Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

* * * * *

THE HISTORY,
THEORY, AND PRACTICE
OF
ILLUMINATING.

SKETCHED BY
M. DIGBY WYATT, V.P.R.I.B.A.
ETC.

With Illustrations by
W. R. TYMMS.

CONDENSED FROM

"The Art of Illuminating,"
BY THE
SAME ILLUSTRATOR AND AUTHOR.

_London_:
DAY AND SON, _Lithographers to the Queen_,
GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.

HISTORICAL MANUAL.

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE I.--From the fragments of the Bible of Charles the Bald, preserved
in the British Museum, Harleian 7551. In most of the MSS. of the date of
Charlemagne and his immediate successors, the ornamental forms are
generally compounded of Anglo-Saxon and semi-classical details; thus,
fig. 1 presents us with a lunette, or arch-filling, borrowed from some
Latin type; while in figs. 3, 4, 5, the interlaced knots, and in figs. 2
and 6 the "zoomorphic" terminations, are equally characteristic of Celtic
art. This class of conventional design, although apparently complicated,
is of comparatively easy execution, and on that account forms a suitable
style for the young illuminator to try his "'prentice hand" upon.

PLATE II. gives the outline of the preceding plate, and the beginner may
make his first attempt at practical illumination in an endeavour to make
it resemble Plate I. as closely as possible.

PLATE III., from the same source as Plate I., gives, in figs. 1 and 4,
two alphabets, and in fig. 2 one sentence, in the characters in which the
Latin text of the original is written throughout the volume, with the
usual form of initial letter; together with, in fig. 3, an ornament
showing, on a largish scale, the principle upon which the most common
interlacement of the Saxon school is usually worked out.

It may be here noted that, considering it as likely to be more useful to
the student, throughout these illuminations the characters, which in the
originals express Latin, French, or barbarous English, have been arranged
to exhibit Scripture texts of simple language, such as may be frequently
desired for the embellishment of churches or schoolrooms.

PLATE IV., from the British Museum, Reg. 1, c. vii. This manuscript
consists of the Books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, in the Vulgate
version, with St. Jerome's prologues. It is probably of German execution,
and is attributed by Sir Frederick Madden to the middle of the 12th
century. In its illustrations may be recognised a series of good
specimens of Romanesque forms. In these the scroll may be observed as
having almost entirely superseded the Carlovingian interlacement, while
in the foliated ends of the leading stems (more particularly in fig. 1)
the germination of Gothic is distinctly perceptible. The student will
scarcely fail to observe how entirely dependent this style of
illumination is upon the steadiness with which the pen is handled for all
its charm of expression.

PLATE V. gives the outline of the preceding plate, to be coloured as a
lesson in shading with the brush.

PLATE VI. provides an alphabet of capital letters, some initials, and a
complete sentence, taken from the same MS. which has furnished materials
for the two preceding plates.

PLATE VII. contains fully-coloured examples from the British Museum, Reg.
1 D, fully described at pages 47 and 48. In these we meet with the
plenitude of English mediæval illumination,--its freedom of drawing, its
vigour of colour, its exquisite delicacy, and the general facility of
design its wayward lines attest. In the best work there is a playfulness
not to be often found in the productions of the contemporary European
schools. It needs but little ingenuity to expand such features as those
which constitute figs. 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, from small book embellishments to
large _motives_ of elegant mural decoration.

PLATE VIII. is the corresponding outline to Plate VII.

PLATE IX. supplies the student with models taken from the same MS. (Reg.
1 D), of capital and initial letters, and ordinary text, suitable for
combination with the rich ornaments of Plate VII.

In this, as in all corresponding plates, the object aimed at is to
provide forms of lettering, at once tolerably legible, well-proportioned,
and adapted to harmonize, both historically and artistically, with the
styles of pictorial illumination given in connection with them. There are
few faults more common in modern work, or more offensive to the educated
eye, than the association of styles of lettering and styles of
ornamentation warring with each other in the proprieties of both time and
form. Against such it is our earnest object to guard the student, both by
precept and example.

