A Guide to Beginners in the Art of Illumination (Albert H. Warren, 1860)

i

J

X(

<•

IN S T R U C T O R

ROYAL

TO T H E —•>I (

F A M IL Y

1 ~ ~ > )l«

Mb -

LONDON.

B A R N A R D AND SON. 3 3^. Oxford Street.

A G U ID E TO

B E G IN N E R S IN THE /

ART OF ILLUMINATION BY

ALBERT H. WARREN INSTRUCTOR TO THE ROYAL FAMILY

LONDON BARNARD AND SON 3 3 9 OXFORD STREET

JtJi* If* i L Central Blbliotbeek ..ST, U R S U LA ” ROERMOND

LONDON: PRINTED BY ADAMS AND GEE, 2 3 , MIDDLE STREET, WEST SMITHFIELD, E.C 6

J

$

REA D ER,— Permit me to intro/

duce to your notice thefe few pages of pre­

liminary inftruction and advice in the “ Art of Illuminating/’ or Miffal Painting, as it is often termed ; and alfo to beg your kind indulgence, fhould there be any fubjects of importance to a beginner which I may have neglected to treat of; or if, in thofe I have treated of, there fhould unfortunately be fuch want of clearnefs as to make it difficult of comprehenlion.

It is impoflible, in a little work like this, to enter more fully than I have done into the details of this •g art, and the expenfe of coloured plates

6

Introduction.

prohibits their ufe as I could have wished.

I

mull, therefore, refer my readers, — when they have learnt all this little work will teach,— to the more elaborate ones: Jewitt’s “ Manual of Milfal Painting,” and the Hill more elaborate and collly works of Noel Humphreys, Tymms, and others ; alfo to a work—which is now at prefs, and will be published very shortly— entitled, “ The Promifes of Jefus Chrill,” illuminated, with 24 original defigns in colour, in the ftyle of the fourteenth century, by myfelf.

A» H. W.

New Court, Temple, London, i860.

eftablished once more as a requirement of advancing civilization, after fo many years of comparative non-exiftence, renders neceffary this preliminary and, it is hoped, ufeful guide for beginners.

The intention of the author

of this little work is to put forward, as Amply and clearly as poffible, a few primary rules, which may enable the ftudent to commence at once upon his work with the affurance that he is right at Harting, and, in the abfence of uncertainty, that his efforts will be crowned with a fair fhare of fuccefs.

The

author intends to confine himfelf entirely to the ftyles of ornament common to the fourteenth cen-

8

On Illumination,

tury, believing them to be more eafily applied and adapted to the purpofes of the uninitiated in this branch of art, for whofe perufal this book is folely intended. An archaeological and hiftorical account of the origin, rife, and fall of illumination, is not attempted in this necelfarily limited work.

The

revival of this interelling and beautiful art has for feveral years been gradually manifelling itfelf, and may now be confidered as perman ently re-eftab lished through the rapid progrefs made, and Hill making, in colour printing. The accuracy with which one colour can now be regiftered with another in printing gives affurance that the fpread of examples will be wide, and that we may now expeft to reap the advantages of it in the improv­ ing take for this beautiful and elegant branch of art.

fludent's firft confideration should be to felefl for his purpofe a verfe, or poem, that is confidered fufficiently good to be worth the labour of illuminating. This being determined upon, the next courfe will be to arrange the fize of defig n; then the width and length of lines for lettering, or text. This is moft readily arrived at by making a rough fketch on paper of one or two complete lines. When this is done, and the fpace to be oc­ cupied by the lettering calculated very accurately, commence a careful fketch of the intended compofition entire, fo that when finished it may be

IO

A Guide to Beginners

traced with a black lead pencil, and afterw ard s corrected, should it req uire im pro vem ent, with the pen and Indian ink, on the tracing, after it has bee n rem oved from the /ke tch , and placed on a sheet of white paper, fo tha t it may be eafily feen. When com plete, retrac e or tra nsfer it to the braine d paper, cardboard, or vellum , as the cafe may be, for the finished drawing.

