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Ancient bookmarks
The earliest bookmarks are thought to have been used as far back the 1st century AD, but most of the oldest surviving bookmarks date back to between the 13th and 15th centuries. These bookmarks were found primarily in religious incunabula - early printed books, specifically those created before the 16th century - and were made of vellum or leather, usually the offcuts from the production of the book itself. The common shapes were present at this time, but some more inventive bookmarks were also discovered, such as a rotating disk form of marker, with numerals to remind the reader which column they had left their reading session on previously. Many of these bookmarks were also attached to a string (as in the example below) to allow them to be moved up and down in accordance with the precise line location that required marking. Around 35 of these bookmarks are currently held in library collections, primarily in Europe.
16 century and onwards
One of the most important historic moments in the history of the bookmark came in 1584 when Christopher Barker (the Queen's printer since 1577, and thus the only man in England legally allowed to print The Bible at the time) presented Queen Elizabeth with a silk bookmark, likely for use in her personal copy of the religious text. Silk became a common material in bookmark production after this, with nearly all such ribbons being bound into the book itself, thus making them inseparable from the tome they were marking. This style of bookmark remained dominant in reading circles until detachable bookmarks became more fashionable in the mid 19th century; one of the first references to this new style of bookmark can be found in Mary Russell Mitford's Recollections of a Literary Life (1852).
A weaver from Coventry named Thomas Stevens revolutionised the collectible bookmark landscape in 1862, when he produced what would come to be called the first 'Stevengraph'. Stevens used a modified loom to weave intricately detailed, beautifully coloured images into strips of silk, which were then used for many items, namely greetings cards and bookmarks. By end of the 19th century, Stevens had produced over 900 different designs, and these are still considered highly collectible today due to their rarity, as all but one book of designs was destroyed in the 1940 bombing of Coventry. The only book of Stevens' designs that survived - saved the night before the attack by a relative of Stevens- was summarily donated to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, where it can still be viewed today.
Leather bookmarks were en vogue at this time as well, with the added ornamentation and beauty of their fringed ends being a big draw for people. There is no single consensus on why leather bookmarks have fringes, but the leading theories are that the fringes prevent the bookmark being lost between the pages, that it prevents the end of the bookmark from getting dirty, and that it was a cheap and effective way to add ornamentation to a smaller item when the embossing process was less precise. Whatever the reason is, we think that fringing looks stunning on a leather bookmark, and adore the added tactility of it.
As books became more widely accessible towards the end of the 19th century, the material that bookmarks were made from shifted accordingly. Card and stiffened paper bookmarks became the fashion, as these were easier to mass produce than intricate Stevengraphs, and the image we have come to associate with the word 'bookmark' in the modern world was born.
Our leather bookmarks
While we understand the accessibility and ease of a paper bookmark, we at Scriptum are big proponents of the idea that the everyday items that are part of your life should be both functional and beautiful, and so we have created our Scriptum Italian Gilded Leather Bookmarks. The bookmarks are available in three rich jewel tones, and feature our 20th anniversary logo embossed into the smooth leather, gilded with gold leaf foil. They have been carefully designed to fit all sizes of book, and make a thoughtful gift for the reader in your life, reminding them of you as they sneak a chapter here and there throughout the day. For those who prefer simply to dog ear their pages, we have a plethora of fascinating books on offer, both in our Turl Street shop and online, for you to dive into and fold the corners of at will!
Stay safe and well, Scriptum blog readers x
]]>If you have ever payed our Turl Street shop a visit, you will likely be more than aware of our affinity for opera. Come rain or shine, morning, noon, or night, a sparkling aria is never far away on our shop playlist! In honour of our new Opera Librettos Journal, I felt it would be opportune to talk to our resident opera aficionados, Azeem and Kirsty, about their (current) favourite arias. Lo facciamo?
