The Production of Copies, etc. (Doyle & Parkes)

Though tedious at points, Doyle and Parkes’s article explores some of the practical aspects of the late medieval (late 14^th-early 15^th century) book manufacture. They approach this large subject through the window of a single item of material evidence: one manuscript of Gower’s Confessio Amantis copied by five distinct scribes.* While the discussion of these scribes (and their other labors) delves into paleographic intricacies beyond my own training**, the details settle into a larger (and more interesting) image of the book trade: that books were often produced not in factory-like scriptoria under rigid oversight, but instead by ad hoc groups of independent scribes, often without immediate knowledge of each others’ efforts. The result was a manuscript with characteristic inconsistencies in the sections where one scribe’s stint ends and another begins, and variants in script and lines-per-page. Doyle and Parkes see this image as supporting the contention that the medieval book trade “was essentially a bespoke trade—that new copies of books were produced to specific orders—and relied on the cooperation of independent members of the several crafts.”

Some individuals, either whilst practicing one of these crafts, or whilst engaged in some other commercial enterprise, accepted commissions from patrons for the completed books, or commissioned the occasional copy themselves in anticipation of a purchase: they assumed the financial responsibility in this trade for coordinating the different stages of production. Such individuals, who often dealt in second-hand books as well, were described as stationers. (197-8)

In sum, this article focuses on the material production of books—a topic which, as a literary scholar, I often fail to consider. Of course, Ralph Hanna helped me see the error of my ways...

* Fun fact: Thomas Hoccleve is Scribe E!

** And beyond interest. As I read segments of this learned discussion, my wife promised to read comps books for me if I would stop reading her this article. Fact.