Great care mull be tak en at ftarting tha t all the lines be perfeflly fquare and at right angles to each oth er, and tha t the lines for lettering be accurately parallel, thi s being of the greateft im portance, as a line of writin g wider at one end than the other is inadmiffible, particularly in the cafe of the perpen di­ cular charafter of letters, which I advife the pupil to adopt for the ftyle I am advocating, as being eafieft of accomplishment. The lettering , in the firft place, should be carefully fketched in with a black lead pencilâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; fay H. B., as the lines made with tha t pencil are more readily effaced with indiarubber than any oth er,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;t h u s^ ^ j^ until the ftudcnt has acquired the method of writing thefe letters

in the Art of Illumination. tolerably well.

11

Such proficiency being arrived at, in fingle line

they may be (ketched thus

only, care being taken that they be not nearer together in one word than in another, or the effefl will be thus —inftead of thus-— e

&

'"I

<l'

A good deal of practice will be required in this mechanical procefs before the ftudent arrives at proficiency.

It is alfo important-—as the ftudent

will readily underftan d-—that all letters muft be perfectly perpendicular, otherwife the effeH will be confufed, and the text difficult to read. A few parallel lines, very lightly ruled with the pencil perpendicularly all over the page or drawing, will be of great affiftance in this refpect to a beginner, in making a finiffied drawing; but, for practife only, I ftiould advife doing without thefe lines.

Wher­

ever a capital letter occurs it is ufual, though not imperative, to make a diftinction in colours as well as in fizes; and in refpect to fize, it may be taken as a general rule, that the capitals ffiould be the fame height as the tall letters, fuch as

A Guide, to Beginners

12

and the width the fame as the height, making a fquare—

*s

not

n e c e hary

that the

fquare be marked in colour, in all cafes, as it '^ iw ith or without fur­ rounding ornamen t, at pleafure ; and initial and 1

capital letters in all cafes, no matter what the fizes, fhould be made as legible and pure in form as it is poffible to make them, nothing being fo irritating to the eye and the mind as to have to puzzle out the firft letter of a word. The work of an artift and that of an amateur may eafily be detected, generally fpeaking, in this particula r.

W

■

$

the ftudent has completed the pencil

* arrangem ent for lettering , he fhould begin to draw it in very carefully with Barnard’s Indelible Liquid Brown, or Indian Ink.

If a great mafs of

writing be neceffary on the page, the Liquid Brown is preferable, becaufe a great quantity of black lettering would appear too cold in colour; but if a

in the Art o f Illumination. few lines only are required, I ihould certainly re­ commend Indian Ink, as in all cafes it will be found to work and flow more readily than the Brown. The down-ftrokes Ihould be all drawn thus

“ be-

fore the end or terminating pieces, which ihould all be done at once, care being taken that they are all at the fame angle or inclination, thus—|

The fine lines ihould be drawn laft

as a finifh, and great care mull be taken that they do not project beyond the external upper and lower lines, otherwife the parallel effect of each line will be evidently impaired.

1

next operation is to trace accurately

trom the original iketch the initial letter, or heading of page ; or, in cafe no initial occurs, as muft fometimes be the cafe, the ornamental border or fide Ihould, after having been traced, be retraced over the fame lines with a hard pencil—fay II.H .H .—

*4

A Guide to Beginners

having previoufly inferted between the tracing and the drawing, or paper intended to receive the trans­ fer, a piece of thin paper rubbed over with red chalk or black lead—-the latter is preferable—as a black line, in my opinion, is pleafanter to work upon than a red one; but this, of courfe, is only a matter of habit.

Care mull be taken in retracing,

with the coloured paper between, that fome thick paper or fubftance, fuch as a writing pad, be placed between the hand and the tracing: otherwife you will find that, in all cafes where the finger has touched the tracing, a black mark will be found on the drawing; and should the drawing be on vellum, difficulty will be found in erafing it. Bread for that purpofe is the bell. The bread mull not be quite new, or the moillure will damp and alfo ' fet the chalk or lead ; nor mull it be too dry‘and Hale, or it will fcrape and roughen the furface, the effect of which would be to render all colours upon the furface dingy and dull, particularly the tranfparent ones, and a fine line would be almolt v an impoffibility. When the transferred defign is

in the Art oj Illumination.

