[Image: Herebert page]

Manuscript Studies
Medieval and Early Modern

III.ii. Decoration and Illumination


You are here: > Main Page > Course Notes > Decoration and Illumination


Certain types of decoration and illustration are common in late medieval manuscripts, and influence the design and decoration of early printed books. What follows is a sampling of the terms (and basic concepts) useful in the study of the decorative aspects of medieval manuscripts; most of the definitions of these terms presented here are taken from the glossary included in Kathleen L. Scott's catalogue of Later Gothic Manuscripts, 1390-1490, 2 vols.; A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles 6 (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 1996), supplemented from a variety of other sources and glossaries.


[arrow: right]Forward to next page: Paleography


[ Course Notes: Introduction ] | [ I. Towards a definition of "manuscript studies" ] | [ I.ii. The four branches of bibliographical study ] | [ I.iii. Topics in the social history of texts ] | I.iii.a The "Rescue" of Medieval Manuscripts from Grocers and Fishmongers | [ II. Diplomatics ] | [ III. Codicology ] | [ III.ii. Decoration and Illumination ] | [ IV. Paleography ] | [ IV.ii. Historical Notes ] | [ IV.iii. Writing Implements ] | [ IV.iv. Letter Formation ] | [ IV.v. Special Characters in English Manuscripts ] | [ IV.vi. Scribal Abbreviations ] | [ IV.vii. Punctuation ] | [ IV.viii. Paleographical sample: William Herebert, OFM (early fourteenth-century England) ] | [ Herebert sample, with transcription ] | [ Herebert sample: enlargement of full page reproduced at high resolution ] | [ V. Textual analysis (James E. Thorpe) ] | [ V.ii. Scribal error ] | [ V.iii. Kinds of edition ] | [ V.iv. Examples of over emendation on insufficient grounds ] | [ VI. Linguistic competence (an example): An Outline History of the English Language ] | [ VII. Libraries and archives: ] | [ VII.ii. British Library Manuscript Collections ] | [ VII.iii. Bodleian Library Manuscript Collections ]


[Button: Back to Main page] [Button: Course Notes] [Button: Bibliography] [Button: Site Index]


© 1998, 2015 Stephen R. Reimer
English; University of Alberta; Edmonton, Canada
All rights reserved.
Created: 2 Dec. 1998; Last revised: 30 May 2015

email: Stephen.Reimer@UAlberta.Ca
URL: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/ms-course.htm