Description: The catalogue lists all illuminated manuscripts which are now held by the Austrian National Library that originate from Bohemia (except for courtly manuscripts), Moravia, Silesia, and Hungary, dating from 1350 to 1400. Most of the codices were rescued in Austrian monasteries during the Hussite wars.Under the reign of Emperor Joseph II, in the course of the large scale abolition of the monasteries, these books became part of the Viennese court library. Most of them represent theological and liturgical writings (fifty bibles, missals, breviaries), while thirteen books contain legal and philosophical texts. They reflect the average level of decorative book illustration at this time, although the so-called Krumauer Bildercodex, the Evangeliar of John of Opava and the Geras Missal must be regarded as artistic highlights. The catalogue numbers also cover the results of watermark investigations, as well as brief data concerning the cover, provenance and contents of the book. Special attention is given, however to the analysis of the book decoration from the point of view of art history, and to its stylistic classification. The reader will find appropriate illustrative material, as well as detailed registers in this illustrated volume.
