![]() Besides, some exhibits from the collection of the Museum or Oriental Art were also on display. The world’s most famous museums could envy some of the unique arms and armour that we had a possibility to show to the general public thanks to these three collectors, passionate about their shared fi eld of study. The Chinese part of the exhibition was kindly lent by restorer Vladimir Belanovsky, PhD. Indian arms and armour was collected by an avid traveller and expert in Indian culture Andrey Popov and by officer and collector Valentin Kormshchikov. Most exhibits on display come from three private collections. ![]() Beauty and elegance show in the mastery of their design, the pattern of the wootz steel, the intricate decoration. Paradoxically, these exhibits at the same time belong to the most powerful instrument of creation on Earth as they are works of art. Even though the items on display may have been meant for decoration or intimidation, they were above all designed to kill. The portion of a text copied by one scribe is known by academics as a ‘scribal stint’ and one scribe could add several ‘stints’ to a manuscript depending on how the division of labour was organised and the availability of the exemplar.The exhibition of Indian and Chinese weaponry that took place from April 7 to at the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow was called ‘Deadly Beauty’ for a reason. Sometimes they had to wait for a colleague to finish with an exemplar before they could begin their own contribution. Sometimes scribes copied individual quires or groups of quires simultaneously, especially if all the exemplars for copying were available at once. ![]() It was not uncommon for several individuals to work together on copying a manuscript, dividing the work amongst themselves. Note also that the parchment has torn and been repaired by sewing We can sometimes see pricking on manuscripts, although often it was cropped off during binding.ĭetail showing clear lines and prickings, from Robert of Gretham, ‘Mirur’, WLC/LM/3, f. The scribe would use a sharp implement – the point of knife, for instance – to mark out the ends of the lines, throughout the gathering. One of the most obvious and common ways is by pricking. Scribes tried to find ways of making it easier and quicker to do. Later, it became more common to rule by drawing a line with lead or graphite. Until the twelfth century, ruling was done by pressing down using the back of a knife or a stylus (a pointed metal tool). Many scholastic texts were laid out with wide margins all the way around, to leave space for the reader/s to add their own glosses, notes and commentaries. These mark the division between different pieces of text, and allow the reader to flick through the book to get an overview of its contents. The page from 'Speculum Vitae' has a wide left-hand margin, in which the scribe has written headings. 16vīottom: Page laid out as two columns, from Robert of Gretham, ‘Mirur’, WLC/LM/3, f. Top: Page laid out as one text block, from ‘Speculum Vitae’, WLC/LM/9, f. The number of lines on a page also varies, depending on the size of the scribe’s hand, or the arrangement of the text. Some texts are set out in columns usually two, but sometimes more. In general, the larger the margins are, the more expensive the book was. First, the space for the text block would be measured out. To make those guides, scribes would employ pricking and ruling. Scribes needed guides for their writing, just as we do, to ensure evenness, neatness and also legibility.
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