Writing, copies, and forgeries

Latin Paleography, contd.

Writing, copies, and forgeries

From the start, our author says that literary sources reveal little on the actual techniques of writing employed in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Most of our information on it comes from portraits showing a calligraphic hand position (stylus or quill held with three extended or slightly bent fingers, and two tucked in, supported only on the smallest finger with none from the arm). This position did not change until the 16^th century, and had some regional variation.

                Elementary writing instruction began with instruction in the alphabet and simple strokes followed by the copying of mnemonic verses. Each letter would be broken down into strokes (Zerstreuungen-meaning diversion, in this case, a diversion of strokes and how they divert to and from one another for efficient writing). The masters would often advertise to attract new pupils.

                Training for the pupils was difficult and often resulted in a uniform and typical script, which would later make it sometimes difficult to distinguish individual hands in a codex written by multiple scribes. This trend to unifiromity, however, makes sense when considering that a Carolingian scribe often had to work with four alphabets; the scribe must know exact forms and how to create an organic flow. Two characeristics are common for medieval literature. Many contemporary copies exist alongside the original as well as drafts, and copies of revised by the author himself also existed contemporary to the original. While some authors penned their own works, others, like Thomas Aquinas dictated. Dictation also meant compose in the medieval vocabulary. We are best informed about Aquinas, who had several secretaries to whom he could dictate from drafts, and later in life, from notes or outlines only.

                Most texts, both literary and liturgical, were copied in monasteries up to the twelfth century when universities began to be predominant in the writing field. Every well-endowed monastery had a scriptorium and typically large libraries. Where monasteries did have large libraries or high numbers of productions, there evolved a characteristic scribal style associated with that monastery. If pupils at the monasteries performed well, they might get employed to writing above the elementary level to possible even write liturgies A scribes career would last anywhere from ten to twenty years, and in rare cases, to around fifty.

                The scriptorium supervisor would delegate copyists for works or portions of works, and the scribes could alternate irregularly—meaning scribes would alternate even in gatherings, or copy several gatherings or groups before another scribe takes over, this being especially common in long or speedy works. One indicator of this is that scribes would often sign their sections, thought he appearance of names might indicate the copyist to whom a part was assigned rather than a signature. Teachers would also sometimes write a few lines to serve as a standard for the pupils to imitate.

                Scribes were not the only ones to work on the manuscript. Rubricators (often scribes as well) would have their part to set up the page format, though they did not always complete their part. Some manuscripts also give an indication on how long the work took by referencing the time it took directly, or the progress made over a period of time.

                Several scribal classes rose out of the late Middle Ages, which saw a dramatic rise in the command of writing. These classes included monks, nuns, ecclesiastic communities devoted solely to book production, secular clerics, notaries, professional scribes, workshops, teachers, students, and of course, pupils. With so many actually writing then, some prominent universities—Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Naples—developed rules for organized and controlled copying. Each university would have a standard correct version of the work, called the exemplar, to be copied which could be portioned out to copyists in the form of a pecia. The pecia was usually two twin-column double leaves in folio of the portion of the exemplar the scribe was to copy. Each copy was checked by the university. The fifteenth century saw a decline in these institutions, however, and late Middle age literature was then mostly written by the pupils themselves with minor dictation.

                The transcribed manuscripts required corrections, and while the process is rarely explicitly mentioned, certain features or characteristics are often transmitted in the copies. A texts presentation would often give expression to the scribes or redactors activities; contents of a book were often indicated by “In hoc Codice” or ”corpore . . . coninentur”; titles would often begin with the invocation “In nomine . . .”; the use of the cross is common; natural variations in the good wishes of the author to the reader or himself; there are often expression of thanks to God for the completion of the work.

                Forging manuscripts was rare when compared to charters, and usually occurred for two reasons: First, to offer forgeries as the authentic article, and second, to put something into the market. These forgeries often have poor script quality and are written on old parchment, one of the other reasons for the existence of palimpsests. Romantic chauvinism was a common motive for forging manuscripts in the nineteenth century.  Insertion of miniatures, substitution for owner’s marks for ones meant to remove important details or simply tampering with the document to make it more interesting were common methods of falsification.

Latin Paleography contd.

Latin Paleography, Part 1 cont.

External Characteristics

                The most usual form of the book was the codex. Sheets of papyrus or parchment were folded once and sewn together to form gatherings. Gathering sizes varied widely, anywhere from a single sheet, to upwards of over fifty, the latter more indicative of say a gospel. Production varied somewhat by region as well, mainly through the division of continental Europe and of Irish/Anglo-Saxon production.

                Continental production typically borrowed from the antiquity method of fewer double-leave gatherings as opposed to the usually five double leaves found in Irish and Anglo-Saxon groupings. The number of leaves in a gathering increases throughout the late Middle Ages. As a general rule, like page faced like (skin side facing skin, and hair side facing hair), except in the case where the parchment was rubbed with a pumice stone—as you’ll recall, this practice made the two sides nigh indistinguishable—and in the unique case of the School of Leon in France in the eighth century. A transition occurred in the early middle ages from the flesh side facing out to the hide side.

