Manuscripts:
BOOKS in their earliest form were handwritten and made of leaves bound together at the side. This form was called a codex. About fourth century AD, jurists found the codex was more convenient than the roll for law books. The Christian Church also preferred the codex form. Parchment sheets were folded and gathered together, then fastened at the fold. The word manuscript is from the Latin libri manu scripti, which means “books written by hand”.
DURING the medieval and early Gothic, manuscripts were produced by scribes in a monastic scriptorium. Because of the flammable nature of some of the materials, artificial light was forbidden. Most scriptoriums had ample north facing windows. A scribe would laboriously copy the text, leaving spaces for titles, notes, illumination, and decorative devices.
MATERIALS had to be prepared on site. Parchment or vellum was used until the 15th century when paper became more common. Parchment and vellum could be made from a variety of animal skins, most commonly calf, sheep, or goat. Vellum is a very fine and supple type of parchment. After processing the skins, they were cut to size and carefully ruled. Inks were made of iron gall or lampblack. Colored inks were made from either mineral or plant materials. Most could be mixed with egg white as a medium but some required special media to preserve the color. Gold powder or gold leaf was used for illumination. Gold leaf was burnished after applicaton.
THERE are several terms associated with manuscripts that are displayed in this collection. These terms have to do with different types of lettering and illustration techniques. A Versal in an enlarged first letter marking the beginning of a section of text. Rubricated letters are letters or words written in red ink for emphasis. Historiated letters are those that are embellished to illustrate a story or convey further meaning about a passage. They could also be Inhabited letters, those containing a human or animal figure, or Zoomorphic letters which are comprised of an animal form. A Miniature is an independent painting or illustration in a manuscript that generally illustrates the text. Miniature derives not from the small size but from the Latin word minum, which is a red pigment used in paint. Illumination refers to manuscript decorations and illustrations in color and with burnished silver or gold.
The texts of this time period were most often religious in nature and written in Latin. Various types of texts could be:
An Antiphonal is a book containing music sung by a choir during the Divine Office
A Book of Hours is a book used for private devotions containing a calendar, psalms, prayers, hymns, and Biblical readings.
A Breviary is a liturgical book used in celebrating the Divine Office.
The Divine Office is the daily Cycle of prayers and recitations performed by Clergy.
A Missal is the service book containing the necessary texts for recitation of the Mass.
A Psalter is a Book of Psalms often with a calendar.
DURING the 14th and 15th century, it became increasingly common to use vernacular language and produce vernacular texts. With the availability of paper and the increasing demand for books, the book of this time came to resemble the modern book.
