How exciting! I was so surprised when I heard from the British Library that they needed to reprint my Art and History of Calligraphy book because they had almost sold out. New stocks have now arrived and if you would like a copy with your name written in it, then please do contact me for details. I don't take credit card payments nor do Paypal and transferring money internationally, is very costly, so this is for the UK only. However, all is not lost, if you would like a copy then the British Library now has lots! Just click on the link.

In this month which marks International Women's Day, it seems appropriate to look at manuscripts that may have been written by women. This one appears to have been written by not just one woman but eight of them – can you spot them starting from the sixth line from the top: Gerdut, Sibilia, Vierwic, Walderat, Hadewic, Lugart, Derta and Cunigunt. It goes on to say that they wrote for those in charge of the monastery, and they hoped that God would free them from punishment and establish them in Paradise. There's more on women scribes from the great British Library Typepad on the link.

And more excitement! I have been asked by the British Library to take part in this amazing project which is working on digitising manuscripts from 700–1200 in the British Library and also the Bibliotèque Nationale. My small part will be making very short films on aspects of making manuscripts such as cutting a quill, writing, illuminating, making colours and so on. BUT, it does mean that I get to have a detailed look at a couple of the manuscripts including a personal favourite of the Eadui Psalter, written by Eadui Basan. The website isn't going to be completed until November this year, but watch this space for updates on the filming!

This is a fascinating piece, including a video clip about the survey at Windsor Castle into their gilded furniture collection. The base structure of a wooden piece of furniture is covered with gesso (similar to that used in illumination) which is basically plaster and glues. The wood moves with the temperature but the gesso doesn't, so they have to check for cracks and pockets of air behind the gesso. See how they get the gesso to stick back down again – it's fascinating!

The heraldic roll shown here is from the College of Arms, and it shows something that has perhaps been rather overlooked. The trumpeter in the middle of the second row is John Blanke who is wearing a turban and from Africa. Now this isn't any old heraldic roll, but was the one which announced the Westminster Tournament in 1511, a celebration for Henry VIII's son (who died in infancy) so it was pretty important, and for John to be featured on the roll indicates his status. In fact, he would have been given room and board, clothing and wages – holding the highest possible for a musician at the time. There's more on Africans in Britain in Tudor times on the link.

The Musée de Cluny in Paris is renowned for the six wonderful tapestries commissioned by a French family in the 1500s. Five of the tapestries depict a sense – touch, sight, sound, taste and smell, and the sixth is 'Mon Seul Désir' (My Sole Desire). They each feature a lady with a unicorn, hence the series title, and have had a chequered history. The tapestries are a conundrum, though – why the lady and why the unicorn? Lucky Australians, though, they are at Sydney's Art Gallery of New South Wales until 24th June. If you're in the area and haven't seen them for real, make a point of going along. And if you can't see them for real, there's a film clip here, but the quality is a little disappointing.

Almost all of us use some form of notepads to jot down shopping lists or notes. In Japan, where stationery is often an artform, even the simple note pad has become just that. What looks like a normal block of pieces of paper is slowly revealed, as the pages are removed, to be a Japanese house surrounded by a garden, the Asakusa temple, or even the Tokyo Tower. The detail is absolutely exquisite, but it comes at a cost, and even for a 'special' notepad that cost is rather prohibitive!

Colour and Alchemy

A number of colours used in mediæval manuscripts occurred naturally, such as Raw Siena (which is a warm ochre) and Raw Umber (which is a yellower ochre). However, others colours were produced 'by alchemy', as Cennino Cennini wrote in his Artist's Handbook written around the turn of the fifteenth century. Heating mercury and sulphur produced a vibrant red – cinnabar – now called vermilion. Exposing copper to an acid such as vinegar, or even urine, turned it green, producing verdigris (Greek green); verdigris is quite corrosive and sometimes ate through the parchment as can be seen here. And doing the same to lead produced white – ceruse – or flake white, called that because the result was little flakes or scales. And putting verdigris and ceruse together just didn't work at all, as that same Cennini said 'They are mortal enemies in every degree'. There's a great film on Alchemy and Colour on the link.


 

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All change!

There are changes afoot in the UK regarding the look of our money. Not only is there a new £10 note, but 10p coins are changing too. There are twenty-six new designs and they are all different. Featuring an image relating to the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, they represent the essence of Britishness or things related to the country, such as Greenwich Mean Time, cricket, tea and the World Wide Web. I wonder how many people will try to collect the full set!
 

 

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Getting into Craft

The Heritage Crafts Association, funded by the Ernest Cook Trust, has been carrying our research in a deprived area in the West Country to encourage young people to consider crafts as a career – Getting into Craft, details here. It has also supported other young people in the bursaries it provides as part of the Heritage Crafts Awards. How marvellous that some of these young makers were featured on the BBC website earlier this month on young people with careers in traditional crafts – more on the link.