[2]
Or the book to be transcribed was dictated to the scribes,
as at Tours under Alcuin. Both methods had the advantage
of "publishing" a book quickly, but the work was as
mechanical as is that of the compositor to-day. Under
Abbot Trithemius of Sponheim, subdivision of labour was
carried to its extreme limit. One monk cut the parchment,
another polished it, the third ruled the lines to guide the
scribe. After the scribe had finished his copying, another
monk corrected, still another punctuated. In decorating,
one artist rubricated, another painted the miniatures. Then
the bookbinder collated the leaves and bound them in
wooden covers. Even in the case of waxed tablets, one
monk prepared the boards, another spread the wax. The
whole process was designed to expedite production.
[1] Hardy, iii. xiii.
[2] Surtees Soc., vii. xxv.
When a manuscript was fully written the scribe wrote
his colophon or "explicit," a short form of the phrase
"explicitus est fiber." Sometimes the scribe plays upon words,
thus: "Explicit iste liber; sit scriptor crimine liber";
or he exultantly praises: "Deo gratias. Ego, in Dei
nomine, Warembertus scripsi.
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