Art and Books, a summary.

Art and Books certainly has been a learning curb. Some of the topics I had touched on before in history of art, but here we looked at books in an entirely different way, answering questions that could without a doubt sent you around the bend if you let them. The question of what art is can't be answered by any one person. Everyone has varying opinions because we all see things in different ways. Many people don't regard abstract as art, after all their ' four year old could do the same,' but look in their houses and find work by the same four year old attached to the fridge, ' he painted that in art,' what is the difference?

I found it difficult to describe exactly what artist books are because of the conflicting opinions on the genre. A painting in a gallery is regarded as art, without doubt the artist who signed it painted the image, but who stretched the canvas? With an Artist's book the framework is usually the cover, to be an artist book this would have to be designed and constructed by the artist or in mutual collaboration, what if the canvas was bought over the counter? Maybe I'm splitting hairs but it seems that there is much more criteria involved for a book artist to have his/her work accepted as art, where as with better known art forms it is just accepted. Australian Artist, Patricia Piccinini designs and draws all her work with great detail while the construction of her sculptures is entirely left to the fibreglass and resin artists. I question the originality of the work as being hers.

The question of what a book is opened a can of worms on the forum, like art, books are personal and there will always be great varying of opinions. My answer to the question hasn't changed since my rethink a couple of weeks into the term; in fact it has been re enforced with topic 6, the digital book. We unconsciously divide books two ways, the physical and the emotional. We see the physical book as more important than the emotional feelings we get from reading it. Basically it doesn't matter what the book looks like it won't make any difference to the information or story within, but the physical feel, weight and smell of books is important to us so we feel we need that in a book. The biggest concern that computer eBooks might take over from books as we know them is in that physical sense, computers are impersonal, unemotional, sterile, cold and ugly.

Children's Illustrated books were my favourite topic, I learned a lot about the relationship between illustrations and text and how they relate to a child's understanding of books. Old illustrated books fascinate me and I still prefer the detailed work of Harry Clark, Willy Pogany, Harry Rountree and Mabel Lucie Attwell to the more modern books like Where the Wild Things Are, Mister Men and Spot the dog books. There are some great modern children's illustrators but they don't seem to have the same subtlety in their work, maybe it is the modern printing process. Children's books have changed a great deal since the early 20^th century, today even the cheapest books are in colour; during the depression and war years board books and annuals were popular, they were made from the cheapest materials and taken from other books or in the case of annuals, a combination of stories and comics from weekly or periodical issues. I don't like to think of children's literature becoming only available as eBooks, or children losing the ability to read or write anything other than text speak, god forbid...

The topic on the printed book was the least inspiring to me and that shows in my learning journal. The evolution of the printed book from manuscripts is interesting, particularly when so much about book layout is similar today. The early printed books were expensive and only the wealthy could have owned them, but they remained and printed books now, more than 500 years later are much the same. The scary thing is that computers are expensive too but they are not going to go away either, maybe the Sven Birkerts of this world are right, several hundred years from now students could be discussing the printed book in the same way we do the manuscript book.

I think the best part about this subject is the freedom we had to express our creativity through our assessments. I didn't do anything as creative as I would have liked, particularly for the Learning Journal, but the advantage of the blog is there is always room to expand or change it. In saying that if I had to do this subject again I would use some of the great ideas I have discovered through artist's book research and the book interludes to create my own journal. It's a shame distance student don't get to see the creativity of each other's work, perhaps if we photographed our work and with rationales, put them together on a blog or just a pdf, it would be a good idea, even for future students to see.

Digital Books

Monday May 31

"If the print medium exalts the word, fixing it into permanence, the electronic counterpart reduces it to a signal, a means to an end."

Sven Birkerts Gutenberg Eulogies

As an introduction to digital books, I'm back to the first topic and the arguments that arose to the question What Is a Book? I suggested that a book was an object until we read it...the enjoyment being in the reading and how we feel about the story, regardless of the subject. After considering other answers and with more thought I again answered the question, describing the feeling of a book in two separate ways.

