![]() Pricked edge in Liber Medicinalis, 1450 Unfilled ruling in Liber Medicinalis, 1450 To create a thin smooth surface for writing the laborious work of parchment-making included steps to stretch, scrape, clean, and treat the skin before cutting to size and sending to the scribes as sheets. ![]() Although the use of paper in bookmaking had increased by the 1450s, this manuscript was written on softened, untanned calfskin known as vellum, or more broadly as parchment-a term that also includes the skin of goat and sheep. Preparing the Parchment Detail showing follicles in the parchment of Liber Medicinalis, 1450īefore these scribes put a pen to the page, the design and layout was planned and the writing surface was prepared, a process based on the book’s intended purpose. For instance, the second scribe chose to pen flourish letters in the top lines with heads in profile, decorations that were also added in the fourth section (leaves 389–460). Based on unique variations in the writing of the individuals, he and a second scribe (leaves 379–388) are likely to have written later sections as well. The first scribe (leaves 1–78) was a calligrapher active in Bruges during the 1450s named Willelmus de Predio, who is identified on leaf 78. At least three different “hands” (another term for scribes) wrote the five sections of the Liber medicinalis. To speed the process, the work was often distributed amongst multiple scribes who worked concurrently on different sections. Production of just one book could take months or even years. For any scribe of this period, the first step was the completion of a lengthy apprenticeship to gain mastery of this often grueling and tedious work. Scribes Flourishes in Liber Medicinalis, 1450Īs demand for books increased in the later medieval period, scribal work expanded outside of the monastery to include secular, professional scribes. How could lettering so small and consistent possibly have been handwritten? In short, the answer is a lot of preparation and teamwork. After the original clasps are released from the edge of the sixteenth century brown calf binding, the cover is opened to reveal the beautiful gold leaf of the ornamental initial and the tiniest script in Gothic book hand on the vellum page, often mistaken at first for printed text. No matter how often this early manuscript is pulled to display for tours, it never ceases to amaze all who gaze upon it, not only for the significance of its content but for its physical features. Used for centuries as the standard textbook for physicians, the Canon was described by William Osler as “a medical bible.” Within the five extensive books are important contributions to fields like neuroscience and drug research. Ibn Sīnā, also known as Avicenna, was a Persian physician and polymath who first wrote the Canon in 1025, an encyclopedic work that is revered as one of the most influential books on medicine. ![]() In honor of National Handwriting Day, we recognize the craft of the highly-skilled medieval scribes and artists who meticulously copied and illuminated the fifteenth-century Liber medicinalis (or The Book of Medicine), a Latin translation of selected portions of al– Qānūn fī al-t ibb by Ibn Sīnā held at the National Library of Medicine. ![]() By Krista Stracka ~ Detail of lettering in Liber Medicinalis, 1450 ![]()
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