The equivalent of a modern highlighter, or perhaps a pen-drawn arrow, the flourished pointing hand is a source of endless amusement, but it also reveals what different readers found interesting in their books. They are almost always distinguished by an index finger (usually) that points to a specific line of text. They sometimes wear gloves, have fancy cuffs, even show the whole sleeve of a garment, don rings on their fingers. A great variety of pointing hands can be found in manuscripts. One common annotation by readers is the manicula, literally “little hand” in Latin. As he puts it, the manuscript page was “half empty, half full.” This left a lot of blank space for readers to interact with their books. Let us remember that the margins of medieval manuscripts were ample – Erik Kwakkel has emphasized that the average space around a writing block was about 50%. Illustration from A Short History of the English People by JR Green (Macmillan, 1892). St Thomas and his Secretary Herbert of Bosham. These examples tell us that writers distinguished the margin from the main text block, paying attention both to the habits of scribes and the needs of readers. Thomas Becket’s biographer, Herbert Bosham (active 1162-1169), notes that he put the names of the authors quoted in the margins, so that readers could identify whose words they were reading. Miniature of Vincent of Beauvais in a manuscript of the Speculum Historiale, translated into French by Jean de Vignay, Bruges, c. lest they easily be transferred into the wrong place." ![]() 1264) told readers that he “added among the lines themselves, just as Gratian did in his compilation of canons, and haven't inserted them in the margins. ![]() The Dominican friar and one of the great encyclopedists of the Middle Ages Vincent of Beauvais (d. Writers were sensitive to the procedures of copying texts. With the help of my informed colleague Laura Light, we put together a few comments that give a sense of how medieval authors thought about the margins of manuscripts. What about authors? What do they have to say about margins? What about readers? What about scribes? How did they use them? ![]() The margin is “in” nowadays not “out.” Our recent exhibition at Les Enluminures ( The Margins of Medieval Art: Questioning the Center) got me thinking about the margins in other types of manuscripts, text manuscripts that are not especially illuminated. We have come to accept that artists used the margin creatively, often glossing, parodying, modernizing, and problematizing the texts authority, to paraphrase Michael Camille (Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art, 1992).
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