Medieval Scribes, Tools, & Practices A collection of authentic medieval tools used in all aspects of the scribe's work. This collection, originally organized by Alan Cole, belongs to the Museum of Writing Research Collection, Institute of English Studies, University of London, and is housed in the Senate House Library.

Title Pricker

Brief description The medieval scribe used tools, called “prickers” to assist in one of the first steps in the production of a manuscript: the layout of a page prior to applying text. Layout could range from the very basic: a set of two horizontal and two vertical lines to indicate the width of the margins and the rectangular text area of a page, or it could be more complex, including vertical lines to indicate columns of text, horizontal lines to keep text uniformly spaced, and lines used to reserve space for the inclusion of decoration. Prickers were employed as way to keep the margins and text spacing uniform from page to page within a manuscript. For instance, after the text and design framework was ruled out on the first leaf of a quire, the scribe would use an awl, or other sharp point termed a “pricker,” to mark the outer edges of the design lines for the entire quire. By indicating each guideline with a corresponding hole in the margin, the scribe could simply use the prickings on the subsequent pages to create matching guidelines. This way, instead of measuring each individual leaf, the scribe only needed to measure the first leaf in the quire, and then he could create guidelines by drawing a line from the hole on the left margin to the hole on the right, quickly ruling the remaining pages in the quire. Prickings were usually made at the extreme edges of the page, so that when the manuscript was bound the holes were likely trimmed off; however, some manuscripts still provide evidence of the scribe’s ruling techniques.

Contributor: Keri Marken

Contribution date: Winter 2014