: The physical book: the feel of the paper, the smell and weight of a book, the appearance and the comfort we get from the physical entity that is a book.

: The Psychological book: how we feel about the book, how the story, poems or information contained within the book make us react emotionally.

There is a definite difference between the meanings. A book that affects us emotionally will do so regardless of how we read it, from a battered paperback, leather bound first edition, a talking book or an EBook. We have become used to the comfort of owning and reading books, we love them, the whole physical sense of a book seems to outweigh the contents and because of this the idea of EBooks to many of us is abhorrent. I can't see a time when I will want to curl up with an electronic book, no matter how user friendly they become, even though I know the reading matter won't change with a different format. Nicholas Negroponte suggests in his essay Books without Pages that there will come a time that electronic books will replace the feel of paper and smell of leather...not, I hope in my lifetime. Perhaps he is right, but it won't happen any time soon, maybe when generations who have grown up with EBooks completely outweigh those of us who are used to books it could happen. It wouldn't be the first time, take Fpos cards, I had a bank book 17 years ago, and now very few people do, plastic has become the acceptable currency, there is even a version of Monopoly with plastic cards and no cash...

Thursday June 3

Reading through Sven Birkerts Gutenberg Eulogies and Brigitte Frase's comments in her Cassandra Complex it makes me wonder if there is any even ground on the subject of computers, not just that they will or will not take over books! I tend to agree with Birkerts that computer generated news will probably overtake newspapers for news and information, even I read the news online, only reading the local newspaper we get free. But then it does cost us twice as much for the West Australian here than it does in Perth and it doesn't arrive on the shelf until 9.30am!
I don't think there can be any right or wrong with the pro and anti computer versus books; obviously computers are the way of the future but they are expensive and electricity is expensive, so any major take over certainly wont happen in third world countries. People like books, they like glossy magazines and they like to be able to keep them. As I discovered yet again this morning, the computer, particually the internet is unreliable, loosing hours of work is likely to happen any time. Imagine being halfway through a great ebook and the system drops out...
No I think technology has a long way to go before the good old book can be taken over by the computer. Computers certainly have their place but so do books, an ebook would look pretty ordinary on a coffee table...

 

Artist's Books

"The Artist book, like a painting or sculpture is developed from an initial concept; the idea and all the elements of the book are taken into consideration before the book is made, thus not just becoming a book but an art object."

Monday May 24

Artist books are a difficult subject to describe and show examples of, particularly the handmade versions of the genre. This is a problem that arose when writing my essay on the subject. It is a huge assumption to say a book is an artist book purely from an image in a book or online without any background information about the original concept and if the artist created the book from his/her initial idea. Printed books are easier, letterpress artist Ellen Knudson produces books with collaboration or for other artists and writers, and she also publishes books that she has designed, written, printed and bound herself – these are artist books.


Images: (left) How Swimming Saved My Life, designed, written, illustrated, printed and bound by Ellen Knudson, Crooked Letter Press USA, letterpress.
(right) A Strawberry in the Snow written by Leah Linter Eisenbeis, designed, illustrated, printed and bound by Ellen Knudson, Crooked Letter Press USA, letterpress.

Handmade books are often just that, handmade books, perhaps journals, a combination of sketches, prints or photos that are combined to form an attractive album, these handmade books can be as personal as any artist book and can convey the maker's skill as well or better than an artist book.

After completing my essay it occurred to me that I have an artist book that I created myself. One of the major works we had to do for Printmaking 3 at Orange TAFE required us to assemble our work as a book. The theme was landscape. 20 years prior I worked at Madura Roadhouse on the Great Eastern Highway, on the Western side of the Nulabour plain. Rob (now husband) and I utilized our days off travelling hundreds of km.s around the area; I took numerous photos, particularly of the remains of the original Nulabour Station which was deserted sometime in the 1930's. These photos became the basis of my project. I drew images for lino print and etching and rather than attach my work to pages as such I designed a box with a drawer, making a book that could be browsed, the images removed and spread out to view – the box is basically an interactive frame. I made the box from grey box card and rendered it with shellac, gesso, sand paper and wax to emulate the old timber of the remaining out houses on the station. This artist book was from start to finish designed, printed, painted and constructed by me from my original concept.


