Vellum: The skin of a young calf used as a writing surface--the medieval equivalent of 'paper.' A technical distinction is usually made between vellum and parchment, the latter is made from goatskin or sheepskin. Uterine vellum--the skin of stillborn or very young calves, is characterized by small size and particularly fine, white appearance. As Michelle P. Brown notes in Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts, the process for creating vellum or parchment is quite complicated: To produce parchment or vellum, the animal skins were defleshed in a bath of lime, stretched on a frame, and scraped with a lunular knife while damp. They could then be treated with pumice, whitened with a substance such as chalk, and cut to size. Differences in preparation technique seem to have occasioned greater diversity in appearance than did the type of skin used. Parchment supplanted papyrus as the most popular writing support material in the fourth century, although it was known earlier. Parchment was itself largely replaced by paper in the sixteenth century (with the rise of printing) but remained in use for certain high-grade books. (95)

 

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Vellum: The skin of a young calf used as a writing surface--the medieval equivalent of 'paper.' A technical distinction is usually made between vellum and parchment, the latter is made from goatskin . . . View Full Definition

Octavo: Not to be confused with octave, above, octavo is a term from the early production of paper and vellum in the medieval period. When a single, large uncut sheet is folded once and attached to . . . View Full Definition

Manuscript: A text written by hand, as opposed to one printed with a printing press. (Manus is Latin for 'hand', scriptum is a Latin participle for 'written.') Early Egyptian manuscripts are written on . . . View Full Definition

Hair Side: The side of a sheet or parchment or vellum that once carried the animal's hair. It is generally darker and smoother than the flesh side, and it may carry markings such as pores or traces of . . . View Full Definition