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 over 20 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 Slide Show Theater,
and select the
"Elegies en Nance" slide show. Or, by selecting the
"Lost
Prophet" slide 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:
6" x 9" Shivvetee
On finest paper or oak board, using fine commercial pigments
$190.00 US
6" x 9" Shivvetee
On sheepskin parchment, using gold leaf and hand-made precious pigments
$490.00 US
8 page poem manuscript
On finest paper title in gold leaf, commercial pigments, unbound
$790.00 US
8 page poem manuscript
On parchment,gold leaf and precious pigments, parchment binding
$1190.00 US
A Pilgrimmage to Mecca [View
the manuscript]
On finest paper title in gold leaf, commercial pigments, illustrated
and bound
$1490.00 US
Song ov Elmallahz Kumming [View
the manuscript]
In 6 volumes (over 200 pages) printed (not hand written)
on finest paper, decorated using commercial pigments, unbound
Depending on printing costs approximately $9990.00 US
Song ov Elmallahz Kumming [View
the manuscript]
In 6 volumes (over 300 pages) hand written on parchment
gold leaf, precious pigments, bound
Depending on parchment costs, approximately $28990.00
US