Images: Nulabor Artist's Book four angles, designed, printed, painted and constructed by anne bateman 2006.

Tuesday May 25

I am adding to my journal some examples of sketchbooks, scanned from the surf culture magazine Monster Children. They are not artist books, but looking at them I can't help but wonder what kind of artist book these artists/doodlers would create should they choose.


Images: (top left) Andrew Pommier, Ink and Pencil. Monster Children issue 18 2008.
(top right) Emmet Jenkins, pencil and felt pen. Monster Children issue 18, 2008.
(above left) Anthony Lister, felt pen. Monster Children issue 18, 2008
(above right) Mark Penxa, brush pens, liquitex, acrylic paints and alcohol. Monster Children issue 18, 2008.

"Describing what an artist's book is not can be as mind numbing as describing what they are..."

Thursday May 27

Artist's books can't be slotted into a simple category like painting, sculpture; printmaking, or photography, chances are any number of artist books utilize some or all of the above mediums.

Neither are they being accepted as craft despite the fact that book binding is a craft. Artist's books could be accepted as mixed media or assemblage but they contain more elements than many examples of these genres. The artist's book can be and generally are an interactive object, they are visibly accessible from all angles like a sculpture, if they are not interactive it seems to me to be defeating the purpose of ''book." A painting can only be viewed on one level, it may invite the eye to travel around the canvas but it has only one surface, the artist book differs, its 3 dimensional character allows more than one surface to be seen at a time. Turning the pages adds to the visual experience, even if the book repeats the same image or text the viewer will keep looking. This is where the book artist, I think, has the advantage over the painter of 2 dimensions - he/she has more scope to work with, more than one surface to convey a message.

Friday May 28.

"In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art."

Sol LeWitt

The Artist's book is a product of the 20^th century, change in social, political and technological areas produced alternate art movements who embraced the book as a tool to promote their ideals and gain a widespread audience. The Dadaists, Futurists and cubists all utilized the Artist's book, not for financial, but idealistic recognition. Artist's books, being multi surfaced, lent themselves to images and text, this flexibility led to experimentation particularly with the Futurists who used imaginative layouts and media. Fortuno Depero designed a book using steel nuts and bolts for binding; his counterpart F.T.Marenetti printed his book Parole in Liberta on sheet metal.


Images: Parole in Liberta, F.T.Marenetti, cover and double spread.

Artist's books became a contemporary art form and have remained so, probably by this association with experimental art movements. In the 1960's groups like Fluxus (Germany 1962-worldwide 1975) also relied on Artist's books to promote their ideals of artistic exploration and socio-political activism, they steered away from old art theories, shunned the use of galleries and aesthetics by creating mixed media works and experimenting with modern technologies. Fluxus, like many book artists relied on independent publishers, their motivation wasn't financial but the need for audience, promoting change not only in technology but social, which in the 60's there was an active following.


Images: (left) Water Yam, George Brecht, first edition 1963
(right) Modern Flux Book Pal Csaba, 2009, wooden box with paint and found objects.

Wednesday June 2

I have been working on my post for Digital books and was going to add this artist as digital, but his web site is so tactile and book like I thought would benefit with Artist's books. The website Graifika contains the artwork of Polish artist Agniezka Musialic. Not only does this book have the feel and interactive advantages of an Artist's book it has the added benefit of hypertext. I dare say it can't be classed as an artist's book but it gives an insight of what could be achieved by book artists who like many illustrators change their creativity from handcrafted to computer generated...




Images: (top) Graifika home page, web site by Agniezka Musialic.
(middle) Grifika pages, web site by Agniezka Musialic.
(above) Graifica pages, website by Agniezka Musialic.

 

 

 

Tuesday May 18

Children's Illustrated Books

"A picture book tells a story through illustrations, it may or may not have words, a story book tells the story through text and often has illustrations to reinforce or illuminate the story."

