Commissioning an Illuminated Manuscript
Most people may think
that Illuminated Manuscripts are things of the far past. Not so. They
may be rare these days, but I have been producing
illuminated manuscripts for about 30 years.
I fear that most people don’t even know what an illuminated manuscript
really is, so let me illuminate you. The Oxford English Dictionary
(OED) defines the word “manuscript” in this way: a book,
document, or the like, written by hand; a writing of any kind as distinguished
from printed matter.... A written composition which
has not been printed; often an author’s written “copy” as
distinguished from the print of the same.
The OED found the word first used in English in 1597. As for the term “illuminated,” this
refers to the decorative quality of the manuscript, usually because
gold leaf is used to create the sense of light emerging from the text.
More generally, any hand decorated and/or illustrated manuscript can
be called “illuminated.”
Many of the greatest Western illuminated manuscripts were created in
the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The Ottomans, Persians,
and Mughals of India also created astoundingly beautiful manuscripts.
Commissioned by kings, religious authorities, and wealthy merchants,
the great scriptoria used the finest artists’ materials: goat
and sheepskin parchment; gold and silver leaf; lapis lazuli, azurite,
and indigo for blue; cinnabar for vermillion; orpiment for yellow;
malachite for green. It was as if they were painting with liquid gemstones.
It is still possible to find real parchment and gold leaf, although
most artists’ supply stores only carry faux products. As for
semi-precious pigments, to the best of my knowledge, they are not for
sale at any price. But they are available! I produce all these pigments!
Starting at gem and mineral stores, I buy the raw materials, grind
and clean them, and mix them with appropriate media to produce, for
the first time in a century or more, these rare and luminescent colors.
To see an example of these glorious pigments
illuminating my poetry, go to the Art Galleries page from the Shivvetee Main Courtyard, and
select the “Elgies
en Nance” show.
Or, by selecting the “Lost
Prophet” show,
you can view a simpler kind of manuscript.
Are you interested in owning your
own illuminated work of art?
It’s
not an impossible dream. The following list of examples can
give you an idea of the kinds of manuscripts and Shivvetees
I can create
for
you, and what they would cost. Contact me so we can discuss
specifics. By the way, a Shivvetee is a Jewish talisman or
sacred image, in
which Divne Names form a focus around which, or within which
a psalm or other
religious poem or text is written. To augment the Names and
text, floral, geometric, or other natural designs can be added.
Traditionally
used
for protection, the Shivvetee is also an object that one can
use to focus prayer and meditation, or to help remember the
holiness
waiting
to found in each moment.
Examples of Shivvetees and Manuscripts:
(prices will vary depending on the project, and are subject to change
over time)
• 6" x 9" Shivvetee
on finest paper or oak board,
using fine commercial pigments $400.00 US
• 6" x 9" Shivvetee
on sheepskin parchment,
using gold leaf and hand-made precious pigments $700.00 US
• 8 page poem manuscript, on finest paper
title in gold leaf, commercial pigments, unbound $1800.00 US
• 8 page poem manuscript, on parchment,
gold leaf and precious pigments, parchment binding $2500.00 US
• A Pilgrimmage to Mecca on finest paper
title in gold leaf, commercial pigments,
illustrated and bound $3800.00 US
• Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, in 6 volumes (over 200 pages)
printed (not hand written) on finest paper,
decorated using commercial pigments, unbound
depending on printing costs, approximately negotiable
• Song ov Elmallahz Kumming, in 6 volumes (over 300 pages)
hand written on parchment, gold leaf,
precious pigments, bound
depending on parchment costs, fee is negotiable
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