*5

quite complete, begin to outline the ornament with the liquid indelible brown before mentioned, keeping, of courfe, correctly to the line, or improv­ ing it, where poffible. The brown is preferable to anything elfe ; for if ink is ufed when the colours are laid on, it is apt to run and mix with them, detracting from the brilliancy and altering the tone entirely.

The outline of all being completed, clean away with bread, or india-rubber, any trace of chalk or lead that may remain, and when quite clean, com­ mence laying on, with a red fable brush, the ground colours, that is to fay, the lightest tints— excepting, of courfe, the white, which is put on afterwards.

Begin with any colour — fay light

blue—mix French ultramarine with Chinefe white, being a permanent material— not flake white, which is fimply white lead, and changes in a very short time to a dull grey—varying the tone as may be defirable by the addition alternately of more blue or more white.

The red or pink fhould be

carmine and white only; the green fhould be

A Guide to Beginners

emerald green, which needs not the addition of white.

The vermilion muft not in any cafe be

mixed with white, or it will lofe its brilliancy and become a colour like red brickduft.

When purple

is required, French blue and carmine mixed to­ gether, or purple carmine, will be found to make the brighteft.

The lights, dots, ornaments, and white lines, wherever they occur, muft be put in with a very fine red fable brulh—not pen—and all lights, lines, dots, &c., on green and vermilion should be drawn or coloured in with yellow, inftead of white. The beft yellow for this purpofe is, undoubtedly,£( Light Cadmium,’" a new and permanent colour, manu­ factured folely, I believe, by Meffrs. Barnard and Son.

This colour I confider to be a boon to

illuminators, as it is richer in quality and more tractable than lemon yellow and equally bright, in /short nothing anfwers the purpofe fo well

in the Art o f Illumination.

The next thing to do will be to ftain the fpaces left for gold with Indian yellow, ufed very lightly, otherwife it will mix with the gold. to be done when gold shell is ufed.

This is only But, with­

out doubt, the belt plan is to lay on a coating of the Mediaeval Gold Body as a ground for the gold.

The objeft of this preparation is to enrich, and at the fame time to economife the gold, as, when the paper is thus covered, it is not neceffary to paint it on fo thickly.

■<i ©C*£5®C'

on the gold it is abfolutely neceflary that the wate r as well as the brufh with whic h it is ufed be perfectly clean, as the sligheft impu rity in eithe r would materially detra ct from its bril­ liancy.

The gold can be had in (hells or faucers, and is ufed like any of the colours, that is to fay,

wetted with a little wate r and painted on with a brufh. The brufh should be fmall, and of red fable, as the red fable is flronger than the blac k; and the gold being a very heavy metal, will naturally fink towards the point of the brush and expand it.

It may be found fometimes that the gold has been infufficiently prepared or mixed with glutinous

A Guide to the Art o f Illuminatio n. matter, fo that when touched it will rub off.

19

To

remedy this, ufe a little gum with the water in the shells, but it muft be very little indeed, or the gold will appear dull. Avery beautiful and enriched effeft may be given to the gold ground by ufing the fmall agate burnisher, which is enclofed with all other neceffary implements in Meffrs. Barnard and Sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Boxes of Illuminatin g Colours.

The gold for this

purpofe should be ufed thickly, and when thoroughly dry may be enriched by engraving or indenting Readily with the fmall agate, lines, dots, or leaves and flowers, of courfe in the fame ftyle as the reft of the defign.

As an example, I give the letters

differently ornamente d; the three firft may be either red or blue, on gold grounds, and the laft letter m aybe gold, or coloured ground; that portion within the letter may be red, and the outfide blue or green, with floral ornamentation,

20

A Guide to Beginners

or diaper work—as Ihown—in white on the blue ground, or in yellow on the green and vermilion; but if carmine or pink be ufed, the lines, &c., Ihould in that cafe be white.