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Azeem - Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana, La Wally, Alfredo Catalani
A permanent fixture on our playlist, the title of Catalani's most famous aria translates to 'Well then? I'll go far away', and chronicles protagonist Wally's decision to leave home forever. The aria was actually written before the rest of the opera in 1878 - entitled Chanson Groënlandaise - before Puccini decided to include it in La Wally, which was first performed in 1892.
Wally's father has asked her to leave as a result of her wishing to marry Hagenbach - the son of her father's greatest enemy - and refusing to marry the man her Father has chosen for her. As a result, Wally decides she will go 'Quite far away, and perhaps [...] will never more return', suggesting that she would rather take her chances wandering 'somewhere in the white snow' than be without Hagenbach. Wally returns a year later after her father's death, and following many difficulties, Wally and Hagenbach are finally united in their love in the closing moments of the opera. Tragically, however, after professing his love to Wally, Hagenbach triggers an avalanche that crushes him. Overcome with grief, Wally jumps to her death from atop the mountain, and the curtain falls.
Due to the logistics of the avalanche in the final act, the opera is very rarely performed, but it has been recorded numerous times - most notably with Maria Callas as Wally. This 1954 recording is Azeem's favourite version of his most beloved aria. Azeem says that this aria is the one that most resonates with his life, and that the themes of family have made it even more meaningful to him since his parents sadly passed away in the last few years. While La Wally may not often be performed, this aria is on regular rotation in our Turl Street shop, and has become a staple of the ambience we attempt to create in our corner of Oxford.
Kirsty - O Soave Fanciulla, La Boheme, Giacomo Puccini
Perhaps Puccini's most famous duet, 'O Soave Fanciulla' - translating to 'O Gentle Maiden' - ends the first act of his 1896 opera La Boheme, which documents the the lives of a poor seamstress and her friends in fin de siecle Paris. Based on an 1851 novel by Henri Murger, La Boheme is a staple of our shop playlist, but 'O Soave Fanciulla' remains its highlight for Kirsty. For her, the mixing of the tenor and soprano is the finest example of its kind in operatic duets, and she believes that no other aria conveys the theme of love with quite as much force as La Boheme's highlight.
Mimì, the poor seamstress whose life the opera revolves around, has called upon her neighbour Rodolfo, a poet, as her candles have blown out, and she has no matches left. Once her candles are re-lit, and she has recovered from a feeling of faintness that overcame her, Mimì attempts to return home, but realises she has lost her key. Rodolfo finds the key and hides it on his person, eager to spend more time with Mimì, and the two begin to realise their feelings for each other. Rodolfo sees Mimì's head haloed in moonlight and proclaims 'Oh, sweet face bathed in the soft moonlight. I see in you the dream I'd dream forever!': after a some romantic back and forth, the pair exit the stage exulting 'Beloved! My love! My love!' in blissful unison. The depth of feeling in this duet is only rivalled by the raw emotion of Rodolfo weeping over Mimì's eventual death, after she succumbs to her consumption moments before the opera closes.
Our Newest Operatic Creation
We firmly believe that bittersweet tragedy of these arias - with their unrealised love, turbulent and short lived protagonists, and abiding emotional impact - is always best enjoyed through live stagings of the respective operas, and we try to attend as often as we can. We have long wanted to create a journal hat could accompany us on these important visits, and as such we have created the Opera Libretto Journal.
The journal has been thoughtfully designed to allow for an original language transcription of your favourite arias on one side of the journal, with the translation on the other side. With 72 pages, the journal can hold many of your most beloved librettos, but is still svelte enough to fit into a jacket pocket or handbag, allowing for it to accompany you to your favourite opera houses around the world!
The Opera Librettos Journal is available in our Turl Street shop, or on our website here. We hope to see you all at the next performance of La Boheme with your journal in hand!
