Books written by hand, decorated with paintings and ornaments of different kinds. ... miniatures or small pictures, not always illustrative, incorporated into the text or occupying the whole page or part of the border; . ... Manuscripts are for the most part written on skin, parchment , or vellum. ... By the 15th cent. illumination tended more and more to follow the lead given by painters, and with the invention of printing the illuminated book gradually went out of fashion. ...