Another mode of

enriching gold is by a fine pattern in yellow out­ line and dots, the dots either burnished merely, or in yellow alfo; but a little practice will be re­ quired before this can be accomplished with faci­ lity and fuccefs; as determined fteadinefs of hand is requifite to engrave a good and unbroken curve.

is another mode, although more difcult to a beginner—of giving greater effeft to the gold in parts, by raifing it; this may be done by ufing “ Barnard and Son’s Illuminating Gold Size,” which can be applied very eafily; wetting it only with a little water, and painting it on with the brush, dropping on more and more until it is fufficiently raifed; when very nearly dry, take a piece of goldleaf, rather larger than the portions of work in-

in the Art o f Illumination.

21

tended to be gilt, and lay it carefully and gently upon it, slightly breathing on it, to make it adhere firmly and evenly all over, and when thoroughly dry take a piece of clean wadding or cotton wool, alfo perfectly dry, and rub gently away the fuperfluous gold. When quite dry and hard—fay next day—rub it gently over with the burnisher.

This procefs, however, is rather troublefome, and requires very great care and practice—fimple though it be—fo that I would not advife a mere beginner to attempt it, as a more expeditious and lefs troublefome method is that of employing The Mediaeval Gold-body.

The furface to be gilt mull be coated over with the gold-body, by means of a fable brulh, in exa&ly the fame way that water-colours are ap­ plied. Thin coats muft be laid on over each other, care being taken that the previous coat is dry be­ fore the next is fuperpofed. If the coats are laid on too thickly, the furface will honeycomb and the compofition will crack off; the furface should be lightly and rapidly gone over with the brush,

22

A Guide to Beginners

not very fu ll; and if a coat is re-tou ched or difturbed while drying, the beautiful fmoothnefs of the furface will be dedroyed and canno t be after­ wards redored. The gold body should be of the confidence of thin cream , and should flow as readily from the brush as body colour. Should the bottle have been kept fome time, or the weath er be very cold, the gold body may fet rathe r too firmly for ufe. In this cafe it is only neceflary to immerfe the bottle for a few minutes in water at a tempe rature of about 85 degrees, and shake it well before ufing. This material contains a fmall portion of fpirit, and in fpite of every preca ution , the fpirit will slowly evaporate. Should it, there ­ fore, become too thick for ufe, the addition of one or two drops of rectified fpirits of wine will reduce it to a proper confid ence; and in order to preferve the compofition as long as posfible, it should be kept tightly corked, fealed, inverted, and in a cool place.

As foon as a fufficiently raifed furface is acquired, and it has become thoroughly dry, it may

be gilt by painting it over with shell gold, and when

in the A rt o f Illumin ation.

23

the gold is perfectly dry, it will be found to burnish eafily and admirably, though perhaps it will not be quite fo brilliant in appearance as the leaf-gold.

Silver may be ufed in the fame manner, but should be fparingly ufed, and always, when juft finished and dry, washed gently over with a clean new foft black fable brush, dipped in fpirits of wine, which, when dry, forms a varnish over it, excluding effec­ tually atmofpheric air, thereby preventing its tar­ nishing, which would immediately take place with­ out this precaution. The greateft delicacy is required in this varnishing procefs, or the filver will adhere to the brush. “ Platina,” although not fo bright as filver, is a good fubftitute, and fre­ quently ufed, and is not fubject to tarnish. The beft and moft complete fubftitute, however, is “ Aluminum,” which may be had in shells or faucers, and in leaf, like the gold and filver; this material is quite durable.

