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Books of all kinds, antique to modern, old and new! Welcome to Dancingwithbooks!
I love books and reading! I'm a long time collector, and over the years I've collected
thousands of books and other items, and started numerous collections. I'm now in the
process of downsizing my book and other collections, and will be adding items to my
store frequently!
❀❀ Interesting book related articles are added below for your reading enjoyment! ❀❀
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❀❀ Quotations and sayings about Books, Reading, and the Lending of books ❀❀
BOOKS AND READING
To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one.
Anonymous, Chinese saying
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
"Of Studies". Essays II
Francis BACON (1561-1626)
The reflections and histories of men and women throughout the world are contained in books.... America's greatness is not only recorded in books, but it is also dependent upon each and every citizen being able to utilize public libraries.
Terence COOKE (1921-1983)
My lifelong love affair with books and reading continues unaffected by automation, computers, and all other forms of the twentieth-century gadgetry.
Books in My Life
Robert DOWNS (1903- )
As regards anything besides these, my son, take a warning: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh.
ECCLESIASTES 12:12 (New World Translation 1961)
Two forces are succesfully influencing the education of a cultivated man: art and science. Both are united in the book.
Maksim GORKY (1868-1936)
It often requires more courage to read some books than it does to fight a battle.
Sutton Elbert GRIGGS (1872-1930)
A library book...is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, is their only capital.
Thomas JEFFERSON (1743-1826)
A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up children without surrounding them with books.... Children learn to read being in the presence of books.
Horace MANN (1796-1859)
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Groucho MARX
For whatever is truly wondrous and fearful in man, never yet was put into words or books.
Moby Dick, chapter 110.
Herman MELVILLE
St. Paul wrote to his son Timothy:
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas,
also the books,
and above all the parchments.
(2 Timothy 4:13)
In an 1863 sermon, "Paul -- His Cloak and His Books"; C.H. Spurgeon said of Paul:
"He was inspired, and yet he wants books!
He had been preaching for thirty years, and yet he wants books!
He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books!
He had a wider experience than most men do, and yet he wants books!
He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things that it was not lawful for a man to utter, and yet he wants books!
He had written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!"
What do we, as a nation, care about books? How much do you think we spend altogether on our libraries, public or private, as compared with what we spend on our horses?
Sesame and Lilies. Lect i, Of Kings' Treasuries
John RUSKIN (1819-1900)
There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house.
Joe RYAN
Let books be your dining table,
And you shall be full of delights
Let them be your mattress
And you shall sleep restful nights
Quoted in Bar Hebraues' Ethicon
St. EPHREM the Syrian (303-373)
'Tis well to borrow from the good and great;
'Tis wise to learn; 'tis God-like to create!
The Library
John Godfrey SAXE (1816-1887)
BORROWING BOOKS
He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot.
Anonymous, Arabic Proverb
For him that stealeth a Book from this Library, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with Palsy, and all his Members blasted. Let him languish in Pain crying aloud for Mercy and let there be no sur-cease to his Agony till he sink in Dissolution. Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his final Punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye.
Curse Against Book Stealers
Monastery of San Pedro, Barcelona
[NOTE: this quote is NOT anonymous. The quote is in The Old Librarians's Almanack which is itself a brilliant and very funny forgery by Edmund Lester Pearson. For details see, Wayne A. Wiegand, "The History of a Hoax: Edmund Lester Pearson, John Cotton Dana, and the Old Librarian's Almanack." Beta Phi Mu Chapbook No. 13. Thanks to Ken Miller for pointing this out.]
Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other folks have lent me.
Anatole FRANCE (1844-1924)
My experience with public libraries is that the first volume of the book I inquire for is out, unless I happen to want the second, when that is out.
The Poet at the Breakfast Table
Oliver Wendell HOLMES (1809-1894)
There are 70 million books in American libraries, but the one I want to read is always out.
Tom MASSON (1866-1934)
Provided by http://www.ifla.org
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❀❀MUSEUM LECTURE EXPLORES WORLD OF ANTIQUE BOOK COLLECTING❀❀
By Robert Kelly-Goss
Albemarle Life Editor
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
When I was much younger I spent the summer working in Newport, R.I. It was there that I discovered a used and antique bookstore and the type of treasure collectors charish.
