iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Stewart J. Brookes @stewartbrookes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

and an 8th century Latin charter from England, @britishlibrary.bsky.social Stowe Ch. 3: iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifes...

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Stewart J. Brookes @stewartbrookes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

and you can see an earlier example in Latin in an English context in @bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Hatton 48, a late 7th century copy of the Rule of St Benedict (which happens to be the oldest surviving copy of the Rule): digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2c39...

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Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

We have K in @bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS Hatton 20, Gregory's Pastoral Care, from the 890s. Anything earlier?

Bodleian Library, MS. Hatton 20, fol. 1r detail, showing the text ÆLfred kyning

Bodleian Library, MS. Hatton 20, fol. 1r

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Huh -- so when did K start getting used in Old English?

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Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

(Help me out here, OE people: do we have Kyning or similar in a charter or regnal list earlier than the first Chronicle MSS? Or elsewhere? My mind is blank.) But in any case, Insular Half-uncial/Insular Majuscule was not used to write OE, so Latin exx. are what you'll find.

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Carin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Well, those are separate questions. K in Latin Kalendae appears in Insular Half-uncial (Insular Majuscule) in the Calendar of Willibrord, early 8c. K was in OE from the beginning, but isn't attested in writing till later (9c?), since afaict there is no K word in the very earliest written OE. +

BNF lat 10837, fol. 34v, the Calendar of Willibrord

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Yess! Thank you so much! @calligraphyoutside.bsky.social , the experts have answers! 👆👆👆👆

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Oh, also at our local meeting, a dispute came up about when the letter K entered the English language, and in particular its use in Insular Majuscule. #medievalSky can you offer some sources on the issue?

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If you're in Glasgow or nearby, come join us for next month, when we're doing Textura Quadrata as our topic! 7 November, 10am - 1pm. glasgowscribes.blogspot.com

glasgowscribes.blogspot.com

Glasgow Scribes

calligraphers calligraphy Glasgow Scotland

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

And, of course, everyone practiced the letterforms! I'm not alt-texting each of the pictures below. They all show close-ups of various people's hands working on letterforms, either with pen and ink, or just practicing the shapes with pencils. #Calligraphy

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Kevin showed off his very neat convertible pen-holder, where the flange comes out and it becomes a straight holder! He also showed off his 'one-dip wonder' magnetic reservoir, from Tom's Studio (for sale at Scribbler's and Cornellissen).

A beautiful oblique pen holder made of clear resin with silver ornaments embedded with in.

The same penholder from the previous picture, except the oblique flange has been removed and now the nib is inserted directly in the end. It's a straight pen-holder now!

The underside of the oblique holder, where a little spring is attached magnetically to the nib. This provides more surface area for ink to cling to, so the pen can write longer on a single dip.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

While we were there, it turned out we have a little nest of bookbinders! So we've updated our monthly schedule to have a bookbinding session later this year.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Glasgow Scribes had its October meeting today, where Fiona taught us about copperplate! She showed us her own practice and training materials, including this magnificent ostrich.

A table with Copperplate calligraphy practice pages and some beautifully addressed envelopes

$A page on which is written, in Copperplate 'The ostrich roams the great Sahara zz Its mouth is wide is neck is narra \\ It has such long and lofty legs \\ I'm glad it sits to lay its eggs', with the words circling a stylized drawing of an ostritch with magnificent eyelashes$

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

a lawsuit brought by a woman from town C accusing groom-to-be in Town B of Breach of Contract, followed by a new lawsuit between Woman C against Groom A, alleging that, due to the dueling death of her betrothed B, Groom A is now liable for the breach of contract penalties . . . Something like that?

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

followed by more church banns in a different town announcing an engagement of a bride and groom with the same names as the impassioned letters, followed by a newspaper article about a duel between the groom-to-be in Town A and the groom-to-be in Town B, followed by ...

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I've got one, if it's not too late! Do you have any collections of documents that tell a story? What is the story? Eg, some church banns announcing an engagement, followed by set of impassioned love letters between the bride-to-be and someone else, followed by a police report of a missing bride...

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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

queck, queck, queck BL Add 49622, f.190v @blmedieval.bsky.social

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Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

So, a propos of my recent nib haul, I decided to properly orgnanize them, label them, and test them. We're talking buying special bead organizers from hobbycrafts, level of organizing LOOKIT MY NIBS!!! (not shown: two full-gross boxes of vintage nibs, which are perfectly fine as they are.)