Small children can't read letters, but can visualize very well, so pictures can tell them a story without the use of text. Pictures send an instantaneous message and as are often related to everyday subjects are easy to follow. Text is a gradual narrative and takes longer to comprehend. Even if a child can read he/she is most likely to look at the pictures first to build and idea of the story. Even adults flick through the pictures of a book, I know I do. Cover illustration can also recommend the book within, we do this unconsciously, opinions forming often within a few seconds, the same as flicking through TV channels it only takes a second to decide if we would enjoy the show or not, another example is advertising, without images, in most cases, the impact would be minimal. Images are very powerful to us and children. The type of book a child chooses often relates to the pictures, if the child likes cars or animals then this is the book he/she will select. It doesn't even have to be a specific subject; images relating to things familiar to the child will add understanding and interest. There are many picture books designed for very young children that relate to the home, family, pets, shopping and now probably childcare centres. So I guess there isn't much difference between a child's or adults way of thinking when reading for leisure, we chose books we can relate to...whether the book is cover to cover illustrations or has only a cover image.

Friday May 21

Modern children's books vary a great deal from their earlier counterparts, not just in the stories themselves but illustrations and layout. An example from my collection is a school reader. 'The Oxford Reading Books 111,' this particular version was reprinted in 1929 by Oxford University Press, UK. It contains a variety of stories, illustrators and verse, obviously made up from other publications. Because of this there is no fixed layout plan, the verses are decoratively illustrated, colour plates have been executed by a single artist and sprinkled through the book, and the only continuity is the decorative initial added to begin each story. The pen illustrations, although by different artists, are either added at the top or bottom of the page and usually enclosed in a box, there is no integration between text and images. The lack of images in these books can't be compared with the quality of the work. Whereas now days many children's book illustrations are very simple, almost childlike (i.e. The Very Hungry Caterpillar), illustrations in earlier books, particularly from the late 1800's to the 1930's are exquisitely detailed, whether in colour or simple pen and ink.




Images: (top) The Prince and the Horse title page,The Oxford reading books 3, 1929.
(middle) Snowdrops verse with colour plate, The Oxford Reading Books 3,1929.
(above)White Horses pages of illustrated verse, The Oxford Reading Books 1929

A fine example of this decorative and detailed artwork can be found in the 1916 publication of Hans Andersen's Fairytales, illustrated by Irish stained glass artist Harry Clarke. The original English deluxe book (George G Harrap
London) has fourteen coloured plates, with twenty five stories; the American version (Brentono, New York) has twenty four full page black pen and ink drawings. The detail is amazing certainly not what you would find in a modern children's book. I have the 1938 board book version (that took some research!) it has 4 colour plates, exact copies of the original only eight of the stories and no full page ink drawings, just stylized pen drawings at the end of each story i.e. Christmas decorations after The Little Match girl. The cover, strangely, is not illustrated by Clarke.



Images: (top) (left) Cover illustration, Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Board Book, 1938. J.Coker & Co LTD London.
(top right) Pen and Ink illustration, Harry Clarke Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales 1916, American edition, Brentono New York.
(above) Colour plates: Thumbelina and The Snow Queen, illustrated by Harry Clarke, Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Board Book 1938, J.Coker & Co LTD London, taken from original publication of the deluxe English Edition 1916 George G.Harrap London.