I had already cultivated a love for books and had recently become interested in the idea of collecting antique books. I passed on the opportunity to obtain my first collector's book, however, when I realized that a signed, first edition "Farewell to Arms" by Earnest Hemingway had mistakenly been placed on a shelf with your average used books and priced accordingly.
The $7 tag had to be a mistake, I thought. I couldn't, in good conscious, buy this book without first doing what I surmised was the right thing.
I took my find and presented it to the store owner who turned white as he stood over a glass case with other first editions, realizing what I had discovered. He thanked me and put the book under the counter.
I continued to buy my books from him, albeit used and worth no more than the five-or-so dollars I paid. My chance to buy a collectable book for pittance had disappeared.
That story illustrates just the type of rare situation a would-be book collector wouldn't pass on, perhaps. But more specifically, it also illustrates that out there, somewhere, are what collector and antique book expert, Ron Katzberg calls "scarce" books and the opportunity to own them.
Katzberg is a collector and dealer who lives in Hertford. He comes by his collectables through buying and selling, mostly on the Internet these days.
He knows the ins and outs of the business and is willing to share his extensive knowledge with future collectors.
Katzberg will give a lecture at Museum of the Albemarle entitled, "Is There Gold in Your Attic?" Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. With 32 years of experience appraising and collecting rare and out of print books, Katzberg will offer information on what to look for in an out-of-print book, how to care for it and an introduction to buying and selling on the Internet.
The lecture is based upon the title of a book published during the 1970s, "Gold in Your Attic," a buyer's guide to antique book pricing. The premise being "you go into the attic and you never know what you'll find," says Katzberg.
"You find rare stuff, but not very often," he says of rummaging through the attic. "The problem here is people don't know how to take care of books. They get put in barns and attics. That's part of the lecture, how a book should be stored."
Since moving to the Albemarle region from New York, Katzberg says he has been moved to tears when he finds really good books in really bad condition. Between the heat and humidity of the region and people not realizing what they have, books are tossed here or there and begin to decay.
But not all books found in this region are beyond repair. For instance, Katzberg is working with MOA staff, getting their book collection catalogued and assisting them with any needed repairs by obtaining the right materials to care for the books; but major book restoration, he cautions, should be done by experts.
Perhaps the most important part of his lecture for anyone desirous of collecting antique books is simply how to spot them. Katzberg says he will talk about where to do research, book terminology and how to determine what book is more valued.
A book's value depends upon a number of circumstances. First, is it in good condition? Then, is the dust cover still intact? Collectors, Katzberg says, want books that are as close to their original condition as possible.
"The condition of a book is important," he says. "Dust jackets are a big deal. Original condition is a big deal,"
Also, not all first edition books are the most prized of the bunch. Once upon a time in publishing, Katzberg explains that second editions might have been misrepresented as first a practice that was stopped years ago. But some books also gain value after the first edition printing.
Because the first edition of a novel might contain printer errors or something objectionable to the author, successive printings might have significant changes that make the later editions more valuable.
Katzberg, for example, owns a copy of Upton Sinclair's classic modernist novel, "The Jungle." There were changes made by the author in later issues and those changes make books more interesting to collectors.
Katzberg's lecture will run from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, at the museum. The fee for the lecture is $2 for members and $5 for non-members. Call 335-1453 to register.
Internet is boon to book collectors
The Internet can inform you on just about anything these days. Katzberg says while he used to attend a large number of book shows every year, the Internet has given him the ability to stay at home and trade online.
"It's a lot easier to go from the computer to the post office," he says.
At his lecture, "Is there gold in your attic?" Katzberg will talk about using the Internet in your search for antique and out-of-print books. In that spirit here are two Web sites the staff at the Daily Advance researched to get you started.
l Bookfinder.com: They bill themselves as a "one-stop e-commerce search engine that searches over 100 million books for sale new, used, rare, out-of-print and textbooks."
The Web site features a good search engine that allows you to search by author or title and narrow the search to new, rare and out-of-print, first editions or signed. A search for a first edition "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, for instance, came up with several matches, including one copy selling for little more than $7,500.
l Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America: Go to abaa.org and you will find a great deal of information about rare and out-of-print books.
