The video series ‘Exploring the Medieval Manuscript Book’ features book historian Irene O’Daly (Leiden University), introducing a wider audience to unique artefacts that were created with pen and ink in a distant past. In this second episode, she discusses the structure of the medieval page.
In modern printed books, chapters begin on a new page and paragraphs are usually indented. Not so in the layout of a medieval codex, where text is structured by colour and decoration, not by space.
Painted or decorated initials – sometimes in combination with a full-page miniature – mark the beginning of a new text section (SCA 1). A scribe can even write texts in different colours when presenting concurrent narratives spread over two pages (SCA 14).
Explore these manuscripts (held by Leiden University Libraries) yourself:
SCA 1: [ Ссылка ]
SCA 14: [ Ссылка ]
This video is created for ‘The Art of Reading in the Middle Ages’ project which explores how medieval reading culture evolved and became a fundamental aspect of European culture. The project is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Union. Project website: [ Ссылка ].
