Thread by @PaulMMCooper

A thread on the creative and beautiful ways that the artists of the past repaired the flaws in torn and damaged manuscripts.

Before the spread of paper books in the 13th century, parchment was the standard material.

Parchment was made from animal skin (usually a cow or sheep), scraped into thin layers and dried. It was expensive, and books were a sign of great wealth.

(photo: williamcowley.co.uk/about-us/)

The finest parchment had the texture of velvet, and made no sound when the pages were turned. But bad quality parchment crackled as it moved.

It was also very common for parchment-makers to score the surface too hard, and create holes in the material.

(special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/se…)

Parchment was too valuable to simply throw away, so the damaged pieces were used to create cheaper books.

People didn't seem to mind. Scribes simply wrote around the holes. But others took a more creative approach.

(Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BPL25, 9th century)

Some repairs were workmanlike and didn't draw attention to themselves. But others turned the flaws in the manuscripts into decorations in their own right.

This Swiss manuscript from the monastery of St. Gallen is one of the most beautiful examples.

(web.archive.org/web/2013101705…)

The flaws in this manuscript were repaired using colourful silk threads, giving a splash of colour to an otherwise economically-produced volume.

Even in situations where one colour might do, the embroiderers have chosen to add vivid colours, turning the book's flaws into a new part of its charm.

(e-codices.unifr.ch/en/bcuf/L0034/…)

Some parchments were damaged multiple times, and had to be repaired more than once on the same page, the scribe simply writing around the holes.

(Universitätsbibliothek, Ms. L 34 e-codices.unifr.ch/en/bcuf/L0034/…)

The use of poorer grades of parchment allowed texts to be made more cheaply, and thus reach a larger audience, meaning knowledge was no longer confined to the highest of elites.

(Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 16)

Sometimes holes in manuscripts were even incorporated into the artwork, allowing this cheeky illustration of a dragon to poke its head through the page of this 9th-century manuscript.

(Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Nat.1 staatsbibliothek-bamberg.de/index.php?id=1…)

The illustrators of this serious work on the Biblical Song of Songs also had some fun turning this flaw into a laughing bearded face, possibly supposed to depict Solomon himself.

(Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, Msc.Patr.41, fol. 69r. erikkwakkel.tumblr.com/post/101115772…)

Parchment containing holes was even purposefully used on certain pages for decoration.

In this manuscript, the illustrator has enlarged a hole to demonstrate a “star clock”, a means to tell time after dark.

(St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 18 e-codices.unifr.ch/en/csg/0018/43)

Embroiderers in the middle ages were predominantly women, and pioneered new techniques for stitching that improved the possibilities for the dissemination of texts.

(Aarau, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, WettF 9 (14th century), folio 150r. e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/kb…)

Today these damaged texts give us an incredible glimpse into the processes behind the creation of medieval manuscripts, and the different kinds of craftsmanship that went into their creation.

The flaws in a text can tell us so much about the world in which it was made.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this, I've gathered some more historical threads here:

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For some further reading on the subject, I recommend Christine Sciacca's detailed and comprehensive chapter here (academia.edu/6433363/_Stitc…), and I'd recommend following @erik_kwakkel and visiting his blog (medievalbooks.nl) where he originally posted some of these images.