9

A Guide to Beginners

have now given general inftructions for laying on the colours, and the gold and filver; there now remains but the ^-outlining of the whole compofition, which procefs should be exe­ cuted with a very fine brush in either lamp black or ivory black; if the latter—which is the richeft, although perhaps not so tractable and pleafant to work with as the former—a few touches of indigo would give it more body and intenfity, and, as a general rule, the outline ought to be always thicker round the gold, wherever it occurs, than round the colours, and the black for this purpofe mull be ufed as thickly as polfible, or it will in many parts —particularly on the gold—fpread and blot, where the furface of the colour is quite fmooth, or where it is abforbent; fo that the ftudent will perceive that the molt difficult operation, and the one re­ quiring above all others the moll care, is the lafi and finishing touch.

On the fubject of colours I have but a few re­ marks to make.

Firlily, before all things it is ab-

in the dot of Illumination.

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

25

folutely neceffary that the ftudent should felect colours of the pureft kind.

The beft for the pur-

pofe being the Colours fpecially made for Illu­ minating by Meffrs. Barnard and Son, or other eminent makers, and fuch as are acknowledged to be permanent under all changes of climate; and that he should manipulate thefe colours purely, not permitting the fame brush to be dipped into the red and blue, &c. &c., without thoroughly cleanfmg it beforehand; even this is an unneceflary courfe and lofs of time when brushes are fo inex_ penfive; the beft method being to have a brush for each colour, thus doing away with the neceffity of washing it each tim e; for it is impoflible, in making a coloured fketch, to paint in all the reds, blues, or any other colours, at once, where the compofition muft of neceffity be built up piece by piece, or leaf by leaf.

is acknowledged and admitted as an eftablished law, that there are but three primary and independent colours; independent becaufe they cannot be produced by combination, and they are for that reafon termed primaries. The acknow­ ledged proportions of the colours, taken of courfe in equal intenfity, are three of Yellow, five of Red, and eight of Blue; and thefe primaries will be found to neutralize each other according to the proportions juft name d; and if mixed together ac­ cording to thefe proportions, they would nullify each other completely. For example, take a cir­ cular piece of cardboard and divide and mark it

A Guide to the Art o f Illumination.

*7

equally into fixteen parts, thus and paint any three of the divifions yellow , and five of the divifions red, and the remain ing eight b lue; infert a pin in the centre of this circula r piece of card, and caufe it to rotate or fpin round fwiftly, and you will find that the eye in watching its rota­ tion will be fimultaneously imprefled with the fucceflion of colours, each deftroying each, the refult being white or the abfence of all. The fame refult would be evident were you to take the fecondary colours, viz. Orange, Green, and Purple, in their relative proportions, that is, eight of orange, eleven of green, and thirteen of purple.

So alfo

with the tertiaries, viz. Citrine (compound of orange and green), Ruffet (compound of orange and purple), and Olive (compound of green and purple), in the due proportions of citrine ninetee n, ruffet twenty one, and olive twenty -four. Thefe colours muff of courfe be ufed in their prifmatic intenfities, for the tone of each colour becomes materially altered when mixed with white or black; fo that when a

28

A Guide to the Art o f Illumination,

full colour is contrafted with another of a lower tone, the quantity of the latter mu ft be increafed proportionally.

It is, however, not my intention

in this little book to dilate upon the theory of colour, as I fear it would only confufe the tyro ; I proceed, therefore, to treat of the fubject of compofition.

I

even colour, compofition of defign and gen era l plealing proportions, or grouping of orn am ental malfes, is primarily important, though unfortu nately by beginners generally neg lefted.

I can , how ever, allure the ftudent that the con fideration of this might well abforb all his attentio n at Harting a new fub jeft ; nor mull he be niggardly of his tim e, or in the end the unfatisfaHory and hurried attemp t will be found to require fo much tou chin g, re-touc hin g, and altering in parts, that more tim e will have been walled through impetuofity than would have fufficed for the completion of a careful drawing. I generally find that my

A Guide to Beg inn ers pupils are at firft too ambitious and im patient; they feem to think tha t the lettering is to be done almoft as quickly as the writin g of an ordinary epiftle, and that it is not of the flighted: importance to draw carefully, or to make /ketches, or trace, for the fake of accuracy; their object is to com ­ mence with the colours, and gold, and to ufe the white and the burnifher immediately. Now I wifh ftudents clearly and thoroughly to underftand, that unlefs they are prepared to devote fufficient tim e and give fufficient patience to their compofition, drawing, and, in ffiort, entire manipulation for this purpofe, they had better not attemp t it at all, for an illuminated fketch would be an abfurdity.

