Blue Bantam

Practice versal, based on a letter from the St Bravo Cartulary (British Library, Add. Ms. 16952)

I'll be posting more about the process and preparing the materials soon, so stay tuned if you want to learn how to make your own Medieval manuscript!

This semester I'm taking a class that's essentially practical paleography; we learn about historical hands by copying manuscripts! Here's a facsimile I made of a manuscript written in Latin Uncial. It's written on papyrus with a reed pen that I cut myself (even the glosses, which involved cutting the reed down to less than half a millimeter). We do use modern gouache instead of historical ink, but it's fun to experiment with historical materials!

(longer post about the binding here, written when I originally bound it)

A super-quick project to test out the black walnut ink my friend Davey made for me! Calligraphy by me: Roman caps in walnut ink on Ingres paper. The locket is something I found at Michaels with a recycled chain from an old necklace. I like to wear it under my shirt and pretend that I'm an Omnian dissident.

Bound in red buffalo leather and handmade marbled paper made by the binder. Head edge gilt in the rough.

bonus picture of my kitty Troy "helping" me photograph the L-space broadside.

Roman capitals project for Foundational Hands--quote about the power of libraries from Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

Final project for "Foundational Hands" calligraphy class at the University of Iowa. "The Making of the Man" poem from Wintersmith by Sir Terry Pratchett, written in italic on goatskin parchment in white and green gouache. The white-on-white text is barely visible until it is held up to the light, when it makes dark curling patterns like frost on a window.