PLATE X. furnishes some specimens of the beautiful borderings which
enrich the pages of that most precious relic of the 15th century, the
"Bedford Missal," or, more properly speaking, "Book of Hours." This
exquisite volume has been so fully dwelt upon at pages 55 and 56, that it
is necessary only to refer the reader to the notice given thereat.

In the examples collected on this plate, it is manifest that the
pictorial has not been allowed to usurp the proper province of the
conventional element of design, as it too frequently does in many works
of the same period, particularly in Italy,--undoubtedly beautiful as much
of the illumination of the 15th century was in that country.

PLATE XI. provides an outline of Plate X., for fully colouring in
facsimile.

PLATE XII. shows the general style of the lettering, both capital and
lower-case, the initials, and the borders which pervade this beautiful
triumph of Flemish art. Of these, figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are
especially adapted for mural decoration, on, of course, a greatly
enlarged scale.

M. D. W.

37, TAVISTOCK PLACE, LONDON.
_April, 1861._

TECHNICAL MANUAL.

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE I. is from the Speyer Passavant Charlemagne Bible, British Museum
add. 10,546, described at page 39 of the "Historical Manual." The student
cannot fail to observe how distinctly legible, and indeed how entirely
Roman in character, the alphabet of capitals remained so long after the
Augustan period as the ninth century after Christ. In the lower-case
letters, in which the text is written, the legibility is evident; but the
classical derivation through the uncial form of writing is not equally
manifest. Desiring to guide the beginner in the class of exercises most
likely to lead him on satisfactorily, we have in this technical manual in
every case allowed the outline illustrations of each style of writing to
precede the fully-coloured specimens of the corresponding ornament of the
leading epochs of the art of illumination; enforcing thereby our
conviction that the study and practice of that, which of old fell more
directly within the province of the scribe than within that of the
miniature painter, should invariably receive the student's first and
chief attention--for, let it always be remembered that good writing looks
well if enhanced by little, or the very simplest, ornament, while in
illumination the effect of the best possible painting is irretrievably
marred if the writing is irregular and badly formed or spaced.

PLATE II., from the same precious volume, provides some simple but
excellent conventional forms, suitable for execution both on a small and
on an enlarged scale. By repeating either one of the three borders at the
bottom of the plate, very pretty margins may be produced, suitable either
for surrounding a page of writing or for enclosing a panel in mural
decoration.

PLATE III. is an outline for practising colouring upon. In using these
outlines, it may be a profitable exercise occasionally to vary the
colours from those given on the corresponding plate. A comparison of the
effect produced by the original, and by its copy with variations, will
tend to fix on the memory of the artist the exact degree of merit of the
original and of the altered combinations of colour. The practical value
of an educated eye, no less than of an educated mind, is dependent on the
force and intelligence of the memory, and every exercise which can assist
in fixing a fleeting image on the brain is no less efficacious in
strengthening the one than it can be in developing the other.

PLATE IV., from the Harleian MS. No. 2,804, gives one of our usual
exercises upon the main structural features of all illumination--the
alphabets, initial letters, and small borderings. These, in this case in
the Romanesque style, have been taken from a very remarkable Bible
formerly belonging to the church of St. Mary, near Worms. For further
notice of this and similar volumes, see "Historical Manual," page 43. The
main use to the student of this class of lesson is to give him steadiness
of hand in the use of the pen; a word or two of counsel upon which may
not be altogether unprofitable to him. Firstly, then, let him avoid the
habit of allowing the pen to touch the paper before he has clearly made
up his mind where it is to go and when it is to be taken off. An
ill-directed line instantly reveals a listless mind, and a careful master
can generally detect the exact points in his work at which the attention
of a usually diligent pupil has been abstracted from it. Secondly, he
should never express by half a dozen or more separate strokes forms which
may be defined by a single continuous line. Thirdly, let him practise
moving the pen or pencil, not up and down only, but in every direction,
until equal facility is acquired in drawing spirals from left to right
and from right to left. Fourthly, it is well to hold the pen or pencil
nearly vertical, just touching, but scarcely ever pressing heavily on,
the surface of the drawing. Fifthly, he should by no means aim at dash or
spirit until he is quite sure that his lines are correct: nothing betrays
the ill-educated artist more surely and readily to those who know better
than a bold stroke where a delicate one would be more appropriate, or a
dark touch in the wrong place. It is the ignorant only who are misled by
an appearance of _bravura_, vigour, and facility.

