Scribes and Scripts

In the era from 1000 to 1250, Europe underwent momentous social changes—including a growth in literacy and the emergence of the first universities—that resulted in a demand for more books. This in turn spurred new methods of book production and a critical period of development in calligraphy: through a series of incremental changes, bold leaps, and cultural exchanges, the rounded forms of the Caroline minuscule gave way to the straight strokes of Gothic blackletter, which were easier to produce—and would form the basis of the first typefaces cut by Gutenberg and his contemporaries. Scribes and Scripts traces this evolution through fifty-six noteworthy illuminated manuscripts—and their scribes, many of whose names and circumstances are known to us. Author Richard Gameson, an eminent historian of the book, provides a fascinating commentary on the calligraphy and illumination of each manuscript and the career of its scribe, including the social factors that influenced his or her work. The