From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V2 #27 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Wednesday, May 27 1998 Volume 02 : Number 027 In this issue: [scribes]: work surface angles [scribes]: Re: work surface angles Re: [scribes]: Re: [Mid] Looking Desperately for a Book ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 10:01:16 +0100 (BST) From: Barbara Webb Subject: [scribes]: work surface angles I use a sloped surface for both calligraphy and illumination (except gold leaf): I find it better to have that pen angle when calligraphing and I like being able to get close up to the illumination without bending my back. My desk is adjustable but I generally use a fairly steep angle - at least 45 degrees. I also find that by _having_ to use a different work surface (a table close beside) to hold my paint palettes, water pots and coffee cups I also run much less risk of knocking one of the these over the scroll! > > 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. ...... > The medieval scribes and illuminators I've seen depicted usually > work like this for calligraphing and illuminating. ........ > Ranthulfr Asparlundr Do you mean they had slopes for calligraphy and flat for illumination? I am fairly sure I've seen at least some 'painters' working on sloped desks. I wouldn't be surprised if there are also some working flat, but then you also see calligraphers writing in books on their laps, so I'd be reluctant to draw any general correct rule either way. Caitlin de Courcy P.S. Re the Lutteral Psalter - there's a relatively recent book edited by Janet Backhouse I think which has about 30-50 colour illustrations from it; paperback, about 10 pounds from the British Museum, I would think not hard to track down elsewhere. I have also seen in a library a full size black & white edition; it looked old and expensive... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 08:48:17 EDT From: RenScribe Subject: [scribes]: Re: work surface angles Greetings all I'm finding this a very interesting thread. I use a very steep angle (I just measured it's 65). I'm somewhat visually impaired (bad enough that I can't get a driver's license). I have to be very close to my work to see it clearly. At the height and angle of my work, I'm almost in it. I have no trouble laying gold leaf or painting. Calligraphy isn't much of a problem either except when I try to use a crow quill. There is just not enough of an angle to get the ink to flow out of the pen. I get better results with tech pens, but they will only work for so long before I have to shake more ink into the tip. There is an added benefit to having the scroll so close. I end up with no back or neck pain even though it's not uncommon for me to spend 5 or more hours at one stretch working on a piece. :-) Eibhlin ni Chaoimh AEthelmearc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 08:57:36 -0500 (EST) From: john j cash Subject: Re: [scribes]: Re: [Mid] Looking Desperately for a Book Dear folks, For those who prefer their manucripts in hard copy, the Luttrell Psalter was reproduced by the British Museum in 1932 and the book can be found at many libraries or ordered through interlibrary loan. "The Luttrell Psalter; two plates in colour and 183 in monochrome...with intro. by Eric George Millar, Assistant Keeper in the Dept. of Manuscripts." London, Trustees (of the British Museum), 1932. Janet Backhouse has edited a smaller set of facsimilies, also published by the British Museum. "The Luttrell Psalter." London, British Musuem, 1989. Yours in favor of books over web-sites, -- johannes v.n. On Tue, 26 May 1998, Sally Burnell wrote: > 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 #27 ****************************