Around since 1949 the ABAA is a professional association of antique booksellers "promoting ethical standards and professionalism" in the trade. The site is worth a look if you're interested in learning a bit more about the business and they have a great place to look at rare and out-of-print books for sale.
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❀❀ BEST BOOKS OF THE LAST 25 YEARS ❀❀
25 Books that leave a legacy
Books tell a story about our reading preferences, certainly, but also about what's happening in our world. USA Today's book editors and critics chose 25 titles that made an impact on readers and the publishing industry over the past quarter-century.
#1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
By J.K. Rowling (1998)
Midnight book parties, all-night readathons, overnight deliveries: A boy wizard named Harry got kids (and adults) thinking that reading was cool. And mega sales of the magical series redefined what it meant to be a best seller.
#2 The Deep End of the Ocean
By Jacquelyn Mitchard (1996)
What was America reading? Whatever Oprah Winfrey was reading. The talk-show host became a publishing powerhouse on Sept. 17, 1996, when she made Mitchard s novel her first book club pick. All 57 selections have been instant smash hits.
#3 The Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown (2003)
The religious thriller about Jesus s love affair with Mary Magdalene became the fastest-selling adult novel in the history of publishing with 75 million copies in print worldwide. It drew a warning from the Vatican and spawned months of water-cooler debates, a movie, countless Code wannabes and an entire travel industry.
#4 The 911 Commission Report
By the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (2004)
Praised for its riveting depiction of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, this is the only government report ever nominated for the National Book Award. First-day sales pushed the $10 report to the No. 1 spot on USA TODAY s Best Selling Books list.
#5 Chicken Soup for the Soul
By Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (1993)
Comfort food for readers, the Chicken Soup books, which told short, bright stories about overcoming adversity, quickly became a franchise. The 144 titles now in the series are geared to teens, single parents, even NASCAR fans.
#6 Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
By John Gray (1992)
We always knew men and women were from different planets. Gray explained why (women like to talk, men don't), and the Mars/Venus image seeped into the lexicon.
#7 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution
By Robert C. Atkins (1992)
Dr. Atkins ignited the low-carb craze, the reigning diet of the '90s. Bread and pasta were out, and high protein was in.
#8 And the Band Played On
By Randy Shilts (1987)
Shilts, a reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle who would die of AIDS in 1994, helped wake up the USA to the emerging AIDS epidemic. His book was the first definitive analysis of the medical, cultural and political! dimensions and was written with the power and sweep of a novel.
#9 Beloved
By Toni Morrison (1987)
Morrison s masterpiece about an escaped slave who kills her baby to save the child from slavery won the Pulitzer and propelled her to the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She is the last American to win it. In a 2006 poll of writers byThe New York Times Book Review, Beloved was named the best American novel of the past 25 years.
#10 The Greatest Generation
By Tom Brokaw (1998)
The former NBC anchor popularized the expression greatest generation when he paid tribute to boomers parents with stories about men and women who survived the Great Depression and fought in World War II.
#11 Bridget Jones's Diary
By Helen Fielding (1998)
Singletons, smug marrieds, v.v.. funny diary observations: This British import set the stage for a flood of chick-lit novels, from The Nanny Diaries to The Devil Wears Prada.
#12 Left Behind
By Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (1995)
The first in the fictional apocalyptic series about the Rapture clicked with evangelicals and then found a wider audience. Fifteen books about the end of the world followed with titles such as Armageddon and Glorious Appearing. The series wrapped up with a bang on April 3 with Kingdom Come.
#13 The Purpose Driven Life
By Rick Warren (2003)
Everyone has a purpose in God s plan, according to this Christian devotional guide. Sales surged in 2005 when an Atlanta woman used the book s teachings to persuade a murder suspect who took her hostage to turn himself in.
#14 Fast Food Nation
By Eric Schlosser (2001)
This expos of fast-food restaurants and meatpacking plants earned comparisons to Upton Sinclair s 1906 classic The Jungle. The book helped transform the American diet as we were reminded we are what we eat.
