CHAPTER XXV

THE ILLUMINATED MS. BOOK

In the Middle Ages the illuminated MS. book occupied a very prominent position. The printing-press was not then in existence, so the manuscript book was without a rival. To-day the printing-press is to the forefront and the manuscript book is practically unheard of. There is, nevertheless, no reason why the art of illumination should not be practised in the same manner as was formerly the case. It is true that beautiful books are produced by the printer, but there ought also to be a demand for books beautiful, written and illuminated by artists of the present day. An illuminated manuscript has many advantages over the printed book, one of which is the fact that it is unique instead of being one of many. There is no need to enumerate the many other advantages that the manuscript book possesses.

The best material upon which to write a manuscript book is undoubtedly vellum, although fine hand-made paper may be substituted if it is not desirable to go to the expense of procuring vellum for this purpose. A paper that is soft and flexible should be selected in preference to one that is hard and stiff. Anything approaching cardboard should be avoided.

The first thing to decide in writing a manuscript book is the size of the page. After this is settled, the size of the lettering should be taken into consideration. If the manuscript is to be on vellum this should be bought ready cut to the size required. It is much cheaper to buy vellum in this way than to buy the skin and cut it for oneself. The reason for this is because the manufacturer can cut up a more or less imperfect skin into small pieces, but when a whole skin is required this must be perfect in every respect.

The best vellum for manuscript books is the kind known as Roman vellum, a very soft and flexible kind of vellum. For title-pages, and any other pages which are likely to be covered with elaborate work, a slightly heavier vellum may be advisable.

For general purposes a good size for the page is 10 in. by 7½ in., _i.e._, the vellum sheets should be cut 10 in. by 15 in. It is as well to leave a slight margin for drawing-pins in addition to this. One of these sheets should be ruled out, as shown in (_a_), Fig. 44, with a sharply-pointed H.B. pencil. The lines should be ruled very lightly so that they may be erased with the slightest possible touch of the rubber. After one sheet has been carefully ruled out in this manner, the others can be marked out in a similar fashion by pricking through.

Manuscript books are generally written in eight-page sections, formed by folding one sheet within the other, as in (_b_).

The proportion of the margins may vary according to circumstances, but it is best to make them fairly wide. The inside margin is made smaller than the outside one, because the two inner margins come together, thus forming a wide margin between the two pages of lettering. It should, however, be made wider than half the size of the outside margin, to allow for the folding of the leaves when the book is bound. A good arrangement for the commencement of a MS. book is shown in Fig. 44 (_b_), (_c_), or (_d_). The title is written on page 1. Pages 2 and 3 are blanks. The frontispiece and title-page occupy pages 4 and 5. Page 6 is another blank, and the manuscript starts on page 7. The title may be written simply in red, or red and black. This should not be written quite in the centre of the page, a larger space should be left at the bottom, as if this is equal with the top it will look as if a larger space had been left at the top.

For the frontispiece a miniature may be used, illustrating some passage in the book; or a coat-of-arms or some symbol may be worked in surrounded by decoration. The title-page should have the title and the author’s name, but the artist should not put his name here. When he has finished the MS. he may write at the end a colophon, stating his name, and when and where the book was written. It is best when writing out the manuscript to leave the title-page and frontispiece until the rest of the matter has been written.

No elaborate planning of pages is necessary. A good number of pages should be ruled out with lines ready for writing, and the manuscript should be written straight away with the quill pen. Spaces are left for initial letters, miniatures, etc., as the writer feels they are fitting and necessary. The student should be very careful to write out the pages in the proper order, as it is very easy to make mistakes by writing on the wrong pages. For example, if he is not careful he is very liable, after having written the second page of a section, to go on writing on page 7, instead of page 3, which is on another sheet of vellum folded inside the first. A good method for avoiding this is to number the pages lightly in pencil with large figures at the head of each page.

When writing out the words, the vellum should be fastened to the drawing-board with drawing-pins, a pad formed with several sheets of blotting-paper being placed under the vellum to ensure easy writing. If possible, place the copy just above the writing level, where it can easily be seen.