It's easy to surmise that costs kept the number of illustrations in children's books to a minimum, but the time and detail that went into them tells another story. Today the simplification and minimal colour use is inspired because of expense but the images and story types are so far removed comparing them is futile. Board books were common during the depression and war years as the used cheaper papers and didn't require dust jackets. The Australian classic Dot and the Kangaroo was published as a board book in 1938 (Angus & Robinson, Sydney) the only difference in the layout is the single colour plate; the other plates are black and white. The book, even the original, had no ink drawings like English children's books did at the time. The earlier (1920's edition?) English board book version of Charles Kingsley's The WaterBabies (Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd, London), illustrated by Mabel Lucy Attwell, has all the detail found in a deluxe edition, all 6 colour plates with pen drawings throughout. There is also an interesting difference in the layout of the drawings they are not integrated with the text but there has been thought in how they are placed, not just at the top or bottom of the page, and the text, although tight, is placed to compensate for the illustration. Similar layouts were used in The Complete Adventures ofBlinky Bill, Dorothy Wall (Angus & Robinson, Sydney, 1939) and The Complete Adventures ofSnugglepot and Cuddlepie May Gibbs(Angus & Robinson Sydney 1946). Both these books are examples of author/illustrator but The Water Babies isn't, Charles Kingsley was long dead when Attwell illustrated his book so the wasn't any collaboration, it seems that in many cases the illustrator is capable of decorating the book in a way that relates to the story without the writer's input. When Milne asked E.H.Shepherd to illustrate his Winnie the Pooh books he expected his son's toys to be used and even had Shepherd draw them, but the final Winnie the Pooh we know was his own son's bear not the original. I can see why writing and illustrating your own books could be more successful, but not all illustrators are writers and visa versa so a happy medium has to be reached for a successful result.

Saturday May 22

Children's stories have changed dramatically in recent years. The writers of fairy tales seemed to enjoy frightening children, but to a certain extent children were less sheltered in other ways to the realities of life so were probably less likely to take the stories literally. Snow white was to be taken to the wood and killed, Cinderella's ugly step sisters were encouraged to slice off part of their feet to fit in the glass slipper, the list of horrors goes on. Today children's stories are completely sanitised, nobody dies, lives happily ever after or does anything really adventurous in case the readers try the same thing....I think to a certain extent there should be a happy medium, the powers that be underestimate the intelligence of children and how much they do understand between reality and fantasy, there is always going to be exceptions but the average child knows the difference.

Laying here on my desk is Dorothy Wall's classic Blinky Bill; I have had the book sconce 1971. The cover picture would never be acceptable today...mother Koala looking annoyed while holding a switch, Blinky running off carrying his ging (slingshot). There a two major "unacceptable" items switch and ging, actually there is probably three...mother is probably not supposed to look annoyed...cynical I might be but it is a fantasy illustration...another is The Water Babies they haven't any clothes on! A 1980's version of the book had changed little since my version was published in the 1920's but now it wouldn't be allowed. Even the popular classic Where the Wild Things Are was criticized because the boy was in a bad mood, children get tired and grumpy...it's a fact of life. As we are not supposed to be using this learning journal to vent our spleen

I have an example of a story that surprised me in its graphic detail, unlike the fairy tales it has images that show what is being said in the story, it is these images that add power to the story. I thought I would mention it because it is so different to stories today. The story is in the fore mentioned school reader that my Mother and Uncles all read at school. Farmer Dobbin's Goat is by Alphonse Daudet, it is about a goat who wants to live free in the wood despite knowing her predecessor was eaten by a wolf. When she came across the wolf she knew she was doomed, but wanted to last the night before she was eaten...the pages I have posted here say the rest.



Images: (top) Farmer Dobbin's Goat by Alphonse Daudet text and Illustration. The Oxford Reading Books 3, 1929.
(above) Farmer Dobbin's Goat by Alphonse Daudet. text and pen illustration. The Oxford Reading Books 3, 1929.

I went through our book collection to find different kinds of children's books. Bedtime Picture Book (James & Johnathan, 1963. USA) has text but the pictures tell the story, the illustrations are quite detailed and have extra small illustrations on each page to tell more of the story, i.e. the dog is sitting on the hen's nest, to help a child understand the implications a chicken is also shown with an eggshell. I have chosen our son Travis's first book one woolly wombat by Rod Trinca and Kerry Argent(Omnibus books, 1982), it uses the pictures to show the child how to count, the text is minimal, basically saying what the picture is and what the animals/birds are doing i.e. three warbling magpies waking up the sun. The illustrations are realistic, full colour the text page also has the same number of objects, feathers in the case of the magpies, to count as well. Books like the fore mentioned Hans Andersen Fairy Tales and The Oxford School Reader are both examples of story books where the illustrations are added to highlight and decorate the story but don't necessarily explain the story. In the case of Farmer Dobbins Goat they show quite graphically the sad end to the tale.



