A wonderful new book on medieval illuminated manuscipts is coming from Cornell University Press in October. Drs. Raymond Clemens (Illinois State University) and Timothy Graham (University of New Mexico) are publishing Introduction to Manuscript Studies which promises to become a must-have resource for anyone interested in the study of medieval calligraphy as well as those interested in re-creating the art in today’s world. It will be available in both hard and soft covers. From Cornell University Press:

Providing a comprehensive and accessible orientation to the field of medieval manuscript studies, this lavishly illustrated book by Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham is unique among handbooks on paleography, codicology, and manuscript illumination in its scope and level of detail. It will be of immeasurable help to students in history, art history, literature, and religious studies who are encountering medieval manuscripts for the first time, while also appealing to advanced scholars and general readers interested in the history of the book before the age of print.

From the University of New Mexico press release:

The book explains in detail how parchment, inks and papers were made, and includes recipes used by medieval workmen. It explores the art of decoration and gives special attention to conventions of punctuation and abbreviation and the genres of manuscripts including books of hours, maps, calendars, rolls and scrolls. There is also an explanation of how to establish the origin and provenance of a manuscript.

Break open your piggy bank. This book looks like the best resource that has been published in many years.
[tags]medieval manuscript, calligraphy, medieval studies, cornell university press, raymond clemons, timothy graham[/tags]