THE SCRIBE IN HIS CHAMBER: THE WRITER AND THE TEXT

One of the most frequently occurring images in the history of book production is that of the scribe.  The earliest depictions of scribes were simple, consisting chiefly of the figure, a cleric, a lectern and a book.  Occasionally, instruments of writing were included and these, too, were minimal.  Later writers, however, were shown in more elaborate environments: in rooms with desks or in carrels crowded with books and papers and a greater array of writing materials.  This paper will examine the changes in scribal images as they occurred in a selection of French, English and Italian manuscripts and attempt to determine whether or not textual developments and changes in the techniques of the manufacture of books might account for the shift in the scribes’ situations.