Images: (top) Bedtime Story Book cover and pages, illustrated by Molly Brett, James & Jonathon inc USA 1963.
(above)one woolly wombat double page spread, written and illustrated by Rod Trinca and Kerry Argent, Omnibus Books Australia 1982.

Sunday May 23

Childrens Annuals

I have decided to add a piece about children's annuals because for quite some time they were a popular publication and utilized the illustrative works of artists like W. E Johns amongst others. They were a cheap and colourful Christmas gift for many children. Children's Annuals were a popular type of story book that were relatively cheap. They were generally put on the market around the seasonal trade, generally Christmas. The first English Annual is believed to be the Companion Annual of 1824, followed by Prize and then Chatterbox in 1863. Boys and Girls Own began publication in 1878/79 then Young England and Chum in the 1880's. Annuals were a combination of stories and verse from weekly or monthly story magazines. The heyday of the Annual was in the 1930's when the movie Annuals appeared, Film Pictorial,
Picture Show and Boys Cinema, comic Annuals also became popular at this time. Boy's annuals were more popular especially adventure stories including The Modern Boys Book of Adventure Stories, Hobbies, Racing Cars, True Adventure and Motors, Ships and Engines! The annuals included the W.E Johns Biggles stories. Some more well known issues were the Daily Express Rupert, Disney stories and Dan Dare. Popular children's illustrator, Mabel Lucie Attwell (1879-1964) published her Children's Annual from 1922 till 1974 ten years after her death.

Expense was the main reason Children's Annuals died out, also increased competition from other publications like glossy magazines. Because of the added interest in film stars, tv soap operas and pop stars, illustrations were no longer acceptable and movie stills were too expensive to access. Because of the tie-in with the film and music industry publishers lost the free publicity they had before with newspapers and magazines, lack of money and diminishing interest from the younger generation saw the end of the Annuals in the 1980's.

Images: (top) Collins' Children's Annual cover, Collins' clear-type press London and Glasgow. Year of publishing unknown, book enscribed Nancy Price Xmas 1920.
(middle left) The Pillow Ride illustrated by Ruth Cobb, Collins' Children's Annual, Collins' clear-type press.
(middle right) Colour Plate, illustrated by R.James Williams, Collins' Children's Annual, Collins' clear-type press.
(above) Cover Examples of Children's annuals from 1895 to 1963 note the later one has a photo, but many still used illustrations for covers until the 80's.

Willy Pogany (1882-1955)





Images: (top) Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey (1821). Illustrated by Willy Pogany. Collins Clear-type press.
(middle) Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey (1821). Illustrated by Willy Pogany. Collins clear-type press.
(above) Parsifal (1912) (left) Title page (right) Spread) Illustrated by Willy Pogany.

A prolific illustrator, Pogany was the master of detail. His title page for Parsifal (1912) is reminiscent of the manuscript images. This book, amongst others was completely designed and executed by Pogany, all text and end pages were hand calligraphed in pen and ink, images illustrated in colour and wash. The Collins Clear-type press edition of The Confessions of and English Opium Eater is part of my collection. The book is not dated but has an inscription dated February 1928. Pogany lived and worked in London for some 10 years after leaving Paris in 1915, so it was probably in those years that these illustrations were originally penned, probably for a much larger edition. Pogany illustrated many children's books as well as those for young adults. In later years he illustrated for the American Weekly. Pogany worked constantly till his death in 1955.

The Printed Book

23 March 2010.

"I was watching a recent episode of the Collectors (abc1, Fri. 8.00pm) where they included a collection of old printing presses. The collector mentioned how printers would strive for a smooth page with no print indents...and how now these indents are the only way to tell the work is not digital."

9 April 2010.

"Who would have thought that something as simple as movable type, could have such an influence on society?"

