Northern Kentucky University
The Medieval Manuscript: The Production, Design, and Purpose of a FifteenthCentury Book of Hours
Institution
Northern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Tamara O'Callaghan
Abstract
The word “manuscript”, which literally means “handwritten”, is used to describe a book that is produced and written by hand. This study will examine the materials and major processes involved in the labor-intensive production of a medieval manuscript. By focusing on a fifteenth-century book of hours that is presently held by The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Cincinnati, I will examine the preparation of parchment, the textual layout and design of the individual folio or page, the use of scribal handwriting and ink, the artistic techniques for illumination and illustration, and the method of sewing and binding the finished manuscript. I will also discuss the importance of books of hour in medieval culture. Books of hours were commonly used for private devotions in the later Middle Ages and quickly became bestsellers, especially in northern Europe. They were commissioned and read by a diverse audience, including women, a claim that cannot be made of all types of medieval manuscripts. Consequently, such a textual artifact provides considerable insight into the early history of literacy and the book as well as allows us to understand more fully how book production today has—and has not—changed from its medieval roots.
The Medieval Manuscript: The Production, Design, and Purpose of a FifteenthCentury Book of Hours
The word “manuscript”, which literally means “handwritten”, is used to describe a book that is produced and written by hand. This study will examine the materials and major processes involved in the labor-intensive production of a medieval manuscript. By focusing on a fifteenth-century book of hours that is presently held by The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Cincinnati, I will examine the preparation of parchment, the textual layout and design of the individual folio or page, the use of scribal handwriting and ink, the artistic techniques for illumination and illustration, and the method of sewing and binding the finished manuscript. I will also discuss the importance of books of hour in medieval culture. Books of hours were commonly used for private devotions in the later Middle Ages and quickly became bestsellers, especially in northern Europe. They were commissioned and read by a diverse audience, including women, a claim that cannot be made of all types of medieval manuscripts. Consequently, such a textual artifact provides considerable insight into the early history of literacy and the book as well as allows us to understand more fully how book production today has—and has not—changed from its medieval roots.