If it is necessary to find out how many pages the manuscript is likely to run into, a rough calculation can easily be made by ruling out a sheet of paper and lightly pencilling in a page of the writing. It will then be an easy matter to count up the number of words to form an estimate of the number of pages required.

The student should always, before commencing to write, read through the matter and decide what initials he will have, also whether he will have any miniatures, etc. In fact, he ought to be able, before he commences work, to visualise the whole of the manuscript completed. If his mental image of the finished book is a grand one he will be inspired to do his utmost to make the actual one as much like the one in his imagination as possible.

After the writing has been done, the initial letters, borders, etc., may be drawn lightly with pencil. After this, the next stage is the gilding. Before this is done, however, the vellum should be carefully fastened tightly to the drawing-board with a large number of drawing-pins to prevent it from cockling.

When the gold has been laid and burnished, the colouring is proceeded with, and the page is finished.

The colophon is written at the end, a blank page being left between it and the last page of writing. This should be in quite simple lettering without any ostentatious show of decoration. The wording may be as follows: “This book, written out by me ---- in ----, for ----, was finished on the ---- day of ----, Anno Domini, 19--.”

Of course, there is no need to word the colophon always in this manner. This is merely a form suggested. In the case of a book where several have taken part in the work, mention should be made of this. It is not a bad plan also to include the name of the binder, in the event of the book being bound by a good craftsman. Some examples of colophons are shown in Fig. 45.

It is a mistake to make all the pages elaborate in style; in fact it is best to make the majority of them quite simple in treatment, with here and there one that is more ornate in character.

The writing is the principal thing in the book, therefore nothing must be added that will in any way detract from this. If the addition of decoration has this effect it would be much better to leave the writing quite plain. It is impossible to lay down any rules to govern the use of decoration in the manuscript book. It is largely a matter of feeling one’s way. If the decoration is well-considered and suited to the words it will help, rather than detract from, the lettering.

It should be remembered that the primary object of a book is to be read. If the book fails in this respect it will also most certainly fail from the standpoint of beauty. One of the first essentials of anything that lays claim to beauty is that it shall serve its purpose. Therefore care should be taken that nothing be done that will, in any way, tend to make the book less readable.

The decoration should be strongly influenced by the subject-matter of the book. Some illuminators appear to have one idea only with regard to illumination. No matter what the words are, the same kind of decoration is used. They seem to make no distinction whether the subject is a mediæval romance or something quite modern. This is a great mistake, and shows a lack of thought and imagination on the part of the artist. The ideas expressed in the words should also be felt in the decoration; in fact, the book when completed should form one harmonious whole.

When miniatures are introduced these also should harmonise with the decoration. It is not advisable to make these resemble small water-colour paintings that have no connection with the rest of the ornament. On the other hand, these should not be drawn in too conventional a manner. They should be essentially decorative in treatment, and careful study from nature should prevent the student from making these too hard and rigid in character. Complete unity should run throughout all the work.

Even in the writing itself it is possible to express something. For example, some prose looks best if written with a fairly heavy massed writing, whilst other of a lighter character seems to be best if written with the lettering less heavy and more loosely arranged. Poetry generally seems to require to be written with a lighter type of letter and with the lines of lettering wider apart. It is, however, not wise to lay down hard and fast rules with regard to this: one should be able to feel what is the best thing to do.

When writing the MS., and, indeed, right through every stage, absolute quiet is necessary to concentrate one’s mind on the work. One should endeavour to give it one’s undivided attention.

A test as to whether an artist has succeeded is to observe, when the book is shown to anyone, whether the words are noticed at all, or if the decoration only is admired without any apprehension as to what the words are about. If the latter is the case, then, to some extent, the artist has failed. A manuscript that has been illuminated in the right spirit should enable the reader to understand and appreciate the words better.

After the MS. is completed it should be carefully bound by an experienced binder. It is as well to choose a good craftsman for this purpose, and one who has had some experience in binding manuscripts containing raised gold, as it is very easy for a binder to spoil the manuscript if he is not accustomed to handling work of this kind. To make the whole thing a success it is necessary that the binder should be an artist as well as the illuminator.

A simple method of binding MSS. in limp vellum, without special appliances, is described in the next chapter.