Scribes and Illuminators

by Christopher de Hamel

Illuminated manuscripts survive in great numbers from the Middle Ages. They are often beautifully preserved, enabling us to appreciate the skilled design and craftsmanship of the people who created them. Christopher de Hamel describes each stage of production from the preparation of the vellum, pens, paints and inks to the writing of the scripts and the final decoration and illumination of the book. He then examines the role of the stationer or bookshop in co-ordinating book production and describes the supply of exemplars and the accuracy of texts. He follows the careers of a number of specific scribes and illuminators who emerge not as anonymous monks but as identifiable professional lay artisans. He also looks at those who bought the completed books, why they did so, and how much they paid. His survey ranges from the eleventh century through the golden age of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries to the luxurious manuscripts existing at the invention of printing.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Art, Art History, Books About Books, Medieval History

72 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 1992

About the author

Dr Christopher de Hamel is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and is Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library, one of the most important small collections of early manuscripts in Britain. For 25 years from 1975 he was responsible for all sales of medieval manuscripts at Sotheby’s. He has doctorates from Oxford and Cambridge and honorary doctorates from St John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and Otago University, New Zealand. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a member of the Comité international de paléographie. He is author of numerous books on illuminated manuscripts and book collecting, including Glossed Books of the Bible (1984), The Book, A History of the Bible (2001), and Bibles, An Illustrated History from Papyrus to Print (2011). He was recipient of a festschrift in 2010, The Medieval Book, Glosses from Friends and Colleagues of Christopher de Hamel (ed. J. H. Marrow, R. A. Linenthal and W. Noel)

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, well illustrated book de Hamel did for the British Museum, which was later reprinted by the U of Toronto Press for North America.
It is casual, while still being scholarly. Sadly the Bibliography is completely scholarly, and of little use to the casual/amateur reader.
I do wish he had included some illustrations of how gatherings were sewn together, and attached to the covers.
de Hamel is, of course, THE scholar on this subject. Unfortunately some of his books are hard ($$$$) to come by.
A nice intro to the subject.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to buy and read this one for a class on Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. It's written in plain, non-technical English, so it's pretty easy to read. I got a little lost in the jumble of the description of bookbinding processes, but most of the book was easy to follow. It seems like a good jumping off point for people that don't know much on the subject yet.

[George Fowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice read with some really interesting information in it. It gave a good overview and summary of medieval manuscripts but didn't go into too much detail about certain aspects. (In fact it was even a bit sassy about when a topic was too big to explore here). I also like the little interactive paper folding part that explained gatherings for bindings.

[Plum · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't have to be interested in illuminated manuscripts to enjoy this book. All you need is a little curiosity about how things are done. If you read only one book about medieval manuscripts, it should be this one.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty pictures

interesting stuff, but very basic

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too many illuminating remarks to count.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book at work and several people who walked by exclaimed, "Oh, I LOVE that book." It is a very lovable book. It's hard not to adore De Hamel, who writes lovingly about the way that gold can be beat so thin that you can straighten it out with a puff of air, or gives you the delightful tidbit that dragonsblood red was not just the blood of dragons, but the blood of dragons and elephants who mortally wounded each other in combat, or who takes pictures of oak galls in his aunt's yard, or who asks us to experiment with holding pencils like quills, or folding paper up like quatros. He is not a traditional academic, but a Sotheby's expert, who has seen a LOT of manuscripts in his day, and he's even gone through courses where he made his own quills and manuscripts and the whole process. He is a true manuscript geek. His enthusiasm takes what is sometimes an esoteric subject and democratizes it with passion and style.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally getting to this after reading The Illuminator. The subject was interesting, but I'll need another book to truly grasp bookmaking in medieval times. It is only 70 pages after all. I don't want to read, (again) 2/3 of the way through "we aren't covering that in this monograph." Just cover what you're going to cover, already! I thought it was a translation it was so oddly worded. Some things explained in great detail and others just thrown out there. The back cover makes it sound like this "survey" will cover much more than it does. Still, interesting photos and some interesting description. Now I want to see a chained library.

[J.S. Graustein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provided an entertaining, quick overview of the entire bookmaking process in the Middle Ages. While not a comprehensive "how to" book, it introduced me to many terms and concepts I had never heard of before, giving me the vocabulary I will need to further my study in the craft of bookmaking. It also includes a small glossary and suggested reading list. This book is filled with photographs, so if you are a visual learner or just want to better appreciate the artistry of medieval books, this guide will serve you well.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations. I eat this stuff up: quill, parchment, lonely scribe by the fire. Answers the critical questions: how long did it take to make a book? How big were people's libraries in the 1400s. How is parchment really made?

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely introduction to how medieval manuscripts are made, although perhaps the title can be a bit misleading. There is some discussion of who scribes and illuminators were, but more discussion went into technical discussions of the "life of a manuscript," which fascinated me none the less.

[Pita-eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightfully readable text about the early history of books. Full-color photographs illustrate the concepts well.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, not a terrible read for a school assignment on a usually dry subject. The brevity of explanations and images made it actually enjoyable to learn about medieval book making.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed monograph about the art of illumination.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the one thing better than reading this is to admire the manuscripts themselves.