Scribes and Illuminators (Medieval Craftsmen) - Softcover

De Hamel, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802077072 ISBN 13: 9780802077073

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 1992

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher de Hamel is the Head of the Department of Manuscripts at Sotheby's London and author of Scribes and Illuminators (Medieval Craftsmen Series).

From the Back Cover

More manuscripts survive than any other artifact from the Middle Ages. They are often beautifully preserved, enabling us to appreciate the skilled design and craftsmanship of the men who created them.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802077072
• ISBN 13: 9780802077073
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 277