Randy Asplund - Middle Kingdom Scribes’ Handbook, Medieval
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M
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CRIBES
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ANDBOOK
Middle Kingdom
Scribes’ Handbook
Third Edition
2001
Known in the Society for Creative Anachronism as
Ran
ulfr Asparlundr
, OL, KSCA
First Published in 1992
by
The Middle Kingdom
of the
Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
Copyright Information
The knowledge contained herein is based on information common in several
books, the experience of the author, manufacturer’s pamphlets and careful
examination of first-hand objects as well as photographs of manuscript pages.
Copyright 1992 and 2001 Randy Asplund. Copyright of the illustrations belongs
to the illustrators and is used with permission.
The Sinister Scribe
text is copyright
Sondra Venable and used with permission.
The Society For Creative Anachronism, Inc., and its members have permission
of the author to reproduce this work continuously and in context for non-profit
educational purposes only.
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by
Randy Asplund
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Introduction
his Third Edition of the Middle King-
dom Scribe’s Handbook is an expansion of
the pioneering first edition originally writ-
ten and edited by then Kingdom Signet
Kyrille Andreskevich. This edition is an
update of the Second Edition, which owed
much to the monumental undertaking of
the first version. In addition to the First
Edition, it has added information involving
the formalization of heraldic achievements,
more detailed instructions for scribes, the
addition of new award texts, and more
alternatives for award texts. The Second
version was designed to be used as a hand-
book with a three ring binder. It had been
divided into sections which may be re-
moved for easy reference. This Third Edi-
tion now provides for a hardcopy which can
be punched for three ring binder, but it is
also being presented as an online document
through the SCA Middle Kingdom website
as well as the website of the author, Randy
Asplund.
Across the Society, scribes have been
provided by their kingdom officers with
award text books. These usually include the
texts, some examples of heraldry, scroll lay-
outs, and conventions of production within
that kingdom. Some have only a minimum of
information on the actual process of creating
a scroll. Most Society scribes have had to
learn from friends and from what they were
able to piece together from numerous source
books. Source books are great, but they are
not written with the goal of training a scribe
to make a scroll that follows the techniques
used in creating a medieval page.
My goal with this handbook is to provide,
under one cover, a means for the beginning
scribe to access a reasonable amount of
information necessary to produce a scroll
that emulates medieval appearance and tech-
nique. Of course, there is no substitution for
hands-on instruction from someone already
skilled in the craft, but I hope this book will
cover enough material to give the beginner a
good head start. If you have any further
questions or would like to create scrolls for
Kingdom awards, please contact the King-
dom Signet, whose address and phone num-
ber are listed in The Pale.
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Acknowledgments and Credits
Special thanks go to Master Kyrille Andreskevich, who compiled and edited the first edition,
entitled Middle Kingdom Text Standards, which was the direct predecessor of this handbook.
Much of the work in this current version reflects the many hours of toil given to the first.
Special thanks also to David Hoornstra (AKA Baron Daibhid MacLachlan) for his efforts in
editing, typesetting and page setup for the final version of the Second Edition, as well as help
with technical assistance on the Third.
My heartfelt thanks to Elizabeth Bodenmiller (AKA Lady Morliuet de Lan Deguennec for her
professional proof reading of the Third Edition. Thanks also to those gentles who helped in the
proofreading the Second Edition: Jeanne-Marie Quevedo (AKA Mistress Aureliane Rioghail)
Brian Scott (AKA Master Talan Gwynek), David Craig (AKA Lord David mac Dougal mac Rori),
and Roberta Asplund. Their polish has made this work truly shine.
Thanks also to Cecilia Hughes (AKA Mistress Graidhne ni Ruaidh), Averyll Brass (AKA
Mistress Fiona Averylle of Maidenhead), Sondra Venable (AKA Mistress Aleksandra de
Acciptre), Betsy Wintermute (AKA Mistress Elizabeth Karien of the Four Winds), John Vernier
(AKA Lord Guichart de Chadenac), and all of the many generous gentles in ours and other
kingdoms who provided reference and research materials for the betterment of this project, and
to the three Kingdom Signets who let me run with it. Thank you, also, Ellen Starr (AKA Mistress
Angeli du Bois), Lisa Parker (AKA Countess Kobayakawa Ariake), and Dawn Vukson-Van
Beek (AKA Lady Lucia Sforza di Firenze).
