RE: VMs: How translucent is vellum?

["Don Latham" <djl@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The quill would have to be held very carefully. As one who nearly flunked
mechanical drawing in the longago time before CAD programs, I can tell you
that even a sophisticated device such as the bow-pen compass is, for the
non-finicky (like the b hand) a hard instrument to master.  That device
actually works by cutting very fine parallel lines into the paper to keep
the ink lines constant width (and no whiteout allowed either!).
Don

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of DANA SCOTT
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 7:27 PM
To: vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: VMs: How translucent is vellum?


I should think that a quill tied to the end of a string would work nicely.
Just hold the other end of the string tightly at the center of the circle
and draw. The same could be done with a strip of wood I would imagine (poke
a nail through one end and attach the quill at the other end, voilà!).

Regards,
Dana Scott


----- Original Message -----
From: "GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 3:11 PM
Subject: RE: VMs: How translucent is vellum?


> Ken wrote:
>
>
> 1. I'm not versed in 15th century drafting and writing implements. I'm
> simply working from experience.
>
>
> My lay understanding of the circinus, the standard compass of this period,
> was that it was widely used as a scribe tool, and I don't know of any
> examples that were "inkable".  Metal nibs were not in use then, and a
> writing stilus could have been attached to a circinus, but it's unlikely
> one
> was made to hold a quill.  There is some indication that lead plummet was
> used in some of these devices, but whether lead plummet or scribe, each
> would require that the ink be applied by hand over the scribed circle.
> Depending on the steadiness of the hand, the circle would appear traced
> instead of mechanically drawn.  This means that the circle was indeed hand
> traced, no matter the initial method of drawing the circle as a guide for
> the ink.
>
> FWIW
>
> GC
>
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