Book of hours
![Book of hours, Paris c. 1410. Miniature of the Annunciation, with the start of Matins in the Little Office, the beginning of the texts after the calendar in the usual arrangement.](/Images/godic/202501/01/Boucicaut-Meister4934.jpg")
![Opening from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves, c. 1440, with Catherine kneeling before the Virgin and Child, surrounded by her family heraldry. Opposite is the start of Matins in the Little Office, illustrated by the Annunciation to Joachim, as the start of a long cycle of the Life of the Virgin.[1]](/Images/godic/202501/01/Meester_van_Catharina_van_Kleef_-_Getijdenboek_van_de_Meester_van_Catharina_van_Kleef44934.jpg")
![Even this level of decoration was more rich than that of most books, though less than the lavish amounts of illumination in luxury books, which are those most often seen reproduced.](/Images/godic/202501/01/BLRoyal2BXVFol066vMinPatron4934.jpg")
![A full-page miniature of May, from a calendar cycle by Simon Bening, early 16th century.](/Images/godic/202501/01/Simon_Bening_-_Mai4934.jpg")
The book of hours is a Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and psalms, often with appropriate decorations, for Christian devotion. Illumination or decoration is minimal in many examples, often restricted to decorated capital letters at the start of psalms and other prayers, but books made for wealthy patrons may be extremely lavish, with full-page miniatures.