Prior to the invention of the printing press, all books had to be written by hand. Manuscripts are the beautiful manifestation of this craft, and the most precious and expensive of such manuscripts were 'illuminated' through the use of brightly colored pigments and gold embellishments. Beginning with a fresh and thoughtful introduction to illuminated manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts Masterpieces of Art goes on to showcase key works in this stunning...

"Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut-a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes. On the brink of the Nazi occupation of Paris, a German-Jewish bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript called Crossings. It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according...

"Berlin, September, 1945. Two manuscripts are found in rubble, each one narrating conflicting versions of the life of an Irish spy during the war. One of them is the journal of a German military intelligence officer and anti-Nazi cowed into silence named Adrian de Groot, charting his relationship with his agent, friend, and sometimes lover, an Irishman named Frank Pike. In De Groot's narrative, Pike is a charismatic IRA fighter sprung from prison...

Reveals how ancient scribes erroneously or deliberately changed New Testament stories in the face of period cultural, theological, and political disputes, explaining how numerous Christian beliefs are based on altered texts.

"Liesl Weiss has been (mostly) happy working in the rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing. Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book but is told repeatedly to keep quiet to keep the...

"Reprint with introduction, chronology, and bibliography"-- Provided by publisher.

In the small town of Crozon in Brittany, a library houses manuscripts that were rejected for publication: the faded dreams of aspiring writers. Visiting while on holiday, young editor Delphine Despero is thrilled to discover a novel so powerful that she feels compelled to bring it back to Paris to publish it. The book is a sensation, prompting fevered interest in the identity of its author - apparently one Henri Pick, a now-deceased pizza chef from...