From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V2 #25 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Tuesday, May 26 1998 Volume 02 : Number 025 In this issue: Re: [scribes]: ? on work surface angles [scribes]: Re: [Mid] Looking Desperately for a Book ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 14:26:43 -0400 (EDT) From: randyaf@provide.net (Randy & Melody Asplund-Faith) Subject: Re: [scribes]: ? on work surface angles >I think we touched on this briefly a few months ago, but I'm curious.. I'm >wondering what angle do you prefer your work surface to be at, for both >calligraphy and illumination work? Reason I ask is that I'm considering >purchasing a desk just for scribal work and so far, the adjustable ones are >the ones I'm leaning towards. > >All opinions welcome. Thanks. :-) > > >-- >:-)---Holly---<--<-@ * ICQ 4316762 * FidoNet 1:202/720 * hollys@geocities.com >San Diego Quilting Resources at http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/4201 Hi, As a calligrapher, I am able to write on a flat surface if there is a clip on the dip pen, but it always seems mechanically better to work on a slope of between 30 and 45 degrees. As an illuminator, you couldn't force me to paint on a slope. Watercolor modern work sometimes, but never illumination. I find it a real impediment to my brush handling mechanics. Also, on a flat table I can change my view from above to down next to it and close to the paper if I can lean down. That makes it easier to see up close when I am working small. And then, I also like to keep a lot of tools and shells of color close to what I am working on. They tend to slide off on even a gentle slope. The medieval scribes and illuminators I've seen depicted usually work like this for calligraphing and illuminating. I also note that there were portable calligraphy stands like the one in the photo on my website which could be placed on a flat desktop when the worker wished to calligraph. Ranthulfr Asparlundr Randy Asplund-Faith 2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI. 48103 (734) 663-0954 http://www.provide.net/~randyaf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:36:55 -0400 From: Sally Burnell Subject: [scribes]: Re: [Mid] Looking Desperately for a Book At 01:29 AM 5/26/98 EDT, you wrote: >Greetings to all, > > I am on a quest to find a copy of the Luttrell Psalter. I kind of had a zen >experience a couple months ago and I really, really, really would like to get >hold of a copy. It is apparently out of print and no one nearby has a copy. If >anyone knows where one could be had, please, please let me know. > > I am just starting to illuminate and I tried a page from Luttrell that was in >a calligraphy book and it was the best thing I have ever painted in my life. > > Thanks in advance, > Lady Gabrielle Chasseresse de Chevreuil Lady Gabrielle, Have you tried Amazon.com? Boy, if anyone could scare it up, bet they could! I know what you mean about a "zen" experience as I am a calligrapher/illuminator myself. I just acquired a copy of a book called "Treasures from Italy's Great Libraries" ed. by Lorenzo Crinelli, text by Anna Rita Fantoni, 1997, published by the Vendome Press, ISBN 0-86565-986-9, $65 retail. I was leafing through it and one plate in particular jumped out at me because it did not look Italian, it looked French, like the style I work in. I was mezmerized by this piece and recently did a Dragon's Heart scroll heavily inspired by this particular plate. I also acquired 2 books recently that had plates that grabbed my attention: French Art: Prehistory to the Middle Ages, by Andre Chastel, published by Flammarion, 1994, ISBN 2-08013-566x, $75 (although I got it much cheaper because it was remaindered according to the SCA merchant who I bought it from, so she sold it to me for $45). Creating French Culture: Treasures from the Bibiotheque Nationale de France, ed. by Marie-Helene Tesniere and Prosser Gifford, 1995, published by the Library of Congress, ISBN 0-300-06283-4, $25 (this is how much the SCA merchant I bought it from charged. I've bought all of these books from her - she knows my tastes and knows I will buy stuff about calligraphy/illumination!) I really like all these recent acquisitions despite the fact that I honestly have no more bookcase space in which to store them (this is a typical cluttered SCA house full of too many books!). The above mentioned books are to feed my interest in Mediaeval French illumination, as I have stuck to English styles for so very long I felt it was time to try some French styles of the same time period. I've spent far too much money recently on these books, but I see it as an investment as they are reference books to which I will refer many times! Now, if I could just figure out where to put another bookcase around here......... Lady Saradwen Ariandalen Marche of Gwyntarian Midrealm ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V2 #25 ****************************