It may enable the reader to form a clearer idea of what these highly ornamented volumes were like if I extract the full description of one which was lately in the catalogue of an eminent London bookseller:--It was a Book of Hours, written in France at the beginning of the sixteenth century, or, say during the reign of our Henry the Seventh, 1485 to 1509. It consisted of seventy-seven leaves of vellum, which measured about seven inches by five, with an illuminated border to every page. There were twenty miniatures, some the size of the full page and some smaller. The borders were composed of flowers and fruit, interspersed with grotesque animals, birds, and human figures, most eccentrically conceived. Both the capital letters and the borders were heightened with gold, sometimes flat, and sometimes brilliantly burnished.[1] This is, of course, an unusually rich example. About the same period great pains were taken to ornament the calendar with which these books usually commenced. Some of these Calendars consist simply of a picture in a gold frame, the composition so arranged that it does not suffer by a large blank space being left in the middle. In this space the calendar was written; and the rest of the page was occupied with an agricultural scene, emblematic of the season. In the sky above, painted in gold shell on the blue, was the sign of the zodiac appropriate to each month. In some the border was in compartments. One compartment contained the name of the month in gold letters or a monogram. Another contained an agricultural scene, another the zodiacal sign, another a flower, and the rest the figures of the principal saints of the month. [1] The miniatures were as follows:--1. The Annunciation, a beautiful miniature with the border painted upon a gold ground; this is the case with all the borders containing miniatures. 2. The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. 3. The Infant Jesus lying in the manger at the Inn at Bethlehem, Joseph and the Virgin Mary kneeling in adoration. 4. The Announcement of the Birth of the Saviour to the Shepherds by night. 5. The Worship of the Magi. 6. The Presentation in the Temple. 7. The Journey into Egypt. 8. The Coronation of the Virgin. 9. The Crucifixion. 10. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. 11. Saint Anthony; a small miniature. 12. The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian; a small miniature. 13. King David at his devotions in a chamber within his Palace. 14. The Raising of Lazarus. 15. The Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus, guarded by angels; a small miniature. 16. The body of Jesus taken down from the Cross. 17. Saint Quentin the Martyr. 18. Saint Adrian. 19. Mater Dolorosa. 20. The Virgin and Child. The four last were small.