Four boxes with little compartments, each one holding dip pen nibs, each one labeled neatly. In total there are 61 compartments.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

As a general rule, I don't believe in gatekeeping art appreciation, but the fact remains that there are right ways and wrong ways to appreciate calligraphy. And one of the absolute wrongest wrong ways is to point out spelling errors.

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Calligraphy Outside @calligraphyoutside.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Guilbneach le Murchadh Dòmhnallach / Curlew by Murdo Macdonald Seann bhothan-fòn, Baile Mòr, Uibhist a Tuath In an old phone box in Balemore, North #Uist #Gaelic #poetry with English translation, #calligraphy in foundational hand

The poem next to payphone and a sign saying the payphone will be removed

The old phone box by a single track road

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Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Over on tumblr, some beautiful words moved me to break out the copperplate.

no animal was harmed during the making of this video. not one. for the few minutes that we were shooting film, the guns of each hunter fell silent. the industrial bolt throwers observed a moment's peace and the jaws of every predator hung softly open. no fish bit any hook and the bait worms held off on drowning only until the cameras stopped. the tails of ruminants ceased to flick just as their attendant flies, in unison, landed on their flanks to catch their tiny breaths. a spider instantly stopped winding silk around a wasp, patiently waiting for the caesura to end. a young veterinarian paused with the syringe in their hand. somewhere, a colicky baby stopped biting its mother's nipple and nursed happily for the very first time. we're sorry. we're sorry it couldn't have been longer. we didn't know this would happen.

estrogenesis-eeveeangelion

their tiny breaths. a spider instantly stopped winding silk around a wasp, patiently waiting for the caesura to end. a young veterinarian paused with the syringe in their hand. somewhere, a colicky baby stopped biting its mother's nipple and nursed happily for the very first time. we're sorry. we're sorry it couldn't have been longer. we didn't know this would happen.

estrogenesis-eeveeangelion

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Turns out that lots of what we think we know about manuscript colour preparation might be a Chortlemuffin effect. majnouna.substack.com/p/false-red-...

majnouna.substack.com

False Red, Fake Blue

More scrutiny of medieval handbooks

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Library of the Royal Irish Academy @rialibrary.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

It is the last Friday of the month, which means the Cathach of Columcille (RIA MS 12 R 33) is on display from 10am - 4.30pm. The Cathach is the oldest extant Irish manuscript of the Psalter and very likely the earliest example of the form of Irish writing known as insular majuscule script.

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BOO! k HistoriAAAH 🎃 @book-historia.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Got cute about Seddon’s 1695 “Pen-mans Paradis,” which I got to hang out with at the San Francisco Public Library last month

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I think I saw it identified elsewhere* as filming for The Buccaneers. *reddit? *NOT* a reliable source, in any case

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Thanks! If you have any specific events or ideas in mind, please get in touch with us at glasgowscribes@yahoo.co.uk.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

@calligraphyoutside.bsky.social , a follow-up if you ever feel like switching from cephalopods to ungulates.

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Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

I was going through some old photos and found this video I made about using cellugel to treat red rot. Please enjoy. youtube.com/shorts/N8eM0...

youtube.com

Treating old bindings with cellugel to stop red rot

YouTube video by cpccohen

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The very last few pages are ruled and ready for more writing to be added, if needed, but no one has felt the urge in the last 520 years.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The last few leaves are handwritten, using a French semi-gothic (I would call it Batarde). Probably the first owner hired a scribe -- possibly the same artist who did the initials in the printed portion -- to add the last few pages containing the extra custom text.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The gilding of the capitals is done shell gold, which is cheaper than gold leaf, and goes on flat, rather than raised.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Q from comments: maybe the lapis lazuli was so expensive that the decorator skimped? A: Probably the blue is not lapis lazuli. There were lots of ways to make blue, and we can't tell what this is without testing. But it is dark and rich, so maybe it might be!

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

whoa, the text following the annunciation illustration has LOADS of hand-colored capitals. Not quite alternating red and blue -- about twice as much red as blue. The presenter speculates that maybe the decorator had extra red paint to use up.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The woodcut illustration of the Annunciation has a hand-gilded halo for the angel (but not for Mary).

