1 Black Letter Manuscript

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1 Black Letter Manuscript

Place of OriginSpain

Date1598

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/16 x 18 3/8 in. (33.2 x 46.6 cm)

Mediumvellum

ClassificationManuscripts

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1923.3158

Not on View

Collections

Works on Paper

Published ReferencesGwara, Scott, Otto Ege's Manuscripts: a Study of Ege's Manuscript Collections, Portfolios, and Retail Trade with a Comprehensive Handlist of Manuscripts Collected or Sold, Cayce, SC, De Brailes Publishing, 2013, fig. 31, p. 207, repr. p. 243.Label TextToday’s technology allows us to write or copy text within seconds, but this was not always the case. In Europe, books were handwritten until the mid-15th century when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. The printing press was a quicker and less costly method of creating and copying the written word. Although wealthy patrons occasionally commissioned handwritten manuscripts after the invention of the printing press, creating manuscripts by hand soon became a fading art. This manuscript was created after the invention of the printing press. Copied by hand, it displays an attractive style of writing called calligraphy, derived from the Greek word kallos and graphē (“beautiful” and “writing”). Monks, the principal calligraphers, used a steady, precise hand to create visual beauty honoring God. The precious gold letters highlighted on a blue or red background further honored God. Well-defined gridlines, marked in red ink, indicate the margins where the scribe had to fit their crisp, exact text creating evenly spaced unity and grace.