Scribal Art and Decoration

Scribes were essential to the pre-print age, when few people learned the skills to write beyond a rudimentary level. But scribes viewed themselves as far more than writers. They were also artists, creating beautiful texts for wealthy patrons and scholars. They created this beauty in multiple ways: by creating clean, justified, text-blocks; by enhancing and drawing attention to key words, often at the beginning of sections of text; by decorating the page with images suggested by flourishes of miniature words (micrography); by fashioning texts into eye-pleasing shapes, and more. The Library’s manuscripts include many examples of this extraordinary and largely lost art. 

Colophon

“Colophon” is the term used for the scribe’s signature, usually found near the end of a manuscript. In the colophon, a scribe will ordinarily include his name, the name of his patron, and the date the manuscript was completed. A colophon might also include the reason or occasion for the creation of the manuscript, along with other personal information relevant to the manuscript and its creators. The colophon is generally the only feature of a manuscript that will allow us to date it exactly, and the other information a colophon contains often allows us to glean other important historical information.