We
then viewed William de Brailes’ de Brailes Hours (Book of Hours) c1240 it is
reputed to be the oldest book of hours. Patricia explained that saints’ name
days were written in red (thus giving us the term red letter days). Also by
William de Brailes is the Last Judgment.
Following
this were pictures of the Sherborne Missal and works by David Aubert, a French
calligrapher who produced works for the court of the Duke of Burgundy, as well
as illuminations at Bruges and other centres for the Dukes Philip the Good and
Charles the Bold and the Duchess Margaret of York.
Patricia
then spoke about the materials used:
Skin
Treatment: Skins were soaked in vats of lime, then stretched out to be scraped,
they were then left to dry and were scraped again. Once this had been completed
the skins were cut, lines ruled and paintings or illustrations were completed.
To remind us, Vellum is calf skin and parchment is sheep skin.
Writing
Tools: Quills were made from the first five flight feathers, as these are
strongest. In the 19th century the feathers were exported from
Russia (St. Petersburg) and Canada as they were of the highest quality.
For
our general knowledge, Patricia told us Queen Victoria’s favourite pen was a
swan feather and Edward VII’s was from a Hudson Bay goose. A quill knife was a
curved blade and thus pen knives have rounded blades.
Ink:
In ancient times, carbon wasn’t substantial enough for a Caudex, and then later
came walnut ink.
We
were then presented with more brilliant pictures to illustrate this fascinating
talk. The Book of St. Cuthbert, 698AD was found in the coffin of St Cuthbert,
illustrations showed the Coptic binding used at the time.
Ceolfrith’s
Bibles; Ceolfrith, was abbot of the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria
from 690 to 716. Ceolfrith commissioned three large bibles from his own
scriptoria, one for Wearmouth, one for Jarrow and one for Pope Gregory II.
Realising he was close to death, he resigned his abbacy and set out for Rome
however he died en-route and the bible made its way to the monastery of Monte
Amiata in Florence. It is the only one of the three bibles to survive intact
and is the oldest surviving full copy of the bible in Latin. The British
Library MS Additional 45025 is thought to be part of one of the two other
bibles commissioned by Ceolfrith. Only ten leaves and a fragment of an eleventh
survive.
Further
illustrations to the talk included; the Utrecht Psalter, the Harley Psalter and
works by Nicolaus Bertschi (artist).
Lines
were marked on all pages of the manuscript from the beginning, then the scripts
were completed and then finally the art work was completed, over the lines. It
would be too difficult to decide where not to rule lines so the artwork was completed
over them.
We
were then shown Johann von Hagen’s writing sheets.
Some
more information for you – the word miniature comes from minima; the red of the
design and shell gold is derived from gold being sold in muscle shells, thus
shell gold!
There
were some final slides of the Gottingen Model Book; the Vespasian Psalter
(British Library) – Capital Letter – Historian is the first recorded and
finally the Stockholm Codex Aureus.
This
report goes nowhere near representing the in-depth and beautifully illustrated
talk by Patricia. I can only recommend that you view her website and blog; and research
some of the magnificent manuscripts mentioned by viewing them on the web.
Cathy
patricialovett.com
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