#15 The Satanic Verses
By Salman Rushdie (1989)
Riots and political uproar on three continents greeted the publication of the Indian-born writer s novel of good and evil. Fundamentalist Muslims called it blasphemous, and the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (death sentence) on Rushdie.
#16 The Closing of the American Mind
By Allan Bloom (1987)
The conservative scholar s attack on the shortcomings of colleges and liberal professors provoked an intense debate as well as self-criticism on campuses across the USA.
#17 The Bonfire of the Vanities
By Tom Wolfe (1987)
Wolfe's first novel captured the Wall Street greed of the 80s better than any non-fiction. It vividly illustrated the growing gap between the haves and have-nots in American cities.
#18 The Joy Luck Club
By Amy Tan (1989)
In 1949 San Francisco, four Chinese women gathered to play mahjong and forget the pain of the past. Tan, daughter of Chinese immigrants, created a debut novel out of this fresh material and launched a wave of immigrant literature.
#19 What To Expect When You're Expecting
By Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg and Sandee Hathaway (1984)
Boomer parents ditched Dr. Spock in favor of this accessible baby guide. The eight books in the series span toddlers to baby-sitters
#20 A Brief History of Time
By Stephen Hawking (1988)
Theoretical physics suddenly was sexy thanks to a wheelchair-bound Cambridge University professor (he has Lou Gehrig'sdisease). Hawking explained black holes and the Big Bang theory for the rest of us.
#21 Iacocca
By Lee Iacocca (1984)
The Chrysler chairman's autobiography rolled off the assembly line and found eager buyers, proving a business memoir could be a hit.
#22 Waiting to Exhale
By Terry McMillan (1992)
With her profane, sassy voice, Terry McMillan s groundbreaking novel about black women looking for satisfying relationships was a wake-up call for the publishing industry. Readers of all races were hungry for entertaining stories about African-Americans.
#23 Cold Mountain
By Charles Frazier (1997)
The Civil War saga got millions of readers talking about a literary novel. It was a rarity: a debut novel by an unknown writer that was both a critical and commercial hit.
#24 Backlash
By Susan Faludi (1991)
Faludi, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, took on the media, Hollywood and anti-feminist propaganda as she examined the backlash that developed in the 1980s against successful women.
#25 Final Exit
By Derek Humphry (1991)
The topic of assisted suicide exploded in controversy in the 90s, thanks to Michigan pathologist Jack Kevorkian and his suicide machine and this how-to manual by an English journalist who helped his cancer-stricken first wife kill herself.
Provided by usatoday.com
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❀❀The Joy of Reading to Your Child❀❀
By Barbara Rowley
Reading to your child can be one of life's sweetest pleasures. You're spending focused time together and teaching a habit that can open countless doors throughout his or her life.
But an 8-month-old will appreciate books and reading differently from the way a 4-year-olds or an 8-year-old will. Read on for tips on what to expect and how to make reading an experience of happiness and growth for every age.
Babies and toddlers
What they love about books:
Open. Shut. Open. Shut. Openshut.
Bright colors
Cool pictures
Cardboard's good for chewing -- not too hard, not too soft
Books mean pleasant, rhyme-y, happy voices
Book time is snuggle time
What they'll be learning:
How books work -- we open them, the story is inside
We read from left to right
Books can tell a story
Stories have a beginning and an end
Books are a normal and expected part of life
What you can do:
Read aloud -- to a point. It's just as important to let your baby play with books as he pleases. If he shows no interest, it's not a big deal.
Keep it brief. Little people have little attention spans, and ten minutes -- even five minutes -- is a long time.
Interact with the book and your child. Ask him to find simple things, like the baby's eyes or the pretty flower. "You're bringing what's happening off the page and into an interaction between the two of you," says Amy Flynn, director of the Bank Street Family Center at Bank Street College of Education, in New York.
Follow your child's lead. If your baby grabs the book from you to explore it on his own, let him -- just hold him on your lap and cuddle with him as he looks. "Playing with books is a precursor to reading, just like playing with food is the first step for a child learning to feed himself," says Anita Silvey, author of 100 Best Books for Children.
What to look for when choosing books for babies and toddlers:
Durability: Babies aren't going to treat books with care, and you don't want to try to make them. So buy tough board books. This is not the age for cute pop-ups and easily torn paper.