Stay safe and well, Scriptum blog readers x
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The City of Dreaming Spires (as Matthew Arnold so fittingly crowned Oxford in his 1865 poem 'Thyrsis') was declared the United Kingdom's most aesthetic city by Atlas Ceramics, and contains 26 listed buildings per square kilometre, meaning there is never any lack of stunning vistas to stumble across. One of the things that unifies the buildings of Oxford and makes them especially beautiful is the stone that the buildings are made of. The cohesion of these now iconic landmarks can make one feel as if they are in a waking dream, and the hue of the stone itself reflects the sunlight in such a way that one cannot help having their spirits cheered by it. Evelyn Waugh described this effect of the light in his seminal novel Brideshead Revisited as making Oxford feel like 'a city of aquatint', referring to the depth of tone in 18th and 19th century prints, which may explain why it so often feels like one is walking inside a postcard whilst traversing Oxford's winding streets. While most buildings are now clad in a variety of stones - including Cotswold, Bath, and Portland - the stone at the heart of many Oxford buildings is of a far more local flavour.
Headington stone gets its name from the Headington Quarry where it was produced, around 4 miles from the centre of Oxford. It is thought that the first use of Headington stone came in 1396, when the local limestone was utilised in the construction of New College's bell tower. By the 1600s, Headington stone dominated the construction projects of Oxford, with all major buildings making use of it in their creation. The stone was a specific type of limestone, called Corallian limestone, created by the fossilisation of coral reefs millions of years ago when the Oxfordshire area was still submerged in the sea. Limestone is famously softer than other types of stone, and Headington stone in particular was praised for the ease with which one could cut and manipulate it to fit the desired shape or angle of the building project at hand. This quality was so desirable in the stone that it was even used in projects outside of Oxford, including Windsor Castle and Eton College.
As demand grew and extraction increased, however, the quality of Headington Quarry's Corallian limestone began to deteriorate drastically. Many of Oxford's finest buildings soon found themselves with an existential problem: the very stone they were made from was being eaten away by pollution and acid rain, leaving their continued standing in a state of peril. Bath stone came in to save the day, with many buildings requiring re-cladding in order to assure their structural safety - much of the stone now on view in our very own Turl Street is Bath stone. Headington stone's reign had come to an abrupt end, and today the land is residential, though two pits (Magdalen Quarry and Rock Edge) still remain as sites of Special Scientific Interest.
While Headington stone may not have ended up being the enduring local success that the architects and quarrymen of the past had hoped it to be, we still find the story of such local ingenuity and diligent work deeply inspiring, and as such we wanted to pay tribute to the buried foundation of some of Oxford's finest buildings. As such, our new Ornate Vase Journal, Verba Volant, Scripta Manent Pocket Journal, and Oxford Pocket Journal are available in our new Stone coloured leather, intended to be as close a match to the Corallian limestone that originally built our great city as possible. The motifs on these journals are embossed with a bronze foil so as to allow the rich hue of the leather to shine through, whilst adding a dash of ornamentation that we hope the earliest architects of Oxford would have approved of.
All of these journals are available on our website, or in our Turl Street shop, from which you can see the experience the aquatint of Oxford's light upon the Bath stone that clads Lincoln College on a bright spring afternoon such as this.
Stay safe and well, Scriptum Blog readers x
]]>Dearest Scriptum blog readers,
I have a real treat for you today! I was lucky enough to speak to friend of the shop Felix Flicker, who has recently published his first book 'The Magick of Matter'. The book is an enthralling exploration of condensed matter physics, a field that Felix describes as ‘the wizard’s art’ of the physical world. I think it’s best if I let him explain, so without further ado, here is the interview.
]]>I have a real treat for you today! I was lucky enough to speak to friend of the shop Felix Flicker, who has recently published his first book 'The Magick of Matter'. The book is an enthralling exploration of condensed matter physics, a field that Felix describes as ‘the wizard’s art’ of the physical world. I think it’s best if I let him explain, so without further ado, here is the interview.
