The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages

by Sara J. Charles

Overview

Illuminated with illustrations, an exploration of medieval manuscript production that offers insight into both the early history of the book and life in the Middle Ages.
 
This book takes the reader on an immersive journey through medieval manuscript production in the Latin Christian world. Each chapter opens with a lively vignette by a medieval narrator—including a parchment maker, scribe, and illuminator—introducing various aspects of manuscript production. Sara J. Charles poses the question “What actually is a scriptorium?” and explores the development of the medieval scriptorium from its early Christian beginnings through to its eventual decline and the growth of the printing press.
 
With the written word at the very heart of the Christian monastic movement, we see the immense amount of labor, planning, and networks needed to produce each manuscript. By tapping into these processes and procedures, The Medieval Scriptorium helps us to experience medieval life through the lens of a manuscript maker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789149777
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	08/12/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Sara J. Charles works and studies at Senate House, University of London. She has previously published on various aspects of the history of the book.

Table of Contents

Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Introduction One: The Beginnings Two: Monasticism and Manuscript Production in the West, 500–1050 Three: Locus Scribendi – The Place of Writing Four: Material World: Parchment and Ink Five: Illumination and Painting Six: The Twelfth-Century Renaissance Seven: The End of the Scriptorium Conclusion Glossary References Further Reading Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

Editorial Reviews

"Glimpses of medieval belief and culture, trade, relationships with nature, and - most of all - individual medieval lives: Sara J. Charles’s brilliant book reveals the world of the Middle Ages through the pages of its manuscripts."

Catherine Clarke

In The Medieval Scriptorium—an engaging and beautifully illustrated volume—Charles traces the evolution of the book from the early Christian centuries to the development of printing, a story covering some 1,500 years. . . . The author’s love of these books shines through and her enthusiasm and appreciation of the skill involved in making these works of art are infectious. The reader will learn much about medieval books, their makers and their making.

Methodist Recorder

"The Medieval Scriptorium vividly recreates the techniques and processes that underlay the production of books over the thousand-year period of the Middle Ages. Charles’s intimate grasp of her subject gives us a volume that is filled with delightful detail while offering a richly insightful overview of its compelling topic."

Timothy Graham

From squirrel hair brushes to scripts, Charles offers a comprehensive and engagingly accessible introduction to medieval book production. At times strikingly imaginative in form, this book brings together creative vignettes, intermittent chronologies, illustrations, and lucid prose to trace the contours of manuscript making in this period.

Hannah Ryley

"In this compellingly written, fascinating must-read, Charles leads us on sensory journey of the tactile, unexpectedly smelly, excruciatingly painful, and divinely jubilant reality of manuscript-making in medieval Europe. A joyous page-turner!"

Elizabeth Savage