Options for exploration: Shiny surfaces, fur, textures, or elements that move or smell are ideal. Those kinds of bells and whistles may seem gimmicky, but babies and toddlers love them. Take your baby with you to a library or bookstore and show him board books with bold colors, squeaky buttons, and soft, fuzzy fabrics -- seeing what captivates him can help you choose which ones to bring home.
Illustrations of real things: Young eyes (and brains) will delight in objects they recognize. Good choices are ones with photos of everyday items. Not much plot. They simply don't need it and won't get it. (This also means you can skip reading the text entirely if it doesn't seem to be thrilling your child -- or you.)
What to look for in first picture books:
Simple, clear illustrations. They needn't be realistic, though-- a mouse in overalls is fine.
Straightforward but limited text. Many classic titles for toddlers, like Good Night, Gorilla and Hug, have little or no text, allowing you to tell the story behind the illustrations however you like and to speed along or slow down depending on your child's attention span.
Repetition -- think books like We're Going on a Bear Hunt, says Flynn. Toddlers like to hear the same words or phrases over and over and love being able to memorize or say one or two along with you.
Preschoolers
What they love about books:
They can be propped open on the floor to be like a tunnel for a toy car or train, or a tent for a doll.
They have pictures of their favorite things.
If you pretend to read one, you'll look just like a grown-up.
Book time is snuggle time.
What they'll be learning:
Specific words make specific sounds
Words are made of letters
The words on the page are related to the pictures
Facts about their favorite things
The fun of stories
That they can be in charge of a book
Books are a normal and expected part of life
What you can do:
Be patient. Your child might want to hear the same book over and over and over -- and it may very well be the dopiest book in the house. Just go with it.
Be flexible. Skipping pages, starting in the middle, rereading certain pages, stopping to discuss an illustration -- all these requests signal interest in the book and are more important than reading all the pages in order.
Get longer books. By the time they're 3, most children are ready for story books with more text, an actual plot, and complex illustrations. The best picture books for this age often have pictures that make your child want to linger and take in every detail. At the same time, plot lines that make them laugh or anticipate what might happen next keep kids with short attention spans turning the pages.
Expand your collection. Nonfiction can act as a launching pad for investigations and activities, and books on your child's favorite topic du jour will keep her coming back for more. Issue and topic books about welcoming another baby, starting school, or everyday social dramas (like going to the dentist) can be pretty engrossing to a 4-year-old.
Ask questions. What do you think will happen next? Why did the bunny take the carrot? Do you think it was a good idea for him to lie to his father?
Go to the library. Librarians almost always have favorite books to recommend, so you can spice up the selection at home with fresh choices. Also, letting your child choose puts her in charge and will excite her about her picks.
Don't force it. Some kids will love to read a lot. Some won't. Encourage it, make books available, but don't turn it into a battle. Your child will learn to read eventually and may even grow into a bookworm.
Read yourself. If you don't like to read, why on earth will your child?
What to look for when choosing books:
The repetition of similar words subtly teaches kids the fundamentals of phonics, but mostly it's fun!
Pictures with lots to examine. There are few things more fun than poring over the illustrations in a book like The Yellow Balloon, by Charlotte Dematons, to find the tiny escaped balloon and the recurring items on every page.
Timelessness. New books are great, but also seek out the classics of children's literature, like Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey, or The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss. There's a reason these books are favorites.
Alternatives to TV-based books. Books based on favorite TV shows or characters are fine, but be sure to have books unrelated to other media. It feeds a child's imagination for a character to come to life only in the pages of a book and your child's mind, as opposed to the mind of an animator.
Kindergarten and beyond
What they love about books:
Reading is fun
By reading the same books as their friends, they'll feel like part of a group, and be up on the latest heroes and fads of kid culture
There's a book on practically every single topic in the whole world
If you read every single book in a series you'll feel really cool
Book time is snuggle time
What they'll be learning:
How to read
How to follow a story from chapter to chapter
How to use their imaginations
What you can do:
Keep reading. Your child's attention span and capacity for understanding complex plots and language when you're reading outstrip his own ability to read. So until his literacy catches up with his intellect, keep reading to him.
