hours were often passed down through generations of women, with mothers teaching their daughters to read using these prayer books.
🎨 The decoration of Books of Hours followed a hierarchy: wealthy owners had illuminated manuscripts with gold leaf and precious pigments, while more modest versions used simple red and blue ink decorations.