Scribes

There were probably several scribes who helped produce this manuscript (although without a colophon one can only notice the variations in the writing style). Christine supervised a scriptorium in Paris and these scribes were responsible for producing the work she did for patrons. However, she did act as scribe on some of her own work as well. The British Library website states that The Book of the Queen was copied by one or more scribes along with Christine herself.

In the Middle Ages scribes would be seated at a steeply sloped desk. This was necessary when using a quill pen (they work best when used at a right angle). It also prevented the hand of the scribe from resting on the parchment, thus preventing any smearing of wet ink. Before the scribe began writing he would often give the parchment a final rub with fine pumice, followed by smoothing of the surface with chalk.

Scribes would have their quill in one hand and in the other they would hold a knife. This knife was used for several functions. First, it was used to sharpen the quill pen, next it was used for erasing mistakes (this had to be done very quickly, before the ink had soaked in), and the final use was to hold down the parchment. A knife was also preferable to using a finger for holding down a page because there was no risk of grease from the scribe's skin. A professional scribe would write the text itself and the artists decorated the borders and painted the miniatures.