Harry Tidby: I was immediately struck by how original it was to frame the discoveries in the book through the lens of learning magic - could you tell me a bit about how this structure came about?
Felix Flicker: Condensed matter is the biggest area in physics, occupying around a third of all researchers -- but nobody has ever heard of it. Why this is has been a topic of discussion throughout the history of the subject. I tried to look at it from the other direction: why are we excited to hear about topics such as black holes and superstrings? The answer I came to is that those topics have an essential magic to them which doesn't need explaining. I tried to think what the magic is which physicists see in condensed matter.
By the way, Scriptum played a vital role in this. Early on in the writing I thought I'd better work out what I actually mean by 'magic'. So I visited Scriptum and commissioned a magic journal, in which I could note down magical things as I saw them. With time I came to see that magic is the world's ability to inspire. For example, Azeem was recently showing me images from the James Webb telescope with great enthusiasm; their ability to inspire was clear. So I'd set out to try to show that matter can inspire in the same way, even if its magic is of a practical, familiar, and therefore more subtle form.
HT: I really liked your analogy of scientific ideas being like jokes - you can only 'get' them once, but by understanding them you can then relay them to other people, and give that that experience of 'getting it'. It lead me to wonder, if there was one piece of information, scientific or otherwise, that you could relay to every person in the world at once, what would it be, and why?
FF: Wait, in a world where the teller makes every person who hasn't got the joke get the joke, does the teller get the joke?
HT: Early on in the book you speak about how important your conversations with both Volker Heine and Phillip W. Anderson were to you both personally and professionally, as they were the two key figures who helped to define what the field of condensed matter physics truly was. Is there anyone working in the field today that you would particularly like the opportunity to meet with?
FF: Fritjof Capra was inspirational to me when I was a teenager. I lent The Tao of Physics to various friends, and eventually didn't get it back. I would say that he was the one person I'd like to meet. But actually I wrote him a letter when I was a postdoctoral research fellow in Berkeley, where he lives, and as a result we met up. We subsequently became friends, and he has been very supportive of me in the writing process. I'm inadvertently advertising Scriptum again -- without writing that expertly-stationed letter the book might once again not exist!
HT: If I'm not mistaken, you wrote the fictional excerpts that begin each new chapter in your book (which are deeply engrossing, by the way). I'd be fascinated to know if you found the processes of writing fiction and non-fiction particularly different, and whether you wrote the corresponding fictional and non-fictional pieces concurrently, or if the fictional sections were a precursor/later addition to the book?
FF: I tried to write the non-fictional book several times over the years. I found the style would come out inconsistently week to week. Then one Christmas, after reading Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea books for the first time, I instead tried writing a piece of fiction. This became the opening passage of the book. From then on the entire book flowed out consistently every time. That piece of fiction bound everything together.
In answer to your other question, I now see writing fiction and non-fiction as essentially identical. Thinking critically about how to structure a novel has even helped me write scientific papers and grant proposals. However dry the subject matter, it will still be read by people, and the same narrative techniques will keep them wanting to read to the end.
HT: Would you ever consider writing a fully fictional book? Would it be informed by your scientific work, or would you try and keep the two separate?
FF: I’ve wondered about that. I might try a fictional book one day. It would certainly have science in it in some form, but perhaps rather obliquely, as in the passages in this book.
HT: Your closing reflections on scientific discovery not being able to be separated from the human environment as a whole were really thought provoking, and rang true with me about all innovations in modern life, as our lives are so inter-connected now that to suggest anything was created entirely independently seems ludicrous. Where do you see the future of scientific research heading, with regards to the lack of separation between environment and research, and further to that, how do you think we can best foster scientific community in a world that seems to be dividing apart more each day?
FF: On the first question, a big part of modern science is working alongside artificial intelligence. We're creating the AI by training it on the problems we're interested in. Presently it's still a selling point of a paper to say that new AI/machine learning approaches were developed to tackle a problem. But at some point I suppose we'll need to start adding our own research code as an author on that same research (a bit like that Gerald the Gorilla sketch on Not the Nine O'Clock News).
