#parchment
If anyone’s wondering, these documents are huge, written in inks on fine (super hi quality, like 150ish g art paper) calf vellum. My side sword & glasses for comparison.
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MAIL CAME-
…yeah I’m not tipping the delivery guy those are horribly late.
(two calf vellum documents, Georgian and Victorian)
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We’ve recently added a new “Alchemy” section to our Etsy shop. Here you can find various alchemy themed charts and jewelry, with more to come in the future.
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These parchment records are being treated for display in the Public Vaults exhibit at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Parchment reacts to even slight changes in relative humidity by expanding or contracting, and inks on its surface can be damaged by this flexing. Some of the iron gall ink used to write these documents was flaking and cracking. Conservators consolidated the iron gall ink using gelatin applied with a very small brush, to re-adhere the ink to the parchment.
[RG11, Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress (1789 - 1823 Segment), An Act to regulate the Item collection of the duties imposed by law on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States.]
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Aww its a little dragon!
Maybe it will help you forget we haven’t been posting. Sorry for that. We will be back to weekly content soon!
Pixels&Parchment
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-sPqHnckh/?igshid=1m669grgn15i8Smol dragon boi
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Aww its a little dragon!
Maybe it will help you forget we haven’t been posting. Sorry for that. We will be back to weekly content soon!
Pixels&Parchment
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-sPqHnckh/?igshid=1m669grgn15i8
Smol dragon boi
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Aww its a little dragon!
Maybe it will help you forget we haven’t been posting. Sorry for that. We will be back to weekly content soon!
Pixels&Parchment
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-sPqHnckh/?igshid=1m669grgn15i8Smol dragon boi
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“Daily” Drawing #2
“It came off you yesterday when you collapsed. After you ‘absorbed’ the dragon soul, or whatever it is you Dragonborns do.”
Illustration I did based on The Amulet, a fanfiction written by Taransay. I’m having one of those phases when I can’t stop fan girling over certain characters. This is probably my worse one yet since I can’t stop going over Taransay and other writers’ stories.
MUST. READ. ALL THE VILKAS FANFICS…
…AUUGH
Note to self: horses are hard to draw
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As many of my longtime followers can probably attest, I have a long history of insomnia that doesn’t seem totally resolved yet. I don’t have all the materials for this Wicca-based spell, but I think I’m going to try to acquire them, because I seriously think I could use the help!
You will need a sprig of lavender, a piece of smoky quartz, and a blank piece of parchment alongside something you can write with. I’m sure most of you are familiar with lavender’s properties of aiding sleep, but smoky quartz also has a very soothing effect, so it’s a two-pronged attack of relaxation!
Prior to casting your spell, you’re going to want to prepare your bedroom for sleeping well. Clean linens, dim lights, and as quiet a space as possible will all help. If you want to involve a little bit of feng shui, try making sure that the closet door is closed and there’s nothing under your bed.
Then, while sitting on the bed (and avoiding sitting on the pillow you’ll be sleeping on), hold the smoky quartz and sink your consciousness into your body. Meditate and feel yourself embracing the crystal’s calming energy, even as you let your worries drift away. When you’re suitably grounded, chant the following incantation while holding the stone in your right hand and rotating your wrist clockwise:
The Moon is up,
I hold its piece
The silver dust
Will guard my peace
Once you’ve done this, wrap the smoky quartz and lavender sprig in the parchment and lay them beside your bed. Now, bear in mind that, like anything else, spellcraft requires practice. Some spells don’t take the first time, and you may need to keep trying for up to three nights. From what I’ve read, though, this spell is well worth your patience!
Sleep well, and may the Tree of Life shelter you all!
#MiniatureMonday
[Box covered in Italian manuscript waste by Giulio Giannini & Figlio.]
Some may say that this is not a book, but a box. And they would be correct. However, this mini from the Smith Miniatures Collection is covered with a manuscript fragment, adding both to its charm and to its ‘bookness’.
Item also includes an advertisement printed on parchment and a descriptive card about the box.
Binding: A decorative wooden box covered in original Italian manuscript fragments; two leather ties for closure. Golden sticker on inside front lid with publisher’s information printed in red. Includes an advertisement printed on parchment and a descriptive card about the box.
Publisher: Florence, Italy : Giulio Giannini & Figlio. “Artistic bookbinding Works in leather and marbled paper, Writing paper and greetings cards.” –Publisher’s advertisement.
–Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student
Images by Diane R. & Bethany K.
My cat did not appreciate being thrown into the dark brotherhood
Peruvian parchment!
A series of musical instrument and leather good shops comprise a small commercial district a few blocks west of Arequipa’s Plaza de Armas. Of the latter, some offer finished goods and repairs, while others sell leather from local tanneries. At least one also sells parchment (pergamino) from goat skins for a mere 4.00 s/. per square foot (about $1.00). The proprietor kindly let me riffle through the pile of skins and take pictures.
The final photo is a view from the bridge just west of the shops on the same street. The low, white wall just beyond the gas station and the parking garage-looking structure to the right of it are an old tannery site. The business, Pedro P Diaz, has since moved to an industrial park outside of town but still has a shop in the commercial district.
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Our first full-length ‘Eradication of Nescience’ is finally being revealed in its intended format: a 12" gatefold vinyl with a 12" sized 12 page booklet. There is one regular black vinyl version and another 'parchment’ coloured vinyl version. First copies of both versions will be accompanied with a consecrated necromantic incense, produced in conspiracy with Occult Sabbath & RITUS. The incense is to be burned on a coal while experiencing the sonic adversarialism of 'Eradication of Nescience’. The incense contains tobacco, myrrh, sandalwood, dragon’s blood, dammar, wormwood, sulphur and powdered human bone.
