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As she tells it, Marguerite Steed Hoffman fell for a medieval book of hours at once, at the 2010 European Fine Arts Fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Reached at her Dallas home, she said a dealer asked if she wanted to hold a book of hours — an illuminated manuscript used to help laypeople pray — in her hands.

Step inside the world’s most beautiful calendar, as Jason Farago, a critic for The Times, guides you through an invaluable 15th-century book of hours, in which science, religion and art coalesce.

“Transcending Time: The Medieval Book of Hours” Examples of illuminated prayer books and manuscripts from the Getty’s collection will be on view from Aug. 31 through Feb. 20.

In the Middle Ages, a book of hours contained illustrated prayers, reminding its readers of daily devotions.