On the second question, one important step is making science more open. I think the public should have free access to all taxpayer funded research papers, and this is something that's beginning to happen with moves toward 'Open Access'. In physics we already have the ArXiv (pronounced archive; arxiv.org) where anyone can access scientific pre-prints for free. There are moves to make the peer review process more open as well, which I think will help demystify the process for both scientists and the wider public.
In writing this book I hoped to reach a broad audience. Sometimes when people aren't interested in science it's simple preference, and that's fine; but often I think people are told science is not for them. By focussing on the magic of the subject I hoped to provide a different route to seeing that there's something in it for everyone, and that everyone's welcome.
HT: Thank you so much for your time today Felix, this has all been truly illuminating.
Felix’s book 'The Magick of Matter' is available now in our Turl Street shop, or on our website here.
Stay safe and well this holiday season all x
]]>If you have ever paid a visit to the hallowed halls of our shop in Turl Street, you will have noticed that we really like books. Like, really like them. Our days would, frankly, feel incomplete without straightening a shelf of beautifully bound tomes, and often sneaking a peek between the covers in the process. As the weather is drawing in, and Autumn officially begins on Friday, we felt it would be pertinent to shed some light on a book we think you should all be cosying up with as the nights draw in: our Treasury of Irish Literature. Today, we wanted to give an overview of the Irish storytelling tradition, before giving you a quick rundown of just four of the thirty authors present in this magnificent volume.
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Oral tradition of Celtic storytelling
The history of Irish folklore and myth was, originally, an oral one. The oral tradition of storytelling in Ireland was arguably one of the strongest across the world, with dedicated storytellers called Seanchaí being tasked with the upholding of the country's legends by mouth alone. Up until the 16th century, this role was highly respected, with their rank in society being close in both reverence and working relation to royalty. The English conquest of Ireland at this time reduced the importance of the Seanchaí within Irish society drastically, but they did not simply disappear. These storytellers knew that their job was simply too important to give up on, and so they continued to travel between towns, regaling residents with the tales of old at local events.
The stories these Seanchaí told generally held to one of four main cycles of Early Irish Literature: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian cycle, and the Cycle of Kings. They did, however, tell folk stories as well, which related more closely to the lives of the people who would crowd round to hear them wind their literary paths. Though the modernisation of communication has diminished the role of the Seanchaí further, the tradition still continues, as many feel it is of deep importance to keep grounded to the roots of Irish storytelling. In keeping with this view, the Treasury of Irish Literature begins by outlining some of the traditional poems and ballads passed down in this manner, before moving on to the first poet in the tome:
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Thomas Moore is, for many, the quintessential Irish poet, and is widely credited with the initial surge in popularity for using English rather than Irish in verse with his Irish Melodies, first published in 1808. Born in Dublin in 1779, Moore's literary ambitions became clear from a young age, with his first piece of work being published in a literary magazine when he was only 14. He was one of the first Catholics to be admitted to Trinity College in 1795, where he studied law, with his first full collection of verse being published in 1801 following his move into the literary circles of London.
Over the next decades he made many high-powered acquaintances, including Founding Father and 3rd President of the United States of America Thomas Jefferson, the Prince Regent and future King George IV and, in a more literary vein, Lord Byron. Moore and Byron's friendship was so enduring that, at their last meeting in Venice, October 1819, Byron entrusted Moore with his journals, to be published after his death. The journals were so scandalous that a party of Byron's closest friends and family attempted to burn them before Moore could release them unto the world, but thankfully Moore managed to save a god chunk of the material, much to the party's consternation.