It seems that Gutenberg had great ideas but was unsuccessful in business. The first printed bible was wasteful because of too few lines per page-makes me wonder why Gutenberg chose to print a book as ambitious as the bible; afterall many of the manuscripts books were chapters like the psalms or gospels. Had he chose a smaller project the result may have been less expensive, his result a successful book that could work within the line per page boundary he had set and a learning curb towards the more ambitious bible. Perhaps also he may not have been sold out by his bank manager Johann Fust. Ok he did hide smaller projects from Fust but it seems Fust knew well how important and profitable Gutenberg's printing press was and wanted control once the hard yards were covered by Gutenberg. Peter Schoeffer also knew what side his bread was buttered on too, ambitiously managing Fust's daughter.

"It is as well that Gutenberg is remembered for his inventions - The Gutenberg Bible is never referred to as the Fust Bible..."

I find it interesting that early printed books retained the format and appearance of the manuscript books, that the initials were still hand painted, added later by scribes. Could this have been because initially people were loath to trust new the machine printing? This could be possible, many people today find teller machines untrustworthy and prefer bank books, the same can be said for computers. Not just the older generation, there is a graphic design studio in Hobart who still use Letraset..! The most likely scenario is the producers of these early printed books copied the manuscript format because they were the only examples of codex books available, the public's aversion to change may have had some influence in the continued use of scribes, after all it was possible for initials to be printed, but publishers retained the hand painted examples used in manuscripts. Woodblock illustration, regardless of how finely engraved couldn't replace the colour and luminosity of the manuscripts. Another aspect of the manuscripts that was at times continued was in the binding. An example of this is the collection of ancient Roman poetry by Terence (1561) where decorative clasps have been copied from manuscripts.

"Printing hasn't the same feel as hand created work. Very few of today's printed books could be regarded as art, but it is obvious (judging by debates on the forum) that the manuscript books are seen as works of art; early printed books also have a beauty and heart that couldn't be found in printed books today, even with the most advanced technology. Perhaps the early pioneers of printing felt the same way about these early books when comparing them with manuscripts and chose, even when new developments were possible, to retain some of the essence of beauty found in the handmade predecessor of the printed book."

15 April 2010.

'The printing press was the first major use of mass communication...'

The creation of the printed book arguably changed society more than any other technological invention. This was certainly the case until the advent of personal computers and the internet. Mass production in the printed form, with other production and social advancements of the industrial revolution and the advent of compulsory basic education (1876) the need for information grew. The new wealthier middle class helped the spread of newspapers, periodicals, the opening of public lending libraries and educational institutions of the arts and sciences. Socially conscience leaders of industry encouraged their workers to become involved in arts, craft and musical endeavours.

"We are lucky that Gutenberg's invention occurred when it did, although there is no doubt that movable type would have been invented at some stage, had it waited until the industrial revolution to appear society would be a lot different today."

18 April 2010.

The development of image reproduction in the nineteenth century made it possible for students of the arts and sciences to study without travel. Imaging those living in Australia or the Americas never seeing the works of writers and painters.. Early art books may not have been accurate colour reproductions but were a major influence on the establishment of art and science institutions. The printed words and images of such compendiums brought the world closer. Travel logs and text printed describing other worlds would have had an impact on migration and travel for adventure. No doubt propaganda and embellishment would have also been a common feature of these communications. These not being a modern occurrence, but even realistic renditions may not have been believed when in printed form, the Platypus and Rhinoceros being examples.

 

15^th March 2010.

Manuscript Books

Manuscript books were produced for more than a thousand years. An enormous amount of care was taken in their production, which is certainly an advantage as many have survived for us to appreciate. The modern world regards manuscripts as precious works of art and when we consider the technical skill and resulting beauty, they seem to be; but manuscripts were not produced by artists as such, but craftsmen, whether monks or professional scribes. These artisans would have completed an apprenticeship, much the same as the parchment and paper makers, book binders, ink makers and the much later type setters.

"Scribes worked in conditions that we would today consider an occupational, health and Safety nightmare, so it is easy to appreciate the quality of the finished manuscripts."