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Another manuscript tradition carried over into this printed codex is the use of little colored bars to fill space when lines of text don't go all the way to the right-hand margin.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

This book is just barely post-incunable (1507), and although it's printed, it's been printed on parchment, and there are hand-drawn capitals and gilding to go along with the printed text and woodcut illustrations. It's still in its original binding! Blue velvet on wood boards.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

What nicer way to end the day than to spend half an hour at Coffee With a Codex -- a half-hour show-and-tell over zoom at 5pm (UK time), hosted for free by the University of Pennsylvania library, every Thursday! Schedule here, if you want to join in: www.library.upenn.edu/events/coffe...

library.upenn.edu

Coffee with a Codex

An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different manuscript and the expertise ...

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Fantastic! Is the skin in question the parchment used to write on, or is it an exploration of human racial representations in manuscript illustration?

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Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The completed pattern, now painted in blue, red, and yellow bister inks. This is Pattern 99 from volume 3 of from Serap Ekizler Sönmez's 3-volume masterpiece, 'The Geometric Language of Anatolian Seljuk Art' (Anadolu Selçuklu Sanatının Geometrik Dili) #IslamicGeometricArt #IslamicArt #humanArt

A 5-pointed star formed from tiled shapes built around 5-fold symmetry, coloured in concentric pentagonal bands of turquoise, ochre, and maroon. To one side is a handsomely bound, large hardback book with a ribbon bookmark, entitled Anadolu Selçuklu Sanatının Geometrik Dili, by Serap Ekizler Sönmez.

A 5-pointed star formed from tiled shapes built around 5-fold symmetry, coloured in concentric pentagonal bands of turquoise, ochre, and maroon.

A close-up shot of the shapes tiling the large star from previous photographs. Pointy 10-pointed stars are coloured in turquoise, fat 10-pointed stars are coloured in ochre, and bow-tie shapes in maroon separate the bands of ochre and turquoise shapes.

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Recently, FamilySearch digitized and uploaded tons of microfilmed records, including many from 18th-century Massachsuetts. They're using some sort of AI to transcribe/summarize the handwritten documents. I've noticed that the AI strips out references to race and enslavement in 18thc documents.

9235481780

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Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies @sims-mss.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Next in our #SIMSseries on LJS 26, a 13th century astronomical and mathematical manuscript written in Italy:: How do scribes deal with a hole in the parchment? This 13th century scribe outlined the hole in red on one side, and simply wrote around it. 🔗: bit.ly/41EAKFa

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Elaine Treharne @etreharne.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The utter beauteousness that is the very small English penitential book, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 482 (eleventh century). Fits in a pocket ready to use at much-needed moments of pastoral care.

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Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

I've had this in my 'quotes' folder for a while, but felt inspired tonight. Thank you, @ultragotha.bsky.social.

White copperplate calligraphy on red paper. Text reads

Hail, Pterry, full of rage, the muse is with thee. Blessed art thou among authors, and blessed is the fruit of thy brain, Discworld.

Hail Pterry, Father of Great A'Tuin, who channeled rage into compassion blessed are thy words.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

When I was 4, I could spend a day playing cut and paste on the floor without even feeling it. Alas. The sacrifices we must make for Art.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

A propos of the below, if you've ever wondered exactly which muscles ache the next day when a middle-aged person spends an afternoon on her hands and knees cutting mounts and cellophane wraps to prepare lots of calligraphy exhibits for display, I have alllll the excruciating details.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

And the last ones! See? We're pretty good at what we do!

White capitals on a black background with a grey moon and white stars:

If you can say
'It's a braw bright
moonlicht Night'
ye're aricht, ye ken

Gothic blackletter textura quadrata reading 'The present moment', written atop a background of overlapping gothic letters that blend into a textural impression without being perfectly legible.

Gothic blackletter reading

Template
i. colour
ii. lines
iii. letters
iv. words
v. script

= Steez

written atop very pale background of the word 'template', with other notes and markings.

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Glasgow Scribes @glasgowscribes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Moving on to work from some of our other members who are not on bluesky, but still wield a mean pen:

The word 'alphabet' in Italic letters, with stylized A and Z flanking it.

Free roman capitals on a pale blue and white background: 'And God said let there be light | Genesis', with a gilded cross by the last word.

The word 'LOVE' against a decorative zentangled background, all black pen.

Brown text with lombardic versals as the head and free Roman capitals as the main text:

Miracles Occur

If you care to call those
spasmodic tricks of radiance
miracles.

The wait's begun again
The long wait for the Angel
For that rare random descent.

From Rainy Weather by Sylvia Plath
Signed HAR

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