Heart Shaped books

In an attempt to have something vaguely Valentine's day themed ahead of tomorrow, have some eye candy in the form of heart shaped books.

I'm by no means a manuscript scholar, so if you're curious about them (and the heart as a symbol in general) I thoroughly reccomend this link which summarises a book on the topic:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/391167.html

Now, onto the eye candy:

This paining is held in the Met Museum and is dated to the mid-fifteenth century. 

Depicted, is the elevation of the host during mass when the host is raised and "This is my body" is spoken. According to Eric Jager, the shape of the book demonstrates veneration of chirst and an association between "the worshipper's heart (cor) to Christ's body (corpus)".

The shape of the book is also symbolic of the "inner self" - but at this point we're venturing into a larger topic than this blog can handle!

Here are some examples of genuine heart shaped books however to sate your curiosity.

BnF, latin 10536

BnF, latin 10536

15th c., BnF Latin 10536, Book of Hours
http://classes.bnf.fr/dossisup/grands/ec060a.htm

 

 15th c., BnF Rothschild 297, Music book

http://classes.bnf.fr/dossiecr/gc178-4.htm