PLATE V., fully coloured from the same source as Plate IV., offers in
figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, some easy borders, well adapted for enriching
string courses or filling in long upright panels or pilasters. The
initial letters (figs. 1 and 6) are designed with great spirit, and the
student may profitably amuse himself by endeavouring to invent other
capital letters made up as these are of apocryphal animals writhing in
convoluted scrollwork.

PLATE VI. gives the outline for colouring in _fac simile_ of Plate V.

PLATE VII., from a Latin Bible of fine English illumination early in the
fourteenth century (British Museum, Reg. 15, D. 2), corresponds in the
general character of both its technical and chronological peculiarities
with those shown on Plates VII., VIII., and IX., of the "Historical
Manual." The two MSS., however, from which the two series of plates have
been taken, differ in some material respects, and it will be well for the
student to practise the leading characteristics of each. One is of
extraordinary delicacy, the other of great vigour of execution. The
latter stamps the MS. from which the plate under consideration is taken.
The student is invited to observe the grace and freedom with which the
floral terminations of the principal initial (fig. 2) dash away,
extending to both the top and bottom of the page, and not unfrequently in
similar examples embracing, as it were, the text on two or more sides.
(See "Historical Manual," page 47.) Great attention must now be bestowed
upon the writing; so that neither the true Mediæval character may be
destroyed, nor so exaggerated as to lose clearness and legibility: a
little care and dexterity may preserve both.

PLATE VIII. is intended to draw out all the capabilities of the
illuminator. Raised, burnished, and engraved, or indented gold, are
essential to a proper realization of a revival of such old work; and the
student who would rival in his productions the sober richness of the
brushes of the artist monks of the fourteenth century, must carefully
study the combinations of colour given in the "Mappæ Clavicula." Figs. 2,
5, and 6, offer examples of the tesselated burnished diaper grounds, and
fillings in, which superseded to a great extent the flat burnished golden
grounds of earlier dates. Such diapers are little less well adapted for
walls or ceilings than they are for book decoration. It can be scarcely
necessary to dwell upon what must be perfectly obvious, the great beauty
of the initial letters (figs. 1, 3, and 4) given on this sheet.

PLATE IX. is a careful outline of the above.

PLATE X., from the Missal of Ferdinand and Isabella (British Museum, Add.
1851), described at page 57 of the "Historical Manual," introduces us to
the pictorial, or rather miniature style,--one, which can only be
excelled in by those who are prepared to devote themselves to painting as
no longer a decorative, but as essentially a "fine art." Far am I from
saying that the highest possible art was not brought to bear upon much
Mediæval illumination; all that I would convey is, that care and neatness
may produce very respectable reproductions of ordinary ornamental work,
such as was commonly used during the fourteenth, and early in the
fifteenth centuries; but that they alone will be found quite inadequate
to imitate successfully the highly modelled and fully shadowed foliage,
landscape, architectural groups, and figure subjects, which incessantly
recur in books illuminated at periods corresponding with the great
Renaissance of art under the Van Eycks and Memlings of Flanders, the
Durers of Germany, and the Peruginos, Pinturicchios, and Raffaelles, of
Italy.

PLATE XI., fully coloured from the same source as Plate X., can only be
satisfactorily copied by the student, who may have learnt to shadow with
the brush from either objects "in the round," or from really good copies,
either by very great personal devotion and perseverance, or under an
experienced master.

PLATE XII. gives a careful outline of the preceding plate.

M. D. W.

37, TAVISTOCK PLACE, LONDON.
_April, 1861._