Crawford W. Loritts Jr. , author; speaker; radio host; Senior Pastor, Fellowship Bible Church, Roswell, Georgia The Gothic period, which generally saw an increase in the production of illuminated books, also saw more secular works such as chronicles and works of literature illuminated. Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; Philip the Bold probably had the largest personal library of his time in the mid-15th century, is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst a number of his friends and relations had several dozen. Wealthy patrons, however, could have personal prayer books made especially for them, usually in the form of richly illuminated " books of hours", which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the liturgical day. One of the best known examples is the extravagant Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry for a French prince. But it wasn't just forces of nature with which the monks had to contend. The monastery, like many early Christian communities, came under the threat of Viking raids. In 806, following a raid that left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a newly-founded monastery at Kells in County Meath in Ireland to keep them safe. The most likely theory is that the monks took the manuscript with them.

London, British Library, Add MS 5111, Canon Tables from Byzantine Gospel Book ( London Canon Tables; Commons) San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Escorial, Real Biblioteca, MS. T. I. I (E Codex of the Cantigas de Santa Maria) (Canticles of Alfonso the Wise) London, British Library, Royal MS 5 F III (Aldhelm, In Praise Of Virginity (London, British Library, Royal MS 5 F III)) Digitized Illuminated Manuscripts – Complete sets of high-resolution archival images from the Walters Art Museum

Cyber incident

As printed books became more popular in the 1460s CE, those who made books by hand became highly esteemed by collectors. Scholar Giulia Bologna writes: Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. lat. 847 ( Rufinus of Aquileia, Treatise on the Blessings of the Patriarchs)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Cod. theol. lat. fol. 485 ( Quedlinburg Itala fragment) custom hand-lettered elements and illustrations (more than any other journaling Bible out there right now) The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliothek, MS 73 J 22 (Vegetius, L'Art de chevallerie. Frontinus, Stratagèmes) The Hague, Musee Meermanno-Westreenianum, MS 10 D 1 (Aristotle, Ethiques, Nicolas Oresme translation) De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. p. 60.The introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy. They are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages; many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. San Marino, California, Huntington Library, HM 60 (Epitres D’Ovide, trans. Octavien de Saint Gelais)