I have a goal for ten years from now: I want to have started in on making an illuminated manuscript.
Something I admire about illuminated manuscripts is that many of them are so beautiful that even people who can't read them still feel a desire to preserve them, just to look at the pictures and decorations.
The vast majority of illuminated manuscripts were made in the Middle Ages in Europe, but there have been a few modern-day ones. The largest one (both in scale and in the size of the book) is the Saint John's Bible, which was made between 1999 and 2011. It incorporates all sorts of art styles, and is about 2 feet by 3 feet tall, split into seven volumes.
I don't know that I'll be doing something quite that big, but it's inspiring to know that there are a few people making books like this in the 21st century.
I want to transcribe a work that
- I consider precious enough that it deserves to exist several centuries from now,
- is obscure enough that there's a decent possibility that it won't unless it is actively preserved, and
- is interesting enough to me personally that I'd be willing to dedicate months or years to writing it out and illustrating it.
- an autobiography
- a family history
- a very good fanfiction, or collection of fan works
- literature in certain endangered languages
In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye out for worthy works and am continuing to practice my calligraphy and illumination skills.
If you could have a piece of literature made into a hand-written and -illustrated book, what would you choose?
