#MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITING SKIN#

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The invention of eyeglasses in the 13 th century made it possible for scribes to write and see tiny scripts and fine details of illuminated manuscripts, and would have helped older scholars with their fading eyesight.At Smarthistory, the Center for Public Art History, we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. The end of the feather was cut at an angle to form the writing nib, and was slit down the middle for ink to flow smoothly. A scribe would then write on the vellum with a quill pen made from the feather of a goose or swan. Once dried, vellum was cut into sheets that were used to make folios, or the main pages of a book. Vellum makers would first soak the calf hide in a lime solution to remove any hairs or flesh, and place it on a stretcher for scraping into the required thickness.

#MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITING SKIN#

Most of the finer-quality manuscripts were written on vellum, which was made from calf skin, rather than on the skin of another animal. The process of making a medieval manuscript was quite involved, requiring multiple stages.

Medieval manuscripts writing