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.