Texts were also held in special regard in Byzantium, where people rated literacy as a desirable goal. The illustrations of some manuscripts, notable for their quality and originality, were executed by first-rate artists many others, although small, have the monumental elegance of larger works. Important texts were translated from Latin into French and other vernacular languages ( 31.134.8). In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, private persons bought and used books of hours, which contained prayers to be recited throughout the day. The emergence of universities throughout Europe created demand for single-volume Bibles ( 1997.320), books of law ( 1990.217), and other texts copied on pages with wide margins for notes and commentary. Among the most ambitious were the large books that monastic communities used daily for singing ( 2005.273). Princes and emperors commissioned gospel books with many-colored illustrations and lettering in gold and silver ink ( 12.56.3). Multivolume Bibles and huge liturgical books were housed and used in churches. Many bookmakers in the Middle Ages were monks ( 12.56.4), and monasteries kept libraries filled not only with sacred texts but also with literary, scientific, and philosophical works by Greek and Roman authors. ![]() ![]() The most lavish medieval books were bound in covers set with enamels, jewels, and ivory carvings ( 17.190.134). A scribe copied the text from an established edition, and artists might then embellish it with illustrations, decorated initials, and ornament in the margins. Parchment for the pages had to be made from the dried hides of animals, cut to size and sewn into quires inks had to be mixed, pens prepared, and the pages ruled for lettering. Indeed, in the Middle Ages, the book becomes an attribute of God ( 17.190.757).Įvery stage in the creation of a medieval book required intensive labor, sometimes involving the collaboration of entire workshops. Before the invention of mechanical printing, books were handmade objects, treasured as works of art and as symbols of enduring knowledge.
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