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Aubrey West's Written by Hand

Author was inspired to write this book due to the handwriting of Ludovico deli Arrighi in a book by Alfred Fairbank. Also by Giovantonio Tagliente

LORD CHOLMONDELEY

Spaces between words, and punctuation appeared in the 7th century.

Uncial means inch

St Jerome uses the term to describe the large hand in expensive manuscripts between 4th and 8th c.

The book was set in 13pt perpetua

Epigraph is erasmus, dialogue de Rete Latini Graeci sermonis pronunciation amanuenses add so much of their own.

Caroline Minuscule, Alcuin of York, Charlemagne, head of the school of tours, 796.

Charlamagne ordered a revision of the vulgate and liturgy, it spread and dominated until 13th century

Look into gospel of Charlamagne, written on parchment

Caroline minuscule slowly became gothic into 13th century. Sharp angular and vertical. Heavy and decadent, hard to read.

Renaissance meant a revival of Caroline Minuscule. Petrach owned a 10th century Horace written at Tours which was influential.

Poggio Bracciolini travelled across Europe finding MS with classical text and fine calligraphy

Chinese were wood block printing in 8th c and with moveable type in 11th c.

Aubrey West claims that the System of copying manuscripts set up by Cassiodorus, chancellor to Gothic king Theodoric, and by St Benedict, founder of the Benedictines preserved the manuscripts of the ancient world. This was a major contribution of the church

At the monastery of Monte Cassino, founded by St Benedict in 531, every monk was required to spend some of his day copying manuscripts in the scriptorium

The eastern church did this for the greeks, the fall of Constantinople forced them into Europe.

Book of Kells – finest Irish MS Lindisfarne gospels — finest English MS

Cockerell > Morris > Johnson


Published March 25, 2019 in Reading notes