I am finally about to buy some art - likely reproductions of illuminated manuscripts. However, I would first like to know what I am looking at as much as possible. Ideally, this book(s) should go into variations in style by time/region, some discussion of chemistry, imagery that it post-Biblical but pre-Modern - what's up with the snakes, peacocks, etc. through the eyes of the monks in their scriptorium. A discussion of language would also be appreciated. I have a bit of high school Latin, but cannot just look at a page of 8th century insular script and make out much.
I've had a look at AskHistorians' book list, and it is very good, but offers little specific to my new interest. I am definitely getting A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600 based on you guys' recommendation, but something more specific would be appreciated.
Ray Clemens and Timothy graham Introduction to Manuscript Studies.
I know you mentioned her book in the initial question but I urge you to check out other works by Michelle Brown. I linked her guide to illuminated manuscripts.
Here are some others to get you started. I have used Brown and Capelli recently.
Bischoff, Bernhard. 1990. Latin palaeography : antiquity and the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cappelli, Adriano, David Heimann, and Richard Kay. 1982. The elements of abbreviation in medieval Latin paleography, University of Kansas publications. Lawrence: Universiy of Kansas Libraries.
Already mentioned by /u/butter_milk, but here is the full citation