Manuscript fundamentally means ‘written by hand’, and such was the case for all books created in the Middle Ages before the invention of the printing press around 1450. Medieval manuscripts are celebrated for their vibrant illustrations and illuminations, their survival indebted to the sheer number of illustrations and their ability to mitigate damage from light exposure based on being stored in closed books over the centuries. Surviving examples range from fully decorated volumes to drafted leaves, affording precious insight into the booming production of book creation in the Middle Ages. 

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Medieval manuscripts would have been created from parchment—sheepskin, or vellum—calfskin. Tanned animal skin was worked with tawing paste, made from water, alum, salt, egg yolk and flour. Hung up to dry for several weeks, they were then staked and stretched on a frame. The skin was worked with a lunarium (crescent-shaped knife) to remove excess flesh and sanded down. The dried vellum or parchment was then cut. Most medieval manuscripts were created by the stitching of folded leaves, which are known as signatures in modern books. Leaves were ruled both vertically and horizontally, originally indented with the dull edge of a knife and drawn with a graphite-like implement by the eleventh century. In the Gothic age, lines were ruled in ink, typically red, green or purple. Ruled lines and prickings on the outer margins of horizontal lines—which survive on inv. BM #1341—were considered positive additions to the overall page decoration.

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The earlier medieval period saw book production monopolized by monasteries. Created collectively in large halls named scriptoria, cloisters or individual cells, the works were dependent on individual religious orders. While many manuscripts were religious in nature, the rapid founding of universities across Europe in the later Middle Ages, such as Bologna and Oxford, meant that the scholastic and scientific book trade was also rapidly expanding. As the middle class gained affluence and literacy, secular literature also was popularized, which catalyzed the book trade while secularizing the art of illumination. There is evidence of professional lay scribes, illuminators and binders active by the twelfth century who travelled between monasteries to practice their craft. As lay workshops in large towns appeared by the thirteenth century, scribes and illuminators were considered craftsmen in their own rights, and organized themselves into various guilds. The illuminated manuscript was a ‘collective enterprise’, particularly as the trade began to secularize.

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A lay workshop might have consisted of a master of the atelier with a supporting team of craftsman, though bookshop owners also played pivotal roles in the organization of illuminators. The text would have been written by scribes, perhaps an additional designer who would have undertaken the under-drawing process, an illuminator applying the burnished details, and then other craftsmen would have painted the miniatures. Alongside tanners, binders and more, all would have had to cooperate and be mindful of each other’s craft in order to produce a single illuminated volume.