Download The Making of Middle English Letters and Literature

The Making of Middle
English Letters and
Literature
Moving from the Manuscript
to the Printed Book
November 12, 2002
Medieval Manuscripts
Manuscripts mostly assembled in
monastic or royal scriptoria (writing
houses).
Entirely handmade in England before
1470.
Made of vellum (parchment) and
assembled into a codex.
Making the Manuscript
Step One:




Kill a sheep
Skin the sheep
Stretch the sheepskin
Scrape the sheepskin
Step Two:

Rule the pages
Step Three:

Make the pen (repeat)
Step Four:

Make the ink and the
adhesive
Types of Manuscripts
Illuminated
manuscripts
The quintessential
“medieval manuscript”
in the popular
consciousness.
Luxury items, usually
for ritual or devotional
use.
Almost always
devotional in nature.
Exceptionally
expensive.
Secular Manuscripts
Most manuscripts of
secular topics (literature,
law, history) were still
produced in monastic
facilities until the 1400s.
Some literature (for
example, Chaucer) was
produced privately, but
only with royal patronage.
Middle English Manuscripts
Manuscripts in Middle
English become more
and more luxury items
for the aristocracy
and the wealthy,
urban middle class.
Chaucer’s Ellesmere
Manuscript, housed at
the Huntington Library
Civic Manuscripts
English
manuscripts
become
more and
more
important as
civic
documents,
because of
the royal
chancery.
Early Printed Books
Composed to
imitate
manuscripts.
Used similar
“fonts” or scripts.
Used parchment
as well.
Imported to
England with
William Caxton
in 1470.
Emergence of a Standard Dialect
Languages of English court become Latin and
English by 1417.
London (with some modifications) became the
prestige dialect by Chaucer’s time (c. 1380).


East Midland in character
Main dialect for the wool trade
Oxford and Cambridge became more and more
influential.
Chancery begins to draw young men from all
over England who want to advance their social
position.
Chancery English
Chancery the scribal house for the English
court.
Recorded all official documents from the
reign of Henry V onward (from 1417).
Based on the dialect of London with
admixture of other, more northern forms.
Becomes the standard dialect for English
printing.