Scribal Arts

Annotated bibliography of one scribe's library.

A listing of some places to look when you need stuff. Most of it is web based, or at least web friendly. Some of them I've tried and feel strongly about, some have come to me on recommendations, all of them are, as far as I know, reputable dealers.

The first half of each issue is devoted to short contributions summarizing recent activity in different areas of research, reflecting on methodological problems, or presenting points of view on topical issues. The remainder of the journal offers the reader technical notes, short book reviews, a listing of recent bibliographies, announcements or summaries of colloquia, seminars and exhibitions, information concerning research and documentation projects, and other news.

A short history of medieval illuminations in books with the various characteristics and colors of each periods; instruction on the actual making of illuminated paintings. It describes the best paper, how to trace the picture and lay it down, how to make raised beds for gold and the proper burnishing methods, how to lay down the color washes and subsequent tints and just about everything you need to know and don't find in modern books.

The best way to discover how medieval manuscripts were made is to look at unfinished examples. The reconstruction in this animation is based on a page from an early 14th century book, the Metz Pontifical, made for Reynaud de Bar.

This site, and its associated "listserv" discussion group, is intended to explore the possibility of cooperatively offering a course on paleography, codicology, or medieval and early modern book history over the web, as an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional course in certain aspects of research methodology.

The trades of medieval painters, illustrators, sculptors, and makers of stained glass.

On scribes, scriveners, and booksellers, and the history of their trades back to the Middle Ages.

An introduction to the history of medieval writing, including the origins of our written culture, paleography and the history of scripts, and the nature of literacy and the written word in the middle ages.

Before the invention of mechanical printing, books were handmade objects, treasured as works of art and as symbols of enduring knowledge. Indeed, in the Middle Ages, the book becomes an attribute of God.

Resources concerning the reproduction and recreation of what we call "scrolls," award documents honoring Society members' deeds and services, in the style of illuminated books and documents.

Manuscript production in Anglo-Saxon England.

A quick checklist for expository and "techn ical" writing for the SCA -- what's important to consider when you're writing event announceme nts, documentat ion, how-to articles, reports, scroll texts, and ceremonies .