Piece of the month: a Flemish book of hours

If the Middle Ages had a best-seller, it was the book of hours: the personal devotional every well-off household wanted to own — and the more painted, the better. The Flemish workshops of the fifteenth century produced them with a sophistication that still sets the standard for what we call illumination.

The facsimile we feature this month reproduces one of those copies with true craft fidelity: stamped gilding, correct page calibre, sewn binding. It is not the original — and that is precisely its virtue: you can open it, study it and enjoy it without gloves or guilt. The full listing is in the shop. One copy only: once it's gone, it's gone.