About two months ago, I wrote a post about what’s in my scribal library and the books I go to when I need a quick, at the fingers source.

The first post covered books on historical practice, style, and pigments. This particular post will continue with books on calligraphy, making one’s own art supplies, and more. As usual, this is not an exhaustive list of everything in my library, but for those who want a good idea of where to get started, here you go.

Historic Practice

Books in this section are primary sources, especially known to Western European artists. These books helped lead my understanding of historical colour use, but also painting techniques and how some pigments were made in period.

Cennino Cennini’s Il Libro dell’Arte, Archetype Publications, by Lara Broecke; 2015. In Scribal Research Library, Pt. 1, I wrote that I knew of a newer translation of Il Libro dell’Arte, but I had not had a chance to get my hands on it. I can now say that I’ve gotten my hands on a copy, and I am blown away by the depth of knowledge and context the newer translation provides. This is a parallel translation, meaning that it contains the full period Florentine Italian text, Broecke’s English translation, and several pages of notes. The Dover text is a good springboard, but the Broecke translation really gets to the meat of this 15th c painting manual.

Calligraphy

Books in this section are ones I have found useful for my particular practice or even give me a good idea of where to get started in terms of holding a pen and how to look for a particular style. (I am a left-handed scribe; I just don’t have a good way to teach left-handed calligraphy.)

The Calligrapher’s Bible: 100 Complete Alphabets and how to Draw Them, Quarto Publishing; by David Harris, 2003. This spiral-bound hardback book has been an absolute workhorse for me. Yes, there are some non-period methods in here, but for getting the basics of uncial, foundational, Insular, and other calligraphic hands, as well as learning to understand the tools of a calligrapher, this text is perfect. Are there more period sources? (yes, see below) That said, I find David Harris very easy to understand.

Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique, Dover Publications, by Marc Drogin; 1980. Drogin’s text provides period exemplars of alphabets, black and white plates of exemplars, and even ductus information on ligatures all exist with this book. I do find Drogin a bit dry, however, this is an absolute recommendation for period scripts and holds up despite being over 40 years old. If you can get past the general dryness of the text, it’s worth having in your library.

Calligraphy Techniques: The Essential Step-by-step Beginner’s Guide to Calligraphy, Barnes and Noble Books, by Mary Noble, 2003. While many of the projects in this book are very modern, this book is recommended if you are new to calligraphy. This no-nonsense, easy-to-understand text provides projects for neophyte calligraphers to get used to pens, materials, and papers. There’s even a good section on being a left-handed scribe. If you’re just starting out and are a little lost, try to find this book, which is regrettably getting harder and harder to find.

Making Artist Materials

Sources in this section will cover books that provide resources for making one’s own artist materials, from historical recipes for inks to knowing what materials to forage for should you want to go this route.

Found and Ground: A Practical Guide to Making Your Own Foraged Paints, Search Press, by Caroline Ross, 2023. Caroline Ross discusses where to forage mineral, organic, and earth pigments, and how to bind them in this text. For scribes interested in processing their own materials, this goes through the full process of smashing, sieving, levigating, and further processing earth pigments for studio use, as well as where to find them. She also discusses how to make some binders (mostly glair and egg tempera, though watercolour is also mentioned). If you want to make your own pigments from scratch, this is a great way to get started. Very little discussion is made on historical pigments, but for more earth pigments, the process largely has remained unchanged for millennia.

Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking, Abrams Press, by Jason Logan, 2018. This beautifully photographed and straightforward text shows readers how to forage materials to make writing inks, but also does so across the full spectrum of visible colour. This goes through the process of making ink starting from a walk in the woods to taking items home to make something to write with after an hour or two at the stove. This book is beautifully accessible, and makes the process of making ink a rewarding one.

Inks & Paints of the Islamic Golden Age: A Handbook of Art Technology, Majnouna Books, by Joumana Medlej, 2026. I got in on Joumana’s Kickstarter for this book, which is an expanded version of her 2018 publication on the same subject. It is packed from cover to cover on the history and process of making so many of the artist materials for art dating to the Abbasid Caliphate (750 to 1258 CE). Medlej is extremely thorough, and this tiny spiral bound text is perfect for studio use. She talks about how to source pigments, as well as how to process them. That said, she does talk about some pretty toxic materials (with notes) so if you are going to use this absolutely beautiful text, please note the safety notes.

Gold from Newton’s Apple Tree: Historical Recipes for Natural Inks, Paints, and Dyes, Princeton University Press, Nabil Ali; 2026. This showed up about the same time as Joumana’s book on the pigments of the Islamic Golden Age, so I had a lot to chew through. This book is beautiful, and Ali is knowledgeable. Many of the citations date from post-SCA period, however he walks through his own practice within this text and discusses how to get inks, pigments, and dyes from organic sources like saffron, buckthorn, and hibiscus. If Found and Ground is how to make paint from the earth, Gold from Newton’s Apple Tree is how to make paint from plants and flowers.

Miscellaneous Sources

Books in this section defy categorization. Parts history, modern practice, or even religious context, these books have been invaluable in my own practice.

Saints, Signs and Symbols: Symbolic Language of Christian Art Third Edition, Church Publishing, Hilarie and James Cornwell, 2009. This text was written by two SCAdians (Viscountess Hilarie the Puppeteer and Viscount Bjorn Jorsalfar of Bearhaven), expanding on two previous editions by other authors. If church history is your jam, or you like heraldry, or you even want to see depictions of saints in a masterfully illustrated text, I recommend this book. (I actually picked this up at an Episcopal General Convention, where I saw people in garb doing scribal work. It’s not every day you get to see SCAdians in non-SCA contexts.) Personally, I love the small stories of saints, how to render their coats of arms, and how to recognize a saint in a period context based what they’re doing or holding. Of note, a newer version of this text does exist.

The Alchemy of Paint: Art, Science and Secrets from the Middle Ages, Marion Boyers Publishers, Spike Bucklow; 2009. This is a bit of a pop art history book, but it does detail much of the mythical meanings that were ascribed by period artists to their materials. This is a fun read, though I find that this is not as heavy on the science as some of my other texts.

The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages, Reaktion Books, Sara J. Charles, 2024. Want to go in depth on what life was like in medieval scriptoria for scribes? Charles uses period texts and great detail goes through the process that medieval counterparts used to make books for the nobility and the Church as items of devotion and piety. Learn about brushes, parchment making, and all of the frankly gross process of making some of the most beautiful treasures of medieval life.

The Art & Science of Illuminated Manuscripts: A Handbook, Harvey Miller, Stella Panayotova (ed); 2024. Covering everything from chemical analysis to pigments to painting techniques, this 500+ page text is information dense and filled with numerous colour plates. Anything a scribe would want to know about modern historical and scientific analysis of medieval texts all the way to how paint was laid onto the page is covered in this book. It is pricey, but if you can bring this one into your life, I strongly recommend it.

Trade in Artists’ Materials: Markets and Commerce in Europe to 1700, Archetype Publishing, Jo Kirby ,Susie Nash, Joanna Cannon (editors); 2010. Discussing supply lines and what the pigment and art material trade looked like, this text is another information-dense text, covering supply lines dating from about the 1300s into 1700s across wWestern Europe. Tables of materials, what they were called, how much they were valued, and even who the supplier was is covered in this text. With this primarily dating to post-High Middle Ages, I would recommend this for anyone interested in period supply lines and those interested in Western European materials used by artists.