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Scriptorium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (647 words) |
 | Before the invention of printing by moveable type, a scriptorium (plural scriptoria) was a normal adjunct to a library, which after the active destruction of classical libraries in the wake of the Theodosian decrees of the 390s and the collapse of public institutions in general, were entirely in Christian hands from the early 5th century. |
| The monastery built in the second quarter of the 6th century under the eye of Cassiodorus at Vivarium in southern Italy, contained a purpose-built scriptorium, with self-feeding oil lamps, and a sundial and a water-clock. |
| In the monasteries, the scriptorium was a room, rarely a building, set apart for the professional copying of manuscripts. |
| CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Scriptorium (527 words) |
| A scriptorium is commonly a large room set apart in a monastery for the use of the scribes or copyists of the community. |
| The rules of the scriptorium varied in different monasteries, but artificial light was forbidden for fear of injury to the manuscripts, and silence was always enforced. |
| Very often the scriptorium of a monastery developed some peculiarities of writing which were perpetuated for considerable periods, and are of great value in ascertaining the source from which a manuscript comes. |
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