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Athelstane

Mathew c. 680

The Scriptorium.

Before the days of printed books, manuscripts were so greatly prized that they were handed down from generation to generation, and often classed as heirlooms as though they were plate or jewels. Many were of great beauty and brilliance, with illuminated borders and miniatures or "vignettes," tiny pictures exquisitely painted. In most libraries they were chained to their stands for safety, a necessary precaution.

The manuscripts were written on parchment or vellum, for the art of paper-making known to Egyptians and Chinese, had not yet been discovered in Western Europe. They were written on carefully-ruled sheets, with a quill pen and ink made from black-thorn bark. Initial letters were often of gold leaf, burnished till it shone, and important words were rubricated.
In the early Middle Ages, indeed up to the middle years of the fifteenth century, professional scribes are seldom found. The monasteries were the great centres of book production; one the most famous was the scriptorium at Bobbio, and many precious MSS were written there. Some, in imitation of Byzantine models, were written in letters of gold upon purple vellum. It is to the monks as copyists and preservers of ancient classical and early Christian texts that we owe our heritage of culture; without their efforts no doubt many works would have been altogether lost to posterity.

Not all copyists, unfortunately, were good enough scholars to avoid making errors in their work; some writer might wrongly expand a contraction, the next would repeat his mistake and perhaps add others of his own, and so on. In this way, many texts became corrupt. and the human element, the physical weariness engendered by copying many pages of closely written Latin, led to the elision of words and even whole lines of the text.

The Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels Evangelists c. 698-721

Before the days of printing, perfectly accurate copies were scarcely obtainable, although many of the books were things of enduring beauty, and a monument to the industry, patience and skill of their producers.

		The manuscripts were written on parchment or vellum, for the art of paper-making known to Egyptians and Chinese, had not yet been discovered in Western Europe. They were written on carefully-ruled sheets, with a quill pen and ink made from black-thorn bark. Initial letters were often of gold leaf, burnished till it shone, and important words were rubricated. In the early Middle Ages, indeed up to the middle years of the fifteenth century, professional scribes are seldom found. The monasteries were the great centres of book production; one the most famous was the scriptorium at Bobbio, and many precious MSS were written there. Some, in imitation of Byzantine models, were written in letters of gold upon purple vellum. It is to the monks as copyists and preservers of ancient classical and early Christian texts that we owe our heritage of culture; without their efforts no doubt many works would have been altogether lost to posterity. Not all copyists, unfortunately, were good enough scholars to avoid making errors in their work; some writer might wrongly expand a contraction, the next would repeat his mistake and perhaps add others of his own, and so on. In this way, many texts became corrupt. and the human element, the physical weariness engendered by copying many pages of closely written Latin, led to the elision of words and even whole lines of the text.
The Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels Evangelists c. 698-721