Medieval Atelier of a Transcriber or Illuminator

In the Middle Ages, one of the most treasured objects in a family would have been a book, in particularly an illuminated manuscript. By the 15th century, it was common to see young women carrying personal pocket-sized Book of Hours. In most cases, either the woman herself or her family would have commissioned to have the book made for her. The process of creating such a book was labor-intensive, and involved many people. 

To begin, either the woman herself or her family would have gone to a bookstore or an illuminated manuscript workshop and select a sample Book of Hours that appealed to her. She would then negotiate with the artist or owner of the workshop the price and composition of having a similar book made for her. After settling on a book and a price, the owner of the bookstore would have sent out instructions to make the book to a well-known illuminator. Once the illuminator knew what the customer wanted, he most likely would have sent those directions to his workshop, and probably would not have actually made the book himself. Instead, other illuminators and scribes who worked for the master illuminator at his workshop would begin the time-consuming process of creating the illuminated manuscript. Once the project was finished, the master illuminator would proofread the book, making sure everything was correct. He would then send it to the customer, who in this case, was the woman depcited on folio 55. 

Text sources:

Christopher de Hamel, The History of Illuminated Manuscript, Boston: Phaidon Limited Press, 1986.

http://expositions.bnf.fr/fouquet/grand/f116.htm, accessed April 20, 2014.

Image source: 

http://expositions.bnf.fr/fouquet/grand/f116.htm, accessed April 20, 2014.