From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V4 #71 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Thursday, November 16 2000 Volume 04 : Number 071 ======================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with unsubscribe scribes-digets in the body of the message. Leave the subject line blank. Do not include any additional text. Re: [scribes]: Quill knife [scribes]: Good scroll night! [scribes]: Killing germs on books ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 18:05:34 -0600 From: "Corinna Taylor/Al Frank" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Quill knife There is a certain satisfaction in grinding your own, but unless you already own the necessary stones, it isn't cost-effective. I learned to start with an Indiana stone, continue with a fine hard Arkansas stone, and finish with crocus cloth. The stones are quite expensive, while crocus-cloth is a buck or two, and once the blade is ground, it's really all you need to sharpen it after each quill. I usually cut my quills with a combination of Xacto knife, razor blade and emery boards. Corinna TreeGirtSea - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janice Safran" To: Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 11:00 AM Subject: [scribes]: Quill knife > Has anyone ordered the quill knife from John Neal booksellers? I am > thinking of getting one (my other option is to grind a blade of my > own, to get a period shape), and I want to ask a few questions of > anyone who owns one. > > E-mail me at jks6@cornell.edu if you have one (or if you've used one > that belonged to a friend or A&S guru)> > > Thanks very much in advance-- may your whitework always come out beautiful! > > Lady Jehane > > <<<<<<<<<<<< > Die dulci fruere. > >>>>>>>>>>>>>> > =================================================================== > To unsubscribe from this list, send email to > with a blank Subject: line and > unsubscribe scribes > in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in > the body. > =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 20:25:54 -0500 From: "Sally Burnell" Subject: [scribes]: Good scroll night! OK, remember the other night when I mentioned that I was having a "bad scroll night"? Well, tonight it is quite the opposite. The 13th century French scroll sits almost finished as I type. I am taking a brief breather to let my eyes rest before tackling the last bit of work, that being the whitework on the historiated initial. If you want to see what it is I am basing this scroll on, turn to page 126 in your "History of Illuminated Manuscripts" by de Hamel (I still have the defective copy, BTW, and got word that I could return it...............but the bookseller apparently has another copy and is, as I understand it, trying to locate it so he can send it to me!). Actually, the scroll WAS finished, but I then decided that I did not like the whitework that I did on the area behind the actual initial (what would be that blue area behind the pink-ish initial). So I painted over it and have an idea of what I want to do this time, so all I'm doing now is waiting for the blue paint to dry before plugging onward toward the finish line. My white paint cooperated this evening for some reason. I did not do anything any differently than I had done before. Admittedly, all my paints dried out too quickly on my palette and I had to moisten them more than usual, but I chalk that up to the drier air now that the furnace is on. I suppose I should add some oxgall to my rinse water - one or two drops, I suppose. Well, maybe next scroll I do I'll try that, whenever that may be. At any rate, my whitework for the most part turned out just like I felt it should, nice and crisp and even. So tonight has been a "good scroll night", something that seems to be an increasing rarity.............and I only wish I knew why. Maybe it has something to do with "being in the groove" or some such thing, I dunno. At least things are going right and I am almost done and on Saturday someone is going to be receiving a very nice scroll at Midrealm Royal Court! And I can go away from this scroll feeling good about it. Which is always a really nice feeling! Does anybody else besides me have a lot of these same feelings, thoughts and experiences when doing scrolls? Saradwen Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 22:25:47 -0500 From: "K. Reinhart" Subject: [scribes]: Killing germs on books Ah, finally something that I know something about. If your book is wet, microwave it to kill the critters. If you can, stand the book up in the microwave. Two minutes at a time, max. You don't want to melt the glue. Shake in baking soda between the pages & insert white paper towels & wax paper across from the pictures so they won't stick to the facing page as they dry. Then freeze the book in a self defrosting freezer for a month or more. You want the freezer to take out the moisture. Nuke it again when it comes out & put weight on it to press the pages flat. Do all spraying outside on a dry day. Do not use Fabreeze & Lysol at the same time. A light spray of Fabreeze works for slight odor. Do not coat the page or wet it through. After spraying, put pressure on the book to force the pages to dry flat. A light spray of Lysol will help if you can find one that doesn't offend your nose. It doesn't do major damage to the book if it is used lightly & pressure is applied afterwards to keep the pages from buckling. All chemicals will damage a book to some extent, but so will the mold. Hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me with further questions if you wish. YIS, Lady Keran Roslin (mundanely a librarian) =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V4 #71 ****************************