AVAILABLE NOW:
From Amor Fati Productions: http://www.amor-fati-productions.de/shop/
From Fallen Empire Records: http://fallenempirestore.bigcartel.com/
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Courtcase Mirror Box
This spell isolates your adversaries and prevents them from bothering you.
- Obtainsix small square mirrors, placing them together so that they form a box. The reflective side of the mirrors may be inside or outside the box depending on your desire. If you merely wish to isolate and vanquish your adversaries, keep them in darkness with the mirrors outside the box. If they’re a mean bunch and you’d like them to turn on each other, place the mirrored surfaces on the inside of the box.
- Leave the top open but attach the bottom and sides, using clear tape.
- Writeyour adversaries’ names and an affirmation of your intentions on a piece of parchment paper.
- Place it within the box, seal it shut and hide it away.
(fromThe Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells by Judika Illes)
A Leaf From the Ebulo Codex - An Example of Poor-Quality Parchment
The Ebulo Codex was painted on sheepskin parchment, as can be deduced by its yellow tint in the first example photo. This parchment had evidently not undergone a complete scraping process, however. Residual layers of skin on the hide (inner) side of the parchment left it too greasy to retain the paint applied to it, leading to considerable chipping and fading.
Location:Burgerbibliotek, Bern (Switzerland)
Usage Rights: Public Domain
Reference:
Quandt, Abigail. “Recent Developments in the Conservation of Parchment Manuscripts.” Book and Paper Group Annual, vol.15. https://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/bpg/annual/v15/bp15-14.html
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Next in our #SIMSseries on LJS 26, an astrological and mathematical manuscript: At some point somebody added a new bifolium. It’s clearly different from the rest of the manuscript, written in a later hand, and the parchment sheet is smaller
Online record: bit.ly/3FnU5ht
Next in our #SIMSseries on LJS 26, an astrological and mathematical manuscript: How do scribes deal with a hole in the parchment? This 13th century scribe outlined the hole in red on one side, and simply wrote around it.
Online record: bit.ly/3FnU5ht
Over the next week or so, we’ll be doing a #SIMSseries on LJS 26, a 13th century Italian copy of works by Johannes de Sacro Bosco.
The first view of LJS 26 may be surprising! The binding is modern, but the manuscript definitely is not.
Online record: https://bit.ly/3FnU5ht
Parchment face
Here’s something special. Last Friday I posted a blog on holes found in the pages of medieval books (The skinny on bad parchment). As in the image above, such defects are usually caused by the parchment maker: he pushed his knife too hard cleaning the animal skin, causing it to rip. While the resulting holes must have been a major annoyance to producers of books, the scribe of this twelfth-century manuscript used them to his advantage. He drew a bearded man while turning the gaps into an eye and a nose (slightly displaced), as well as a big laughing mouth. The reader of this serious text - a commentary to the Song of Songs - will no doubt have laughed at the unexpected sight of this funny stranger. Making art out of flaws: it’s just the perfect image, then and now.
Pic: Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Patr.41, fol. 69r. Full digital edition here.This is a direct link to the page in question.
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Bad skin
These four images share a feature frequently encountered in medieval books: skin problems. That is to say, in all four there is something bad about the animal skin - or parchment - from which the page is made. Three of them feature a gaping hole, caused by the pressure of the parchment maker’s knife, while the fourth turned purple from the mould that attacked the page due to damp storage conditions. The skin may be bad, but it makes for lovely images.
More about what you can learn from such damage in my blog post The Skinny on Bad Parchment.
Pics: Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.-Nat.1 (top); Engelbert, Stiftsbibliothek, 161 (middle, left); Leiden, University Library, BPL 2896 (middle, right) and Uppsala, University Library, shelfmark unknown (bottom).
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Hidden Book
This unusual shot I took some time ago when I visited the Abbey of Rolduc, in the south of the Netherlands. While my finger carefully lifts the loose cover of a sixteenth-century printed book, you are shown the inside of the binding, where the backs of the quires are held together by a horizontal strip of parchment. What’s so special about this scene is the fact that this strip was cut from a handwritten medieval manuscript - old-fashioned and therefore ideal for cutting up and recycling, binders thought. And so this early-fifteenth-century handwritten Dutch Bible found itself being sliced and diced. “I loved once,” the exposed text reads with a flair of irony and tragedy (Ic hebbe gheminnet). My finger allowed the strip to peek at the world again for the first time in centuries: that thought alone makes research of these fragments a thrilling activity.
Pic (my own): Rolduc Abbey, printed book in the attic library. More on fragments in this blog post.
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Perfect book
This is the perfect medieval book: it is on purple parchment, written in golden letters, and illuminated with great images. To top it, the book is fitted in an original bookbox, very few of which survive. What more could a book lover want?
Pics: London, British Library, Stowe 955 (1500-1525). More information and additional images here.
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Books as hardware
These odd-looking medieval books share one peculiarity: they were all made into interactive objects because actual turning discs were attached to the page, usually more than one. The makers of these manuscripts added them to calculate the position of sun and moon (Pic 1), the date of Easter (not shown), or make other calculations (Pic 3). Particularly intriguing is the set of cogwheels embedded in the bookbinding (Pic 2), which picked a random number used for a method of divination. More about these unusual books and their function in this post on my other blog, medievalbooks.nl.
Pics: British Library, Egerton 848 (top); Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 46 (middle); Maastricht, Regionaal Historisch Centrum (bottom, pic my own).
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