Regarding the query about the tools used by medieval scribes, I believe that it is a knife. Christopher de Hamel in his *Scribes and Illuminators* describes the following:
"As he actually wrote, the scribe held a knife in his left hand. This is important, and universal in the Middle Ages. Writing, like eating, was a two-handed operation. It meant, among other things, that he had no spare hand for following his place in the exemplar. The knife was for sharpening the pen and for erasing mistakes (quickly, before the ink had really soaked in) and, more practically, for holding down the always springy surface of the vellum, moving along the line as the scribe wrote each word. To steady the page with the finger is potentially greasy and clumsy, but a knife tip gives precision and control." Christopher de Hamel, . 1992. *Scribes and Illuminators (Medieval Craftsmen Series)*. Toronto, (Canada) : University of Toronto Press. 37-39. Katherine Kelly Book Conservator Conservation Division Library of Congress Message: 7 Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2017 13:48:48 -0400 From: Scott Devine <scottwdev...@gmail.com> To: consdistlist@cool.conservation-us.org Subject: [Consdistlist] Medieval Manuscript Tools (Sidney Berger) Message-ID: <655b9610-d0ff-4d01-80f4-fc57b8512...@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > This is not really a conservation query. I would like to have some advice from an expert on something I have seen for many years in medieval manuscript illuminations. > > Many images show a scribe holding two tools, a quill, or something else to write with, and a second tool in his left hand. I have asked many people about that second tool, and nobody seems to know what it is. Can anyone tell me what that second tool is? > > It looks like a pen knife, but there is no reason for a scribe to be holding such a knife while he is writing. If there is an error in the manuscript, a knife could be used to scrape off the ink, but at the point of writing, that knife would not be useful. I have heard suggested that the tool is a place marker, but again that is not logical. Nor does it seem to have any function whatsoever. Is it merely a convention to show that tool, even if it has no function? What is it? > > Many thanks, > Sid Berger ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to consdistlist-le...@cool.conservation-us.org Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
