Illuminated Origins: From Practicality to Prayer
In the early days of the written word, scrolls were the standard. However, as the codex (the ancestor of the modern book) took over around the 2nd century, scribes needed a way to help readers navigate long blocks of text. Large letters originally served as visual landmarks, helping a reader find their place in an era before page numbers or standardised indexes. For Christian monks in the Early Middle Ages, the “Word” was divine. Adorning it with gold and silver wasn’t just a hobby; it was an act of worship.
The term “illuminated” specifically refers to the use of gold or silver leaf. When the light hit the page, the metal would reflect it, literally “illuminating” the text. Scribes wrote on vellum – specially treated calfskin or sheepskin. An artist (the illuminator) would outline the letter with charcoal or lead. To apply gold leaf, they used a base of “gesso” (a mix of glue and plaster) to give the gold a 3D, embossed effect. Colours were derived from ground minerals, plants, and even insects. Medieval monks were notorious for getting bored. Look closely at illuminated margins and you’ll often find “marginalia”—doodles of snails fighting knights, rabbits playing trumpets, or monks complaining about the cold in the scriptorium.
A move away from religion
When kings and dukes began building private libraries, they applied the “holy” light of illumination to non-religious texts. Artists added elaborate illustrations to stories of knights and courtly love, encyclopaedias of real and mythical animals, and hunting manuals.
By the 15th century, the Dukes of Burgundy and figures like Jean de Berry were commissioning works so lavish (like the Très Riches Heures) that the religious text was almost secondary to the breath-taking, full-page landscapes and social scenes.
When Gutenberg introduced the printing press in the mid-15th century, mass-produced books became cheaper. Paradoxically, this made hand-illuminated manuscripts even higher in status. For a short period, the elite looked down on “printed” books as cheap and common. Having a book hand-painted by a master artist became the ultimate sign of “old money”—a refusal to succumb to the new, industrial way of making things.
Illuminated for the masses
As printing technologies continued to expand, the use of illuminated text also evolved. It became used in addresses and letters as a statement of importance or wealth. When scribes illuminated a declaration, they gave everyone a clear sign that the message was worth the time and effort they took to create it.
Our illuminated letter
This letter was presented to the Urban District Council, the precursor to the Town Council for the safe storage of archives and artwork during World War II. It was presented to the UDC by the City of London on the 29th November 1945. During the war London was a major target of Nazi and Italian hostilities. The Blitz was a bombing campaign that lasted 8 long months from 7th September 1940 through to 16th May 1941. Even after the bombing raids focus shifted to attacking ports instead of civilian centres, the danger to London could not be assumed to be over. Precious artifacts, documents and artworks were moved out of the city to more urban locations in the hopes of keeping them safe if bombs fell on London.
The safety of these objects was not guaranteed. Indeed on 26thand 27th July 1942 bombs fell on Trowbridge. The bombs fell in a line across the town centre, hitting several key landmarks. Tragically, two young girls—Rosie Sheehan (17) and her cousin Renee Reid (16)—were killed. They were evacuees from London who were working on munitions at G.N. Haden’s. They were in the Royal British Legion Club on Stallard Street when it was hit. The archives were undamaged in the bombing and were safely returned to the City of London after the war ended.
