While multi-volume and single-volume Bibles had been copied before, and the scriptorium at Wearmouth-Jarrow had made three copies of the Bible, whose layouts and similarities await study, the multiple reproduction of the biblical text during a sixty year period cannot be paralleled. Martin's and Marmoutiers at Tours during the course of the ninth century, constituted a new development in medieval book production. "The copying of complete texts of the Bible, contained in only one or two volumes, which characterised the scriptoria of St. Of the nearly 100 Bibles produced at Tours during the first 60 years of the ninth century three illuminated Bibles survived, among which perhaps the most outstanding is the Moutier-Grandval Bible.įrom David Ganz's chapter 3, "Mass production of early medieval manuscripts: the Carolingian Bibles from Tours" in Gameson, ed., The Early Medieval Bible (1994) 53-55 I quote selections, with my habitual addition of links. Tours Bible production levels were particularly remarkable in view of the quality of the calligraphy, and richness of decoration and illumination characteristic of some of these Bibles. Bibles were the longest text widely copied during the Middle Ages, and by medieval standards the production of two whole manuscript Bibles per year by one scriptorium- specifically that at Tours- may be considered "mass production." In addition to Bibles the Tours scriptorium also produced copies of many of liturgical and classical texts.
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