scriptorium

Monastic writing chamber

A scriptorium is a room in a medieval monastery devoted to the copying of manuscripts.

Before printing, monks worked in scriptoria producing religious texts, classical works, and illuminated manuscripts by hand.

The word occasionally describes any dedicated writing space: She converted the spare bedroom into her personal scriptorium.

manuscript

parchment

Treated hide for manuscripts

  • vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
  • quillFeather used for writing
  • codexAncient bound manuscript

folio · palimpsest · illumination · calligraphy · incunabula · colophon · miniature · gloss · binding · paleography

workspace

desk

Furniture for writing

  • inkwellContainer for dipping pens
  • quillFeather used for writing
  • scrollWound document of parchment

lectern · candle · penknife · ruling · gallnut · reed pen · stylus · wax tablet · scraper · pumice

monastic

monastery

Religious seclusion dwelling

  • abbeyMonastic house of worship
  • cloisterCovered monastic walkway
  • monkCloistered religious devotee

copyist · friar · priory · convent · cell · dormitory · refectory · chapter house · Benedictine · devotion

scholarly

copying

Reproducing something exactly

scholarship · preservation · theology · philosophy · grammar · rhetoric · Latin · Greek · learning · education

librarianship

library

Book collection or building

preservation · cataloguing · classification · bibliography · bibliotheca · inventory · acquisition · lending

Categories
Opposites
text production vs. text consumption/storage

scriptoriumlibrary

Book collection or building

reading room · archive · repository · bookshop · lending library

manual vs. mechanical text reproduction

scriptoriumprinting press

Mechanical text reproduction device

print shop · printing house · publishing house · Gutenberg press · pressroom

sacred/monastic vs. secular/commercial

scriptoriumnewspaper office

Journalism operation's headquarters

Fleet Street

Family

description, scribble, prescription, manuscript, scribe, prescribe, inscribe, transcribe, scripture

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Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G