British Library launches eBook Treasures
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit on a bench in an oriel reading a psalter? Now the possibility is here if you own an iPad or another tablet-device and go shopping at eBook Treasures.
As a follow-up of the recent exhibition at the British Library showcasing royal treasures a number of magnificent manuscripts have been made available as apps. Three of them – The Bedford Hours, Medieval Bestiary and Mallard’s Henry VIII’s Psalter – are even on sale until 20th January 2012.
One of the absolute gems currently on show is “The Bedford Hours”, which is one of the more lavish medieval prayerbooks. It was made in Paris between 1410 and 1430 and is illustrated with 38 large full page illustrations and 1200 small marginal roundels. The original patron is still object for speculation. At some point after 1423 the manuscript was in the possession of John, Duke of Bedford. He was a younger brother to the English king, Henry V and acted after 1423 as regent of France on behalf his nephew. This year he married Anne of Burgundy and both arms and mottos were added to the pages of the psalter. Finally on Christmas Eve 1430 it was presented to the young king Henry VI. Since then it has belonged to the Royal Library. For the paltry sum of £9.99 you may now peruse its images at you leisure.
Another treasure on offer is the Luttrell Psalter, which may be downloaded in total for the paltry sum of £7.99. Or you may decide to limit yourself to the highlights for even less – £4.99. This is an absolute must for anyone engaged in medieval reenactment.
And this is just the beginning: The Library promises to place another 75 treasures on the market during the next year.
eBook Treasures are created by the British Library in partnership with Armadillo Systems and available for download from the iBookstore
See a teaser on the exhibition of Royal Treasures
See a teaser at BBC4 on the exhibition of Royal Treasures
See a teaser on a BBC 4 programme on the Luttrell Psalter from 2011 at YouTube
