Vicent García Editores, S.A.

Vicent García Editores, S.A.
Printers since 1860 - Publishers since 1974.

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Phone: (+34) 96 369 15 89
(+34) 627 596 573
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Vicent García Editores, S.A.

Illuminated manuscript. Facsimile (16 tit.)

Codices, Manuscripts. (Facsimile)

 

Tractado de las drogas, y medicinas de las Indias Orientales, (con sus plantas debuxadas al vivo por Cristobal de Acosta, médico y cirujano que las vio ocularmente). Tractado del elephante.

Incunabula, Old books. (Facsimile)

 

Rey D. Jaime a caballo - Agapit Valmitjana i Barbany

Sculptures.

 

Soria - Study of sequences 4 (Brown)

Graphic Works


 

Novela Histórica

Art, Novels

 

Codex, Codices

What is a codex?
Definition of codex
Meaning of codices

¿Qué es un facsímil? .Definición. Significado. ¿Qué es un códice? Definición. Significado. ¿Qué es un incunable? Definición. Significado. ¿Qué es un incunable? Definición. Significado. Quién compra un facsímil y porqué. Códices manuscritos - Incunables - Libros antiguos. Diferencias.

Definition, meaning: the dictionary definition of this is: a volume, in book form, of manuscripts of an ancient text.

Etymology. The origin of the word codex: from the Latin caudex, meaning “tree-trunk” which later came to be spelt codex. The name derives from the fact that the first Roman law-books were made from wooden tablets covered with wax and tied together with string. In the Middle Ages (and also during the Renaissance and later eras), books were copied in monasteries, as these were the places in which knowledge was concentrated. If a work was sufficiently popular, copies of copies would be made, introducing variations to a smaller or larger degree, both to the text and to the illustrations. Good examples of this are works such as the Beatus of Liébana or the Atlas of Claudius Ptolemy. One interesting result of this from an artistic perspective is that the evolution of decorative techniques and calligraphy can be traced over the centuries, across different countries and taking in different styles.

Types of codices It is important to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the terminology, as although all handwritten antiquarian books are codices, there are different types and even different ways of referring to them – but they are always codices. Common types and frequently used terms are:


Manuscript

Manuscript

Illuminated codex or illuminated manuscript

Illuminated codex or illuminated manuscript

Medieval codex

Medieval codex

Renaissance codex

Renaissance codex

Pictorial codex

Pictorial codex



Musical codex

  • Manuscript: A handwritten book is usually referred to as a manuscript, but a handwritten sheet of paper is also a manuscript, whatever its age.

  • Illuminated manuscript: These are handwritten books (or loose pages) with decorative drawings. A sheet of paper can also be an illuminated manuscript, and this can include town charters, papal bulls, laws or antique documents, but these are not books or codices.

  • Illuminated codex: These are codices with decorative drawings. The wealth possessed by the person commissioning the codex would determine the quality and quantity of the illumination of it, with frequent additions including gold and silver leaf, both on the pages and the binding. Colours were typically used in initials, i.e. letters at the beginning of a chapter, which could be historiated, that is, contain miniatures relevant to the text. Large-size illustrations were also used.

  • Book of hours: These are small format prayer-books, normally highly decorative, and their high cost meant that they were typically made for royalty and the nobility. They were in widespread use throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with most men and women from noble families and the clergy possessing one or more such books.

  • Pictorial codices: These codices have little in the way of text, with the information being transmitted chiefly by means of drawings or paintings. Typical examples are atlases, natural history books containing drawings of animals, bestiaries, etc.

  • Exception: One page codices. Sometimes a work may be called a codex even though it consists of only one leaf, with the name of the volume being applied to the only leaf (or the few leaves) remaining of a lost manuscript.

  • Paper codices, papyrus codices, parchment codices or vellum codices: These are all codices, regardless of the material used to make them. Vellum was a very fine form of parchment which was normally used for very small format codices.

  • Mayan codices, medieval codices, renaissance codices and musical codices: There are many other types of codices, named according to the culture they were produced by, the time at which they were made, or the subjects they concern, although, these four types, distinguished by their adjectives, are particularly well-known due to their rarity and importance.



Vicent García Editores, S.A. - C./ Guardia Civil, 22. Torre 3ª, piso 1º, 3ª - 46020 Valencia - España - Tel.: (+34) 963 691 589 - (+34) 627 596 573 - Fax.: (+34) 961 119 020 - E-mail: Vicent García Editores, S.A.