Moore's literary output is of incalculable value to Irish literature, and its impact on the country's artistic soul is almost second-to-none, but perhaps one of hos most interesting contributions to Ireland's history is that he is, more than likely, the very first Irish person to ever be photographed. A calotype (an early form of photographic process) shows him stood with family members of William Henry Fox Talbot (pioneer of the calotype, and next-door neighbour of the Moores), dated April 1844. The friendship between the two men also lead to photographs of Moore's handwriting being published by Talbot in the The Pencil of Nature, the first commercially available book to contain photographs.
Katharine Tynan-Hinkson (1859-1931)
A less recognised figure in Irish literature, Katharine Tynan Hinkson was nonetheless incredibly influential in the country's literary history. Born in Dublin in 1859, Tynan-Hinkson was of strong literary stock: her sister Nora was a poet as well, and her daughter Pamela's writing was celebrated throughout the 20th century. She was often at the centre of Dublin's literary circles, and had a great influence over many who swam in them, until her husband's work necessitated a move to England in the early 1900s. Tynan-Hinkson's work was deeply informed by Celtic mythology, just like that of her regular correspondent W.B Yeats, who she supposedly rejected a marriage proposal from in the 8 year period of their friendship before she married.
No other writer on this list comes anywhere close to being as prolific in their output as Tynan-Hinkson, and that's not altogether surprising. Alongside her wealth of poetry, she published five volumes of autobiography over a period of 11 years, and purportedly wrote over 100 novels in her 44 year literary career. Few authors could dream of such productivity, even with today's technological aids, and she is rightfully remembered for this incredible feat, as well as for the beauty and patriotism of her verse.
W.B Yeats (1865-1939)
One of 20th century literature's most lauded sons, W.B Yeats brought the Irish tradition to the modern world in a major way. Split into two distinct phases, his work deals with two of the most central themes in much of Irish writing: mythology and politics. His earliest work was heavily influenced by Celtic mythology - like that of Katharine Tynan-Hinkson - alongside being influenced by the occult: the young Yeats had a decided bent towards all things mystical. In his seminal essay The Celtic Element in Literature, he credited the 'Fountain of Gaelic Legends' with the revival of Celtic influence over the period's writing, stating that its effect would create 'a new intoxication for the imagination of the world'.
His obsession with the spiritual and mystic sides of life never ebbed, but it did give way in his work for more serious political themes, in response to the fraught times he lived in. The extent of his radicalisation with regard to the Irish nationalist cause can be credited at least in part to his infatuation with Maud Gonne, an ardent proponent of Home Rule, to whom he proposed four times over the course of their acquaintance (he was rejected each and every time). His most affecting political poem, Easter, 1916, is published in the Treasury, and versifies the Easter Rising of April 1916, a key event in the fight for Irish independence. In 1923, a year after becoming Senator of the Irish Free State, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, in recognition of the fact that his poetry managed to capture the spirit of an entire nation.
Interestingly enough, Yeats actually spent a fair time in and around Oxfordshire throughout his life. In the 1920s, he lived in a house on Thame High Street with his family, and his son Michael was even born there. A blue plaque has been placed on the building to commemorate his time spent there.
There is even a chance - brace yourselves - that Yeats could have visited 3 Turl Street, the home of yours truly! In the 1920s, Yeats and his wife lived at 45 Broad Street - a mere 3 minute walk from our front door - for two months, before they found a more permanent home elsewhere in the county. The building we are nestled in is over 600 years old (hence the ceilings, sorry) and has at various times been a bank, a butchers and, for a good chunk of its existence, a bookshop. We don't have exact dates, but we know that Blackwell's had a second-hand bookshop here for a long while, so it is likely that this enterprise was present during Yeats' time in Oxford! Be sure to remember, next time you enter into our little corner of the world, that you may well be walking in the footsteps of literary legends...
