Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Journey through medieval life with the exquisite illuminations of the Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry.
The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry is regarded as one of medieval art’s most precious treasures, representing the pinnacle of medieval illumination. This illuminated manuscript is a book of hours created between 1412-1416 for John, Duke of Berry, the brother of King Charles V of France by the Limbourg brothers. The 121 miniatures offer a striking visual journey through the landscapes, castles, and scenes of daily life of the period.
The book is housed in the Musée Condé, in the Château de Chantilly, Paris. This pack was published by MSM Editions in 2025 in conjunction with the exhibition held in the Musée Condé between 7 June and 5 October 2025. While the aces and pip cards repeat the same illumination across all four suits, the court cards differ in each suit. The Duc de Berry is portrayed on the ace and king of spades, and one might assume the remaining court cards represent family, household members or nobility portrayed in the illuminated pages - but unfortunately, there is no accompanying guide to enable identification. • See the box
Above: Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry playing cards published by MSM Editions in 2025.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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