The Taymouth Hours: Stories and the Construction of Self in Late Medieval England

The Taymouth Hours is one of the most fascinating illuminated manuscripts of late medieval England, but the circumstances of its commission have remained elusive for more than a century. In this first comprehensive study of the Taymouth Hours, Kathryn A. Smith traces the manuscript’s origin to Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III, and Edward’s sister, the thirteen-year-old Eleanor of Woodstock.

Smith provides a detailed analysis of the manuscript’s program, particularly the relationships between its marginal imagery and the devotional texts these images border, and embeds the Taymouth Hours within the historical, political, religious, and artistic contexts of early fourteenth-century England and northern Europe. Generously illustrated, the book also comes with a digitized edition of the entire manuscript. This feature allows readers to examine high-quality images of each folio while following along with Smith’s text.