                Gatherings were also formed by folding large sheets several times, and were then usually cut along the edge, though small books, common in the late Middle Ages, like prayer books and school primers were not cut and typically contained between eight and sixteen pages. When gathered, each leave was ruled and pricked to mark positions of vertical lines. Up through the twelfth century individual sheets were pricked and ruled individually or in small groups, usually two or three, and on occasion even whole gatherings. Further, double tram-lines were drawn on the sheet to guide calligraphic initials. Lead was frequently used for ruling lines after the twelfth century, and in the thirteenth century ink comes into use.

                Various methods of numbering the gatherings were employed. Latin manuscripts to the Byzantine East placed a numeral on the bottom left hand side of the first page of each gathering, and the oldest Latin was places the numeral at the bottom right of the last page. From the fifth century on letters were common, i.e A, B, etc. preceded by Q, and later would be placed in the center of the lower margins. This last method was particularly seen with Corbie during the Carolingian period.

                The practice of using catchwords, Reklamantan, was also a common reference tool. Usually the first word or syllable of the first page of a gathering would be written under the last line or word of a gathering. Foliation occurs regularly after the twelfth century, and pagination after the thirteenth. As an additional reference or citation tool, a page was divided often into four columns, each numbered.

                The page format was determined by two main factors; the extent of the work and the nature of the content or purpose of the book—was it going to be deluxe or portable? The size of the book also determined the type of script used. The format usually took on three main sizes, Large, medium, and small. Large formats were used for deluxe editions of books, like the works of Vergil and Bibles. Medium formats were commonest in early medieval libraries. Small books were often used for notebooks, pocket-gospels, monastic rules, or devotional books.

                In the Later Middle ages small narrow letters, less space between lines, abbreviations, and thinner parchment were all used to economize book production and to try and keep the physical size of books down, so that a four to five hundred leave Bible on Virgin parchment for instance would not be very unwieldy. This was not always the case, however, as huge choir books were typical in the late Middle Ages.

                There was a very aesthetic process to formatting books and pages of books, which could also tell us something about the content of the book Tall narrow books typically contained poetry, as they were divided into columns and in German and Latin rhythmic poetry lines were split so that the end of each line would rhyme.

                Writers sought a balanced distribution of writing and margin area when considering page layout, and would often divide the pages into columns—a carryover from papyrus age writing. A square format would equal a square writing area, for instance. Special layouts were used for texts with commentary, with two main methods. Before the twelfth century, text and commentary would be written side by side in two columns using two distinct types of scripts or different widths (large column for text, and a small one for commentary). After the twelfth century a less complicated way was employed, that of writing the commentary after the text in a smaller script.

                As a method to preserve the text, bindings of various types were employed. Deluxe bindings, wooden boards covered with leather, or simple parchment or leather wrappings were the three main types used. Deluxe bindings were commonly used for liturgical texts to receive elaborate and precious decorations. Wooden boards covered with leather were by far the commonest. The corners of these would be reinforced with metal bosses and the leather often decorated by stamps. Leather wraps were used for account books, student manuals and other documents that did not really need to be preserved for long periods of time.

                Not all works took the form of a codex, Rotuli were also common, and were similar to rolls. They were suitable for Biblical history, chronicles, extended genealogies and other like documents, and were preferred by pilgrims and travelers as they were handy and lightweight. Monastic mortuary lists also typically used these as the monks would travel from house to house collecting the names of the dead.

                Tabulae were also common. This was a large piece of parchment stretched over a wooden tablet to be used in schools for reading, arithmetic, geometry, and music education; monastic chronicles; world maps; and even library catalogs.

                Charters and letters also pervaded and did not follow any one type of tradition. They typically used elaborate or embellished scripts to add emphasis, and were used for day-to-day and political affairs. They often included either a signature or salutation to add certification, or would include a seal either on the charter, or as Frederick I had done, simply send along a wax seal on a piece of parchment. They were always single sheets written only on one side. Simplification was very common, sometimes even abandoning elongated writing.

Latin Paleography, part 1

Latin Paleography: Antiquity & the Middle Ages, part 1

Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Paleography: Antiquity & the Middle Ages trans. Dáibhí ó Cróinín & David Ganz (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1995).

Part 1 Codicology

                The work was originally published in Berlin as Palägraphie des römischen Altertums und des abendländischen Mittelalters and was translated into English in 1990. The first portion of this book discusses first and foremost the tools and media used from antiquity through the Middle Ages, followed by an examination of the external characteristics of the written works ( such as format, binding, page layout), and culminating with a section on writing and copying.

