Manuscripts and Manuscript-Making

1. Manuscripts and Manuscript-Making elisa.pastorello@unipd.it

2. Materials and Process ᚦ animalskin: parchment – sheepskin vellum – calfskin ᚦ the skiniswashed and thensoaked in a lime solution ᚦ itisstretched on a frame ᚦ itisscrapedwith a curvedknifetoremove the hair ᚦ the soaking, stretching and scrapingisrepeatedforseveraldays ᚦ the skinissmoothedwithpumicestone and pounced, thatiswhitenedwithchalk

3. Wetskinstretched on a frame

4. ᚦ the skinis cut and given the shapeof a folio ᚦ the sheetisfolded – twoleaves, fourpages are obtainedfrom a sheet ᚦ the sheets are put together in quires or gatherings (Latin quaternum) ᚦ the quires are sewn

6. ᚦ the pageisprickedwithanawl: smallholes are made on the pageas a guidelineforruling ᚦ ruling: lines are drawnacross the pageto facilitate writing ᚦ the text iscopied, blanks are leftwherethereisgoingtobe a drawing ᚦ drawings, miniatures, illuminations are added

7. Bibles and Books in Latin LindisfarneGospels, incipit

8. LindisfarneGospels – incipit of Matthew’s Gospel

9. Chi-RhoPagefrom the LindisfarneGospels

10. St. Mark the Evangelist – LindisfarneGospels

11. Carpetpage – LindisfarneGospels

12. The Four Old English Poetical Manuscripts • Cotton Vitellius A xv • London, British Library Cotton MS. Vitellius A xv • Two codices bound together: • -Southwick Codex, containing fragments of homilies and other religious works. 12th century. • -Nowell Codex (first decade of the 11th century) containing: • heroic poetry — Beowulf • biblical poetry — Judith • prose works on monsters and wonders

13. Incipit ofBeowulf – London, BritishLibraryCottonMS. Vitellius A XV

14. Junius 11 • Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Junius 11 • c. A.D. 1000 • -biblical poetry — Genesis, Exodus, Daniel • -Christological poetry — Christ and Satan • Illustrated with Anglo-Saxon drawings.

15. PagesfromMS. Junius 11

16. Vercelli Book • Vercelli, S. Eusebio Cathedral Library MS. Codex CVII Late 10th century. -hagiographic poetry -Christological poetry -prose

17. Pagefrom the Vercelli Book

18. Exeter Book • Exeter, Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3501. • Early 11th century. “imycelengliscboc be gehwilcumþingum on leoðwisangewohrt” (description of the Ms. in the list of donations to the library by Leofric, bishop of Exeter until 1072)

19. Riddle 51 – Exeter Book, fols 113r.-113v.