ART CREDITS: The Kingdom achievement, other achievement examples, and the heral-
dic display models of helms and shields were drawn by Jeanne-Marie Quevedo. The calli-
graphic exemplars, scroll layout samples and technique illustrations are by Randy Asplund.
Badges of the Awards and Orders were drawn by Jeanne-Marie Quevedo, William J.
Michalski, and Randy Asplund.
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Table of Contents
Page Chapter
Content
2
Introduction
3
Acknowledgement of Credits
5
Chapter 1
Calligraphic Exemplars
8-20
The Exemplars
21
Chapter 2
Medieval Writing
25
Medieval Roman numerals and SCA dates
26
Chapter 3
Award Text Wordings
37
Chapter 4
Text Alternatives
40
Chapter 5
Scroll Heraldry
42
Kingdom Arms and full Achievement
43
Basic Achievement of Arms
44
Some Helms Used in Heraldic Art
46
Some Shields Used in Heraldic Art
48
Badges of Awards and Orders
53
Chapter6
What You Need to Know to Make a Middle Kingdom Scroll
56
Chapter 7
Layout and Design of Scrolls
59
Chapter 8
Contemporary Techniques For Making Scrolls
60
Choosing Tools and Materials
65
Correcting Mistakes of the Pen and Brush
68
Chapter 9
Advice on Calligraphy
70
The Sinister Scribe
73
How to Form Letters
76
Chapter 10 Advice on Painting
78
Pigment Safety & Toxicity
81
Methods
84
Chapter 11 The Gilding Process
94
Chapter 12 A Perspective on Period Methods
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Chapter One
Calligraphic Exemplars
T
hese calligraphic exemplars will provide
you with a script of lower case, upper case,
and display letters which can be used in most
western European nations within our SCA
time frame. More exotic award texts, and
sometimes alternate language texts, may be
available from the Kingdom Signet office,
but it is assumed that scribes who have
taken the time to learn non-latin alphabets
or languages other than modern English will
already be able to provide their own calli-
graphic exemplars.
region for special instructions.
Each exemplar was originally penned
actual size with a l mm pen nib for the second
Edition, but in the Third Edition some scale
change has occured. There is a key denoting
letter height and line spacing.
For example, if you see “Gothic Textura
Quadrata 3-5 Pen widths. Rule 2x” it means
that in this Gothic hand the lower case letters
are between 3 and 5 pen widths in height and
the ruling lines should be spaced at twice that
distance. Remember that we usually leave a
little space between the bottom of the letters
and the lower ruling line. In an accurate period
proportion we might have the 5-pen-width-
high letters start with l pen width below them
and 4 above the height of the lower case letters.
To learn how to establish letter heights for your
pen nib, see Chapter Two,
Medieval Writing
.
You will notice that the scripts provided
include several strange letters and omit some
important modern ones. This is because these
letters were uncommon or nonexistent in the
languages which used these scripts. The
most notable is the letter
W
since it is so often
used in our scroll texts in the word “we."
Letters
s
,
r
,
i
,
j
,
u
and
v
also have special
characteristics. Both Anglo-Saxon and the
Scandinavian languages used special letters
for the
th
sounds. Information on how to
cope with these special cases can also be
found in Chapter Two.
How to use the exemplars
This listing is not intended to be an
accurate statement which identifies specific
hands used at any specific time and place. It
is only meant to be a loose and general guide
to aid the beginner in selecting a form that is
close to what might have been used in SCA
period, offering an approximate and gener-
alized time and place. Since in the hardcopy
version the exemplars can be punched for a
three ring binder, it is easy to remove the
ones you need and place them at your side
for reference while you work.
To determine what type of script to use for
your text you may look below to the listing by
demographic area. Each region will have a short
reference to exemplars appropriate for use at a
given time period within the scope of the SCA.
Begin by looking at the general section
on western Europe, then check the local
CHOOSING AN EXEMPLAR
Options listed by Period and Geographical Area
ALL OF CHRISTIAN NORTH WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL EUROPE
600-10th c
.:
Artificial Uncial
.
When used, capitals are either large versions of the same or
Roman
Square Capitals.
600-9th c.
:
Roman Half Uncial
. Capitals are either large versions of the same,
Roman Square
Capitals
or
Pre-Caroline Versals.
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