As a Graphic Artist I have been told many times that I'm not a real artist, certainly I went to college with students with no drawing skill, taking this into consideration I wonder were the manuscript scribes artists?

: They were taught the trade and learned to copy existing work, but if given the opportunity I wonder if they would have been able to produce their own designs.

: The original manuscript would have had to have been designed by those with artistic ability but as so many were copied there is a blurring in the difference between artist and craftsman.

: Early Manuscripts were copied from scrolls onto the more durable parchment or vellum. Containing text and illustration; these illustrations were only slightly less in significance to the text. Often pictures were cut from existing scrolls and pasted onto the parchment pages of the codex.

: Also interesting that religious manuscripts in times when painting was pretty much entirely religious in the Western world, many of the manuscript illustrations were based on the earlier pagan flora and fauna symbolism.

: When considering how many of the words and pictures found in manuscripts were copied and how very few are exactly the same it begs the question:

How often were mistakes made and not repaired or identified? And

How often were religious texts changed to suit those politically responsible at the time?

When it is considered that our modern bibles were originally taken from earlier writings and how the strength of belief has changed and see sawed throughout the centuries (i.e. Popery and Puritans); bibles and certainly books, are still being altered in the way they are written to suit the times, sensitivities of the generations and more recently political correctness.

Just excuse my soapbox moment there; this is only my thoughts out loud.

18^th March 2010.

What I find fascinating in the evolution of manuscripts/books is the progression from joined unpunctuated text to text layout as we know it today. Reading out loud, unless to young children who don't mind too many mistakes, can be difficult, yet the original scrolls then manuscripts were designed to be read or chanted out loud.

How hard would that be?

When would you take a breath?!

Then around the 9^th century word division was first used as an aid to oral reading, word division was the norm by the 11^th century and had revolutionised reading and the ability to comprehend more by reading silently. So it seems that reading to one self happened quite by accident. With the advent of chapters, headings and punctuation the manuscript had become visual for the reader rather than oral for the listener.

"We have become so conditioned to the way text is outlaid, it is difficult to write and almost impossible to type without gaps in the text."

Reading about manuscript production from parchment/paper making through ink and paint making, laying gold leaf, the ways and reasons certain colours and metals were used to the final painstaking ruling of lines and execution of text and drawings it is so easy to appreciate the simple choices we have today, hell we don't even need paper...with a computer we only need the mindless ability to hit the right keys...!

23^rd March 2010.

Styles of Manuscripts

Insular

: Produced in monastic institutions, British Isles, seventh and eighth centuries. Decoration inspired by Anglo-Saxon and Celtic designs. Text in half uncials. First Manuscripts to use word spacing. Example Book of Kells, Ireland (c.800AD).

Carolingian

: Manuscripts made for imperial, aristocratic and religious use. First manuscripts to be produced outside monasteries, in secular workshops. Example Utrecht Psalter (c.820-830AD)

Romanesque

: From 100AD, first international style, very prolific particularly religious texts for public use. Highly decorative and imaginative with a mixture of fantasy and nature. Initials at the beginning of chapters became large and decorative, extending the length of page. Example Winchester Bible (c.1150-1200AD).

Gothic

Another international style from about 1150AD. An increase of scholarly pursuits saw an increase in book production. Books became smaller and often had soft covers. Illustration became more integrated with text and scribes began making their own drawings rather than copying in the mid 14^th century. Books were produced on a variety of subjects. Example the Sherborne Missal.

Are Illuminated Manuscripts Art?

The original scrolls and manuscripts along with illustrations more freely designed after the mid 14^th century would have been produced by artists, but as so many have been copied there is a blurring in the difference between artist and craftsman. Manuscript text and images can be regarded as works of art individually, but in reality are not much different to illustrations in more recent books created by graphic artists and illustrators. Graeme Base created wonderful illustrations for his book Animalia, in the book they are clever, kids (and their parents) love them but are only regarded as art when the originals are framed.

To my way of thinking Manuscripts are books made by craftsmen, they weren't designed as works of art but as religious text or learning journals. We see them as art because they are handmade, not machine or digitally printed.