Tools and Materials

                There were four primary media used during the Middle Ages: Papyrus, Parchment, Paper, and wax tablets. Papyrus, invented and monopolized in Egypt, was borrowed by the Greeks, and subsequently by the Romans, and usually took on the form of rolls. One of the unique practices done with papyrus was of washing off the text to be written over on the verso (the backside), usually in a different language. This process created what is known as an Opistograph. Sometime during the fourth century A.D there occurred a general widespread transition to the use of parchment, though papyrus continued to be in limited use till the seventh century in the Merovingian period and all the way till the eleventh century Papal Chancery and Ravenna. Few papyrus records survive from these regions as the climate was unsuitable for their preservation.

                Parchment, on the other hand, proved to weather the climate much better. Made from the skins of various animals, the hides were soaked in lye to remove the fat and hair, scraped clean and then stretched on a form. Depending on the skin used, the parchment would have a different feel to it. Sheep, for example produced a smooth parchment. After the Carolingian period calfskin was commonplace; the calfskin method came from the Insular forms in use in the British Isles, where both sides of the skin were roughened with pumice so as to make the hair and skin side indistinguishable from one another and help the ink better adhere, making it more suitable for rich color. As a specialty product, and yardstick standard for scriptoria in the later Middle Ages, unborn lambs were used to make very thin and fine parchment called virgin or uterine parchment.

                Parchment was also not very cheap. Sometimes over 500 skins were used for one work, thus its use was strictly allocated. For special manuscripts, such as a Bible for a king or emperor, the skin was dyed a deep purple. Because the skin was now dark, a bright text was needed, to which gold and silver became the most suitable choice. Gold was most prominently used in the Carolingian period in liturgical texts, names of saints in calendars, litanies, and legendaries. Later, St. Jerome would denounce the use of such costly materials in the production of texts, which led to different substitutes similar in appearance, thus making the use of gold rare in later texts.

                When certain texts became outdated, unimportant, or unintelligible, the text was usually scraped off, the parchment rotated, and a new text added. This is known as a palimpsest. This practice makes possible the recovery of some texts as the scraping does not completely remove the old ink. Palimpsests are rare after the Carolingian period.

                Paper was not in widespread use in medieval Europe until the fourteenth century, though it had come to the Muslim world and Italy in the eighth century. At first, Arab paper was used in the West until Frederick II prohibited its use for important works and documents in 1231. By the thirteenth century paper was also distinguished by watermarks, a trademark symbol that helps us to now date and place where the paper was manufactured.

                Wax tablets were also of primary importance in the daily lives of the educated in the Middle Ages as they provided a quick means of making notes or lists that could easily be erased for the tablet to be used again the next day. They were made from wood blocks or ivory tablets that were scraped out and covered with a layer of wax. They then used a stylus to scratch out letters in the wax, which could be rubbed out and re-written on later. Tablets could be joined together as well to create diptychs, tryptichs, and polyptichs. Specific wax tablets called Consular diptychs were employed in antiquity as a gift to a new consul with an elaborate bas-relief decoration. In the Middle Ages, these diptychs were used for litanies or lists of church benefactors.

                Many ink recipes were in use in the later Middle Ages, and most ink were made soot and gum, sepia, gall nuts and iron vitriol. Early inks between the fourth and sixth centuries had a lacquer consistency and were generally a yellow to brown tone. By the sixth century, brown inks made from white- or blackthorn branches with wine and iron vitriol were common. By the seventh century dark brown predominated. And by the eight century the ink often had a greenish tinge to it. The most common way to distinguish important elements of a text was by rubrication—the use of red ink. There was no set standard practice as to what would be in red, and thus varied from text to text and author to author.

                The most common tool in the medieval West was by far the Quill pen, followed by a stylus, which was employed primarily for wax tablets, though it was frequently used with parchment for notes. Aside from these tools, a scribe also had chalk, two pumice stones, two ink horns—for red and black—a sharp knife, two razors for erasing, an awl used for piercing holes, lead, a straight edge, a ruling stick, and a puncturium. This last  tool was used to make pricked markings to serve as a guide for ruling lines and usually contained a pair of compasses or a small wheel with points.

                I was certainly not aware that so many tools were employed in writing a medieval manuscript, nor was I aware of the economics of parchment making. It was certainly an endeavor to be taken very seriously and considered very carefully.

My Reading Plan

My general topic is Medieval Gothic Writing.

Reading Plan:

 Overview:

• B L. Ullman, Ancient Writing and Its Influence

• De Hamel, Christopher, Scribes and Illuminators.

 Focus:

• Marc Drogin, Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique (New Jersey: Allanheld, Osmun & Co., and Abner Schram Ltd., 1980)

• Fairbanks, Sydney; Magoun, F.P., JR, “On writing and Printing Gothic”, Speculum:A Journal of Medieval Studies 15, no.3 (July 1940): 313-330.

• Creasy, Dianne Louise, The Development of the Formal Gothic Script in Spain: Toledo, s. XII-XIII.

• Johanssen, Carl Erik, Thus they wrote. A guide to the Gothic script of Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden.

• Crous, Ernst, und Joachin Kirchner, Die gotische Schriftarten.