James Joyce (1882-1941)
No repository of Irish literature could possibly be considered complete without at least some work by one James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, perhaps the best known Irish literary figure of all time. Joyce is best remembered for his 1922 novel Ulysses, which brought much trouble down upon the head of its author and publisher due to the obscene nature of many of its passages. The work was flatly banned in the United States and England, not being made legal until 12 years later by the former, though by that time many copies had been snuck into the country anyway, not least due to a concerted effort by fellow author Ernest Hemingway.
Ulysses changed the way literature functioned all across the globe, and continues to top list of the most influential works of all time to this day, a century after its initial publication. Despite a relatively small literary output compared to many of the authors in this anthology - one play, three poetry collections, a single short story collection, and thee novels - no single writer in the Treasury can be said to have influenced the way the modern literary world works more than Joyce. In this collection, you can experience eight of his poems, and his most accomplished short story The Dead, before fully immersing yourself in the Joycean canon with an unabridged printing of his entire first novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
These are just a few of the marvellously inventive, endlessly lyrical, and continually poignant names you will find between the covers of this magnificent anthology. If you want to get your hands on a copy before this Friday's equinox, you can visit the shop today. If you are sadly unable to take a stroll down blessed Turl Street at this time, the anthology can also be purchased through our online store here.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat, Scriptum blog readers x
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Stationery is undeniably a key component in many of life's most important moments - congratulations cards when a baby is born, birthday cards, wedding invitations: all are crucial and immensely personal uses of humble paper. Getting the correct stationery is never more important, however, than with regards to the passing of a loved one. In light of recent events, we felt it would be pertinent to pen a little something about stationery's place at the end of life, and explain why its significance.
]]>Breaking the news
In the gentler times of snail mail, a letter would be sent to friends and family, informing them of their loved one's passing. Starting with the exterior, there were two important traditions regarding the envelope of a death notice.
Firstly, when considering the sealing wax, black was the only way to go. Black is the colour most closely associated with death and mourning in the Western world, a tradition that can be linked back as far as the Romans, who made a practice of wearing a dark-coloured toga to mark the passing of a family member. By sealing a letter in black wax, you gave the recipient advanced notice of what was contained within, allowing them to plan accordingly as to when they open it. They were able to take a private moment to digest the contents, without it being too great a shock, which was a subtly thoughtful touch to accompany such dreadful news.
The other tradition in this vein was the lining the edges of envelopes in black, to mark that the letter held grave tidings. The idea with the black edged stationery was much the same when talking about death notices - it was a pre-warning for the recipient of such unfortunate and tragic news. The custom did not stop there, however. In the 19th century - and even into the early 20th century- a person in mourning would also adorn their personal stationery with a black border for up to a year after a loved on's death, letting all who received missives from them know that their mourning period was still in effect. Sometimes, this border would be reduced in thickness as the mourning period progressed, to symbolise the easing of grief, however these traditions were not always followed. One notable exception to the first rule was Mark Twain, who still adorned his correspondence with a black border up to ten years after the death of his daughter Susy, according to the Shapell Manuscript Collection.
The black border is not simply contained to personal stationery, though. Newspaper articles announcing the death of a prominent royal or political figure would often be bordered in black as a mark of respect, and even some paintings of recently deceased subjects would be adorned with a black border to indicate the tragic new dimension their passing had brought the work. Most pertinently, a black bordered notice was pinned to the gates of Balmoral Castle mere days ago to officially notify the public of the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, a tradition that has endured for many generations of royals.
Funeral stationery
Nowadays, written notices to inform us of the death of a loved one are practically unheard of, but that does not mean that stationery is absent from our death rituals: the importance of proper stationery at a funeral simply cannot be overstated. It allows a personal touch to be brought to proceedings, and provides a subtle, yet impactful avenue through which the deceased can be lovingly commemorated. Whilst invitations are falling out of fashion, they are still not completely unused, and are a far more personal and meaningful call to celebrate someone's life than a simple text or email could ever be.
