Scribes

The people who made the marks, and what they made them with. Copyists at the desk, cuneiform pressed into wet clay, the reed and the quill, oak-gall ink and lapis ground into ultramarine, and the colophons where an exhausted monk complains in the margin about his cold hands.

Part of Books

67 moments in this segment.

  1. - Codex Ink. Codex Sinaiticus, the fourth-century Greek Bible codex, one of the oldest substantially complete Christian books.
  2. - Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style. (1127-1279). Album leaf; ink on silk. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1256. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  3. - Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style - Song Lizong. Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Chinese Art). China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, 1256.
  4. - Leaf Excised from the Tarleton Hours: Christ Carrying the Cross. 15th century. ink, tempera, silver, and gold on vellum. Cleveland Museum of Art, c. 1430. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  5. - Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (ve. ). Afghanistan or Iran, Timurid period (1370–1501). opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, c. 1485. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  6. - Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (ve - Bihzad. Manuscript in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Islamic Art). Afghanistan or Iran, Timurid period (1370–1501). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, c. 1485.
  7. - Anthology of Persian Poetry in Oblong Format (Safina). Non-illustrated manuscript in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Islamic Art). Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper. Binding: leather. Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, dated 905 AH/1499–1500 CE.
  8. - "Page of Calligraphy Illuminated with Animals and Plants in a Field of Flowers", Folio from the Shah Jahan Alb. Album leaf in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Islamic Art). Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, verso: ca. 1610–15; recto: ca.1535–45.
  9. - Retreat on an Autumn Day, in Cursive Script. (1368–1644). Handscroll; ink on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, dated 1523. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  10. - Retreat on an Autumn Day, in Cursive Script - Zhu Yunming. Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Chinese Art). China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, dated 1523.
  11. - Four Poems: Calligraphy in Cursive Script (xingshu). Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Chinese Art). China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, 1500s-1600s.
  12. - Calligraphic exercises and verses of Hafiz (Persian, about 1325–1389) (verso). ). Persian, Uzbekistan, Bukhara. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1575–76. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  13. - Calligraphy: Preface to the Anvar-i Suhaili. 16th century. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, c. 1590. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  14. - Calligraphy. (reigned 1556–1605). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, c. 1596. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  15. - Thai Buddhist Manuscript inscribed on plam-leaves with a me Wellcome L0031386. A palm-leaf manuscript from South or Southeast Asia: text incised into dried palm leaf with a stylus and inked, then strung between wooden boards.
  16. - Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu) - Yueshan Daozong. Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu). China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, c. 1660–1709. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  17. - Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu). Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Chinese Art). China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, c. 1660–1709.
  18. - Poem on Plum - Yi Hwang. Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Korean Art). Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, 1700s, 1800s.
  19. - Calligraphy (verso) - Ahmad al-Husaini. Calligraphy (verso). India, Lucknow, Mughal, 18th century. Gum tempera and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1702. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  20. - Calligraphy of Lyrical Quatrains (verso). ). Mughal India, probably Lucknow. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper. Cleveland Museum of Art, mid-1700s. This is a reproduction of the object itself, not a modern photograph of a building.
  21. - Calligraphy in Running Style based on Wang Bo's Essay on Tengwang Pavilion. Calligraphy in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Chinese Art). China, Changbai, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Digitised image of the artefact itself; dated to the object, 1811.
  22. - Photo A public scribe at work on a street in Khartoum 1956 - Touring Club Italiano BBT 092. A depiction or photograph of a scribe at work, copying text by hand.
  23. - Scribe accroupi Saqquara Louvre E3023-01a. A depiction or photograph of a scribe at work, copying text by hand.
  24. - Model of a Granary with Scribes 1 (ca. 1981–1975 B.C.). A depiction or photograph of a scribe at work, copying text by hand.
  25. - Josef Löwy Schriftgiesserei Poppelbaum Wien c1895. Type founding, the moulds, machines and workshops that cast metal type. Modern photograph.
  26. - Eisengallustinte selbstgemacht schriftbild. Iron gall ink, made from oak galls and iron sulphate, the standard European writing ink for over a thousand years; it eventually eats through the page. Modern photograph.
  27. - Eisengallustinte Essenzen I und II und Tinte. Iron gall ink, made from oak galls and iron sulphate, the standard European writing ink for over a thousand years; it eventually eats through the page. Modern photograph.
  28. - Nachfülleisengallustinte Pelikan 0.5 Liter (Günther Wagner). Iron gall ink, made from oak galls and iron sulphate, the standard European writing ink for over a thousand years; it eventually eats through the page. Modern photograph.
