Scriptorium
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /skɹɪpˈtoË.ɹi.É™m/
- US IPA: /skɹɪpˈtoɹ.i.əm/
Origin
From Medieval Latin scriptÅrium, from Latin scriptÅrius ("pertaining to writing").
Full definition of scriptorium
Noun
- (countable) A room set aside for the copying, writing, or illuminating of manuscripts and records, especially such a room in a monastery.
- 1907, G. Roger Huddleston, "Scriptorium" in The Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13The rules of the scriptorium varied in different monasteries, but artificial light was forbidden for fear of injury to the manuscripts, and silence was always enforced.
- 2008, James Ronald Royse, Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri, chapter 7, page 499Nevertheless, Aland criticized Martin's suggestion that the codex was the product of the scriptorium attached to a monastery,536 on the grounds that there is no evidence for the existence of monasteries in the year 200, or for the existence of scriptoria at all connected with the Church at that early date.
- 2009, Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, 13th edition, volume 1, page 289Among the earliest Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts is the Book of Durrow, a Gospel book that may have been written and decorated in the monastic scriptorium at Iona, although its provenance is not documented.