Don't play teacher. You might take turns reading paragraphs, pages, or chapters if your child likes to do that. But not all kids will. So don't turn storytime into reading practice unless your child initiates it.
Embrace abundance. Keep plenty of chapter books, storybooks, and picture books around on lots of topics.
Accept antsiness. If he's super-squirmy, let him do some other activity while he listens. After all, you can listen to the radio and do the dishes at the same time. Drawing, hair brushing, fiddling with some doodad -- all are fine.
Choose thoughtfully. Pick books that embrace the values that are important to your family, and then talk about them.
Keep it light. Reading is fun -- the last thing you want to do is make it feel like drudgery.
What to look for when picking books:
Pictures, still. They can provide visual clues to help decode what's in the text.
Short chapters. And short sentences. You'll keep a new reader motivated by letting him succeed -- move through a book, finish chapters, get to the end.
Real stories. Older kids' sophistication about how the world works mean they're ready for more involved plots.
Your child's interests. A growing sense of self means books on his favorite topics will be compelling.
Books you liked when you were little. There's joy for both of you in turning your favorite memories into your child's exciting discovery. Which, in the end, is what you want reading to be about.
Barbara Rowley is a contributing editor of Parenting Magazine.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/08/24/joy.of.reading.par/index.html
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❀❀INCUNABULA AND ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS❀❀
One of the great words we in the book trade get to use is the word "incunabula". It rolls out like 40-weight motor oil, full of the mysterious sound of a world long gone by. Translated literally, incunabula means "in the cradle"; thus, it refers to a thing's origin. Used by a bookseller, the word denotes the 50-or-so year period subsequent to Gutenberg's printing of the famous 42-line Bible, whose fame rests on its being the first book printed in the West using moveable type.
From then on, the production of books exploded across Europe [and in due time the New World], hastening the great awakening and its results, both fair and foul. Only a handful of "Gutenbergs" are known to exist in modern times, although individual sheets of this book from time to time appear on the market. Of course, the history of books themselves goes back many thousands of years, all the way back to the clay tablets of Mesopotamia. How about a 1st edition of the Gilgamesh?
Between these two extremes, that is, between the first printed book, and the first "book" (period!), lies a vast region wherein book collectors have ample room in which to maneuver. This is the world of the Illuminated Manuscript.
Following the fall of Rome and the ravaging of Europe at the hands of barbarian hordes in the 6th century A.D., the light of civilization was all but extinguished on the continent, ushering in the most appropriately named "Dark Ages". Somehow Ireland, thanks primarily to location, was spared, and a reseeding of knowledge across Europe was gradually able to proceed in the following centuries, culminating in the renaissance some 800 years later. The vehicle which bore the light across these years was made of two parts. First was Christianity, which came through the conflagration intact, even strengthened; second was the institution of Monasticism, whereby the Holy books were copied out for distribution among the kingdoms and principalities of Europe. Historians of all stripes, in religion and art especially, point to this period as producing some of the finest books ever to appear, anywhere, anytime; our debt to these scribes is incalculable.
What, exactly, is an "illuminated manuscript"? Until the advent in the west of a true "paper", and after it became impractical to use papyrus, all books were written on vellum: generally the skin of sheep, goats, or calves, washed, dressed, and rubbed smooth on special stones. Smaller books or more delicate works were written on the finer uterine vellum, which is the skin of an unborn calf or lamb. Vellum is one of the best materials ever used in book production. It is smooth, white, tough and lasting; the only disadvantage is its high cost. Picture this: it requires the skins of about 225 sheep to provide sufficient vellum to produce a single copy of the Holy Bible, each sheep yielding somewhat more than a square yard of usable vellum.
The scribe would write on lines ruled with a blunt instrument called a "scriber", which makes hollows on one side of the leaf, ridges on the other, the spacing of the lines having first been indicated along each margin with an awl. The pen was a reed or quill, cut with a penknife; the ink was made of soot, gum and water or, alternatively, galls, sulfate of iron and gum. The incredible colors applied to initial letters, margins and illustrations point to an art lost among the mass-production techniques of later centuries.
http://www.cdickens.com/articles/incunabu.htm
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