  29. - Blattgold, 2010 (01). Gold leaf and gilding, the beaten gold applied to illuminated manuscript pages and bindings. Modern photograph.
  30. - Abbaye Saint Robert de La Chaise Dieu-Scriptorium-201121007. A scriptorium, the monastic room where manuscripts were copied. Most surviving examples are photographed as rooms or reconstructions today. Modern photograph.
  31. - A calligrapher on the shape of Arabic letters. Professional calligrapher Taha Al-Hiti demonstrates the pen and explains the proportional system behind the letterforms.
  32. - Hammering Gold Leaf. Gold leaf and gilding, the beaten gold applied to illuminated manuscript pages and bindings. Modern photograph.
  33. - Iron gall ink: a quick method. A short, precise demonstration of an iron gall ink recipe with weights and timings, from the Letterlocking project.
  34. - Learning Arabic calligraphy. A calligrapher on the training that produces the scripts used for Quranic manuscripts and Arabic books.
  35. - Wappen der Schriftgiesser. Type founding, the moulds, machines and workshops that cast metal type. Modern photograph.
  36. - Christbaumgold Blattgold. Gold leaf and gilding, the beaten gold applied to illuminated manuscript pages and bindings. Modern photograph.
  37. - The Florentine Codex and the Indigenous scribe. Getty symposium session on the tlacuilo, the Indigenous painter-scribe, and how Nahua and European ways of making books met in one manuscript.
  38. - Cutting a quill with a working scribe. Professional scribe Paul Antonio cuts a quill at Cambridge, showing the curing, shaping and nib slit.
  39. - Fountain pen writing (literacy). Literacy teaching and campaigns, adults and children being taught to read. Modern photograph.
  40. - From calligraphy to woodblock printing. Cheung Chung-chu demonstrates the full Chinese route from brushed calligraphy to a carved and printed block.
  41. - Medieval ink from foraged oak galls. WoodlandsTV foragers make ink from galls gathered in the wood.
  42. - Gold leaf unicorn detail on the entrance door to the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh. Gold leaf and gilding, the beaten gold applied to illuminated manuscript pages and bindings. Modern photograph.
  43. - Calligrafo JPG. A scriptorium, the monastic room where manuscripts were copied. Most surviving examples are photographed as rooms or reconstructions today. Modern photograph.
  44. - The story of Islamic calligraphy. A documentary on how Ottoman masters in Istanbul codified Arabic calligraphy, and how the tradition is taught and practised today.
  45. - White vine illumination with gold leaf. A calligrapher paints a 15th-century white vine initial and applies and burnishes the gold.
  46. - Making manuscripts: quills. Patricia Lovett cuts and uses a quill pen for the British Library, including left-handed cuts.
  47. - Making manuscripts: oak gall ink. British Library short with Patricia Lovett on why wasp galls were essential to medieval scribes.
  48. - Where did medieval writers get their ink?. Modern History TV on the sourcing and making of ink in the Middle Ages.
  49. - How to cut a quill pen in two minutes. University of St Michael's College demonstration for its Scripts and Stories seminar.
  50. - The Tale of Genji in gold and pigment. Exhibition report on how the 11th-century Japanese epic was copied, illustrated and reissued across a thousand years of Japanese book production, including screens, scrolls and printed editions.
  51. - Château de Foix - Scriptorium 01. A scriptorium, the monastic room where manuscripts were copied. Most surviving examples are photographed as rooms or reconstructions today. Modern photograph.
  52. - Château de Foix - Scriptorium 04. A scriptorium, the monastic room where manuscripts were copied. Most surviving examples are photographed as rooms or reconstructions today. Modern photograph.
  53. - Turning a feather into a pen. A historical-crafts demonstration of the full quill-cutting process, including tempering the feather before shaping.
  54. - Raised gilding for manuscript illumination. A full class on raised gilding: laying gesso, applying gold leaf, then polishing and burnishing it to a mirror.
  55. - Making medieval iron gall ink. A scribe follows a historical recipe for iron gall ink from oak galls, iron sulphate and gum arabic.
  56. - Islamic calligraphy: the masters and their scripts. Calligrapher Soraya Syed traces the development of Arabic script from the earliest Qur'anic hands through the classical canon, for Birmingham Museums Trust.
  57. - An introduction to iron gall ink. Sara Charles gives a Courtauld talk on the ink of the medieval manuscript and charter: how it was made and how it destroys the paper it sits on.
  58. - A scribe in Mali. Al Jazeera profiles Boubacar Saddeck Najim, one of the last copyists in Timbuktu still replicating manuscripts by hand.
  59. - Traces of scribes. The marks scribes left behind in manuscripts, from corrections and catchwords to complaints in the margins.
  60. - Making iron gall ink. The Alchemical Arts makes traditional black ink from oak galls, iron salts and gum arabic.
  61. - Ultramarine and the purification of lapis lazuli. Spike Bucklow lectures on why ultramarine cost as much as gold and how the pigment was extracted from lapis by kneading.
  62. - Techniques for working with gold. Patricia Lovett demonstrates gesso, gold leaf and burnishing for the British Library.
  63. - Colour E Ink under a microscope. Extreme close-up footage of a colour electronic paper screen, showing how the filter layer produces colour.
  64. - How the world's most expensive colour is made. A report on ultramarine from lapis lazuli, the pigment that dominated the economics of illumination until the synthetic version arrived in 1824.
  65. - The medieval scriptorium, reviewed. A discussion of Sara J. Charles's history of the scriptorium and what recent scholarship says about how monastic book production actually worked.
  66. - Masterpieces of Ottoman calligraphy. A walk through the Topkapi Palace calligraphy collection and its thousands of rare Islamic manuscripts.
  67. - Scriptorium. Revista Mensual. Col·lecció del Museu Etnogràfic de Ripoll 14. Scriptorium. Revista Mensual. Col·lecció del Museu Etnogràfic de Ripoll
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