Th e three great features of a work ffiould be, firft, compofition; next, harmonious brilliancy of all the colours ; thirdly, a careful, neat, clean, and fyftematic manipulation.

A great deal mud naturally be left to the pupil's own tade, and he mud, in felecting a capital letter, or border, be particular that it is not too large nor too fm all; for unlefs this be a primary confidera-

in the Art of Illumination.

31

tion, he will never produce a fuccefsful and graceful compofition ; not only muft the general fize of the outlines of letters or other forms be confidered, but the accompanying ornament alfo, which muft be in accordance with, and make a part of, the whole form. The effect, for inftance, of a large e letter filled up with very fmall ornament would be objectionable; perhaps even worfe and more out of fcale would a very fmall initial be if furrounded and filled in with very large flowers, leaves, or other ornament, thus making the letter fubordinate to the ornament, inflead of the ornament to the letter. All lines fuch as ftalks to the flowers, leaves, &c., fhould flow gracefully and eaflly throughout the entire defign in this conventional ftyle, particularly where they unite; thus— and never thus— “ True beauty,” fays Owen Jones, in his invalu­ able work, ‘ The Grammar of Ornament,' “ refults from that repofe which the mind feels when the eye, the intellect, and the affections are fatisfied Beauty from the abfence of any want • •

32

A Guide to Beginners

of form is produced bylines growing out one from the other in gradual undulations; there are no excrefcences ; nothing could be removed and leave the defign equally good/’ I now give an illullrated example of a page, or rather fentence, fuch as I Ihould recommend as a preliminary ftudy. Note firlily the general con­ tour of the compofition, and you will find nothing to tire, puzzle, or excite the eye difagreeably, and the principal feature—as it Ihould always be—is the initial letter; the form of which should be in accordance with the date and llyle of ornament, llightly altered and modernifed in its proportions, if necelfary, without dellroying the peculiar form characterillic of the period (z. e., fourteenth cen­ tury). I have ornamented it to the belt of my ability in the fame llyle, llightly modernifing the shape of flowers and leaves to fuit the prefent advanced tafte, for it mull be remembered that in many of the old MSS. you will find the leaves and flowers dillorted and drawn out of perfpective, not purpofely, but through ignorance in the illumi-

in the Art of Illumination.

33

nator, perfpective being unconfidered in thofe days.

Should the ftudent be totally unacquainted with perfpective, there will be some little difficulty in the drawing of fome of the -flowers. instance

He would

instead

but let him not be diffieartened on this account, for it is only in cafes where flowers fuch, for inftance, as the one juft shown occur, that it is re­ Generally it is of little importance in this Jlyle, but be it clearly underftood that I confider the perfon acquainted with the rudiments of per­ fpective ftands a much better chance of making a better defign, as well as better details generally, than one entirely unacquainted with them, although there are many styles in this century where the application of perfpeflive rules would be quite unneceflary.

Take for example the title page of this

work.

I now give a few fpecimens, which may either be coloured according to the pupil’s own tafte, or

A Guide to Beginners according to my own arra ngemen t of the co­ lours.

It is impoffible, confidering the price at which this work is publiflied, to give coloured plates, or illuftrations; I muff, therefore, confine myfelf to Heraldic methods of expreffing colours, and^ as many of the readers of this little book may be un­ acquainted with heraldic terms, I will give a key to the methods ufed in a fimpler phrafeology. The colour Red is charaHerifed by a fucceffion of lines running downwards, thus Blue, by parallel lines, thus Black, thus

Gold, thus— crreen, tnus—1 |||||

ancl

Purple

thus—■

I cannot, of courfe, by thefe means attempt to give different fhades or tones of colour, that muft be left entirely to the ftudent’s discretion.

the reader now wifh to make a copy of any one of the examples given, his procefs

>

in the Art o f Illumination. should be as follow s:

35

Take a piece of French

tracing- paper, place it on the page, and fix it with a few touches of gum to prevent its fhifting about, then trace with a hard pencil carefully over the outline only, and when finifhed remove it, and make good any omiffions that you may difcover, but at the fame time do not add any lines that are not abfolutely neceflary for your guidance, otherwife they will confufe and trouble you, for it should always be a rule that nothing ought to be traced or marked in pencil that could be put in with a brush and colour at once fufficiently well by the hand and eye alone.

