Quill:
To maketh a pen, first decide which is thou writing hand. Taketh from a goose or swan a fine outer feather; for thou who writes with thy right hand, take the feather from the left wing or if thou be left handed, take the feather from the right wing. Taketh then thy pen knife and slice away the barbs on thy feather and shorten its plume. Leave the feathers in the sun to dry for two or three months until it hast hardened strong. With the back of thy knife scrape away the grease from the quill. Cut thy feather to the length that is desired for writing. Cut the tip of thy pen until the point is sharp and then with thy pen knife slit the head of the pen so that it may carry thy ink.
Awl:
When binding manuscripts thou must first puncture holes in the gatherings of thy parchment pages. To do this you shalt use a stitching awl.
Reed Pen:
To writeth large letters in thy manuscript, make use of the reed pen. Thy reed pen should be of eight inches in height. Use thy pen knife to cutteth one end and shave away the soft inner part of the reed. Slice the tip at a right angle to maketh a tip that is sharp. Cut a short slit in the middle of thy pen nib. Take a strip of thin metal and foldeth into a loop and insert thy loop into thy pen, release it so that it may spring into position inside the reed. This will help thy pen hold its ink.
Pen Knife:
Thou scribes will like to use a rounded blade for making their pen nibs.
Burnishing Tool:
Thou scribes shalt use a burnisher when they gild. Thou burnishers may be made from agate, but couldst also be made from psilomelanite and true hematite (bloodstone). Thou shalt assure that thou scribes only use thy agate burnisher for polishing because it is very smooth. It serves as a finishing tool to polish a dried gesso to a fine polish in preparation for the laying of the gold. While an agate burnisher is a cold burnisher, that is, it gives off no heat when used; a true hematite burnisher emits heat, enabling a user to combine it with a cold gilding surface, and thereby form a stronger bond of gold with gesso. A true hematite has a rougher surface than an agate, and not only polishes the gold, but also forges it onto the gesso base.
Paint Brushes:
Thou scribes shalt use paint brushes made of animal hairs to paint and illuminate manuscripts. Thou rule of thumb for painting shalt be to use a brush that is large enough for thy job. If thou scribe uses a brush too small, she will not be able to complete her work fluidly. If thy paint brush is too large, thou scribe is likely to overpaint her images.
Ink Horn:
Thou scribe shalt use horns that hast been softened and formed into cups for their ink wells.
Note: this is a sketch of how they made ink horns.
Pumice Stone:
Thou scribes shalt use pumice to brush away mistakes that were made or to removeth hairs that were left on the parchment.
Rulers and Weights:
Thou scribes shalt also make use of rulers for drawing their lines and weights to hold open the pages of the manuscript they are copying from.
