Scriptorium

Definition

A scriptorium is a room, usually found inside a monastery, in which scribes would produce books.

History

The scriptorium was a room found in monasteries in which scribes produced written works. Scriptoria were often located in places with an abundance of natural light so that scribes would be able to see what they were writing without risking the use of candles, which could easily set the many stacks of paper on fire. Works produced inside the scriptorium included religious texts, such as the Christian Bible of the Book of Hours, some for the use of scholars at the establishments, and others commissioned as gifts for wealthy patrons. Work inside the scriptorium was often divided into numerous jobs. Some scribes copied the texts word for word, while others specialized in fine calligraphy, illuminating the margins, or proofreading for mistakes. Some scriptoria kept portfolios of their products to advertise their work to potential buyers. Producing books took a lot of effort, not just from the scribes but for the people organizing each project. Monasteries had to provide the materials, such as large quantities of parchment, for the scribes to sort and use. Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, scriptoria were just about the only places in Europe that produced books (Robinson, 2014, pp. 65-68).

Debate

Some scholars denounce the historical importance of scriporia to the evolution of publishing on the whole because scribes in the scriptorum wrote in Latin, not in the native language of those in their countries. Secondly, detractors argue that monks’ contributions were driven by religious devotion and not by their own love and fascination for the book object itself, meaning that scriptoria should not be put on a pedestal as the ancestors of Western publishing houses. However, opponents of this view regard the contributions of Medieval monks as integral to the preservation of scribal tradition and the written word at that time. Without scriptoria and the monastic community that worked within them, useful developments in materials and processes involved in book binding would not have come about. Also, those who could afford books would not have had access to them without the hard work of scribes. This even includes secular works that were produced by a similar process as Bibles.