'Stunning' 540 year old manuscript to go on display at Leeds Central Library
The copy of The Book of Hours was penned around 1480
Last updated 2nd Jan 2025
A 500 year old manuscript filled with tips for the New Year is going on display in Leeds.
The copy of The Book of Hours was penned around 1480 as a prayer book with advice on how to keep on track throughout the year and how to decorate your home.
The devotional book, which would have belonged to a wealthy family in the early-modern period, contains 46 colourful illustrations along with signs of the zodiac.
It'll be shown off at Leeds Central Library from next week to mark the New Year.
Rhian Isaac, special collections librarian at Leeds Central Library, said: “The Book of Hours is one of the most beautiful books in our whole collection, with the colours and intricate details still vivid after hundreds of years of reading.
“Early books of hours would be owned or commissioned for nobility and royalty but a shift towards personal devotion, increased literacy and the manufacturing by professional scribes led to a growth in popularity and more people being able to have their own copy. They still would have been very expensive and beyond the reach of most people at the time.
“While our priorities and how we structure our lives may have changed, it’s interesting to reflect on how people in the medieval period looked to develop their own routines and organise their daily lives.”
The book was donated to the library in 1929 and its thought it was originally produced in Paris in the late 15th Century