scriveners
Professional pen pushers
Scriveners are professional scribes or copyists—people who write documents for others.
Before typewriters and widespread literacy, scriveners drafted legal papers, copied manuscripts, and handled correspondence for those who couldn't write or preferred not to.
The term now appears mostly in historical contexts or as a deliberate archaism: The scriveners hunched over their desks, quills scratching parchment.
Feather used for writing
- parchmentTreated hide for manuscripts
- inkwellContainer for dipping pens
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
- scriptoriumMonastery manuscript workshop
medieval · monasteries · illumination · codex · scrolls · chancery · guilds · London
Document duplicator by hand
- manuscriptsHandwritten or typed originals
- duplicatingCreating exact copies
- engrossingCompletely holding one's attention
- fair copyNeat final draft
reproduction · penmanship · calligraphy · handwriting · drafts · clerical · accuracy · verbatim
Document authentication official
- clerkOffice record-keeper
- deedsActions or legal titles
- contractsEnforceable written agreements
- affidavitsSworn written legal statements
wills · testaments · indentures · charters · writs · conveyancing · attestation · certification
Formal accounting records
- registersRecords officially
- accountsRecords of transactions
- bookkeepingRecording financial transactions systematically
- filingStoring documents systematically
archives · dockets · inventories · logs · journals · minutes · correspondence · documentation
quill
Feather used for writing
- parchmentTreated hide for manuscripts
- inkwellContainer for dipping pens
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
scriptorium · medieval · monasteries · illumination · codex · scrolls · chancery · guilds · London · apprentices
copyist
Document duplicator by hand
- manuscriptsHandwritten or typed originals
- duplicatingCreating exact copies
- engrossingCompletely holding one's attention
fair copy · reproduction · penmanship · calligraphy · handwriting · drafts · clerical · accuracy · verbatim · rendering
notary
Document authentication official
affidavits · wills · testaments · indentures · charters · writs · conveyancing · attestation · certification · bonds
ledgers
Formal accounting records
- registersRecords officially
- accountsRecords of transactions
- bookkeepingRecording financial transactions systematically
filing · archives · dockets · inventories · logs · journals · minutes · correspondence · documentation · cataloging
- office lifecubicle, desk job, desk jobs, office job, full-time job
scrivenersprinters
Document output devices
typesetters · compositors · publishers · lithographers · engravers
scrivenersorators
Eloquent public speakers
heralds · town criers · bards · storytellers · messengers