By fome writers on illumination vellum is advocated, as being more durable than paper.

That is indifputably true ;

and the colour and

texture of good and well-prepared calf-fkin , in my opinion,

is preferable

French vellum, which from

goat-lkin.

This

to

that

known

is prepared, I vellum

as

believe,

is very much

whiter in colour, and finer in quality and tex­ ture, but is not fo hard as the calf-ski n; and

g6

A Guide to Beginners

there is a certain femi-tranfparency, or ivory furface, about the latter-nam ed material which is very important to the effect of an elaborate and neatly- executed work ; but the difficulty of erafing any blot, or accidental mark of any kind, is exceedingly great ; confequently, if on that account only, I confider that beginners ffiould be content with paper, or there can be no ob­ jection to good card-board—not mounting-board —as the furface of the latter is, to a certain extent, abforbent, and a flat tint, or waffi of colour, hardly poflible ; for the mom ent the bruffi is removed from the furface of the paper the tint is nearly dry, and the next touch or mark made with the bruffi will, in all proba­ bility, cover or touch the edge of the former one, and the refult muft evidently be a fucceffion of dark marks at irregular intervals, unlefs opaque colours are ufed. If the ftudent prefers drawing­ paper to card-board, he may get the colour or tone of vellum by tinting the paper with flrong black tea, laying it on with a fponge, or very

large flat hogs-hair brufh. This will be found a very good ground to paint upon, as the ftain made with the tea will not work up or come away from the furface of the paper by the ufe of the brufh, and the object of thus tinting the paper is, to make the white, and all opaque colours, tell out pofitively and brilliantly, which, as I have before bated, is a very important feature in this art.

ull co nc lu de fpace being lim ited, 1 m have given in J as d an ; ks ar m re w fe w ith a very e m ix in g of co lo urs, th in nt de ftu e th to ns tio ftruf e rem ains now er th , lly ra ne ge n io at ul ip and man th e ch ar ac lly fu re ca dy ftu to m hi but to advife d upon, from the te en m m co es yl st e th of teriftics British M useum e th in ts ip cr uf an m ed illum inat y re co m m en d gl on ftr ld ou sh I d an , re and elfew he fpecim ens at co m ­ al in ig or od go om fr g in copy iginal de fig ns ; or g in pt m te at an th er th ra m en cing , trying his on up e in rm te de nt de ftu e but, should th all means take an by m hi t le , ity al in ig or hand at d ground his an t, ip cr uf an m d ol an om example fr

A Guide to the A rt o f Illumination.

39

invention upon it, as he will then have, to a certain extent, authority for general treatment. Should, however, the opportunities of examining original manufcripts be few, or none, he may, with ad­ vantage, confult fome of the firft-clafs illuftrated works, fuch as Noel Humphrey’s “ Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages,” and other works on the fame fubjeft by Shaw, which works may be feen generally at any public library, and in many private on es; but wherever originals are comeatable they are at all times to be preferred to printed copies, no ma tter how good they may be, as there is always something about the finish given by the human hand tha t is inimitable. I now leave the reader to his own resources, trusting he will take the advice and recommendations given in this little book in a kindly fpirit.

Im p rin ted by A dam s & Gee, M idale -stre et, W est S m ithfi eld, E.C

' ^

'

^ **k '

•W 3 f X J Z ^ O k i f a < ■> ■ ,. ■■:

,x - S

X ” .'St LX' < ; . <

~ S , .'

,

f