The order of service is by far the most memorable piece of funeral service stationery, and for good reason. It may seem, on first glance, to be a simple itinerary, allowing guests a quick look forward at the events to come, but, at its best, an order of service can be a deeply personal piece of work. While funerals services themselves are generally formal and sombre, the order of service can really reflect the deceased's character, and can enormously touching as a result. Poems, photos, dedications, and pieces from various family members are all ways in which the order of service can bring a touch of levity and joy to an otherwise melancholy day, and it is likely the only piece of funeral ephemera that guests will hang on to. The creation of a thoughtful order of service is one of the final physical acts one can perform for the departed, to ensure they have a truly fitting send off. From here, the stationery-in-death-ritual journey nears its end, with the final instance of it appearing being with:
The Condolence Book
Arguably the most important piece of funeral stationery, the condolence book is the culmination of all the thoughts and feelings that arise from process of grieving, condensed into one beautiful binding. Usually displayed at the wake, the condolence book allows for family and friends to immortalise their memories of the deceased in a permanent housing, which is generally held on to by the bereaved, and often passed down through generations.
Books of condolence are also utilised in an official capacity by local councils, wings of the armed forces, and many other organisations upon the passing of a prominent member of society. At this very moment, books of condolence are being filled out in towns and barracks up and down the country, in order for them to be delivered to the palace once everyone has had a chance to record what the Queen meant to them. Books of condolence are vessels that bring closure - places to say a final goodbye to a personal relation or important historical figure -and can be objects of great comfort for the bereaved, reflecting, as they do, the impact their loved one had on the people around them. They are a beautiful and abiding tradition, that pays fitting tribute to those we continue to love, despite their passing.
Stay safe and well, Scriptum blog readers x
]]>Kaweco pens have long been a staple here at Scriptum - from the Perkeo to the Fireblue Liliput, or the Sport to last year's Special Red Collection, we adore it all - and so today, we are thrilled to introduce you to the newest member of our Kaweco family: the Supra.
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The Supra is built on the principles of the beloved Liliput, but with some very notable modifications. For starters, it is a much chunkier pen, which will delight those who deeply admire the Liliput's design, but envy those with hands small enough to use it in equal measure (including yours truly).
The increased diameter lends the pen a lot of extra weight, with it weighing 40 grams sans extender, and 50 grams when the extender is in use. This allows the pen to sit solidly in the hand, without worry of slippage and ensuing smudging. The extra weight's benefits do not end in the hand, however, as the considerable grammage behind the nib creates a wonderfully smooth and consistent ink flow, unmatched so far by any other Kaweco offering.
What truly sets the Supra apart from its brethren is its modularity. The pen is made up of three sections as opposed to two - an extender being present alongside the usual grip and barrel sections.
This extender adds 3.1cm and 10 grams to the pen when deployed, and turns the Supra from a heavyweight pocket pen into a more luxurious, comfortable fountain pen, enabling longer use without sacrificing comfortability.
We are currently only stocking the brass Supra, and while some of you may have concerns about the pen's toughness as a result of this, there is no need to worry. The Supra is made from Wieland Eco Brass which, apart from being lead-free and thus more sustainable, has the equivalent strength of stainless steel as a result of its unique formula. This bolsters its functionality as a pocket pen, meaning that keys, cards, change, and all other manner of pocket gubbins will simply bounce off it, giving you peace of mind as you go about your day.
As is common with brass products, the pen will age visibly over its time with you, resulting in an entirely unique patina, created by your own hand. We might be biased, but we believe that the ageing of an item so personal as a pen or a journal in tandem with the owner is one of the most poignant and compelling details of the analogue articles of daily life. If, however, you prefer your brass clean and resplendent, the pen can be easily returned to its original shine with very minimal effort.
To feel the considerable weight and marvellous ink flow of the Supra for yourself, visit us in our Turl Street shop today. If you aren't able to visit us and view this fine writing instrument in the flesh, you can view it on our website here.
Stay safe and well, Scriptum blog readers x
]]>It should come as no surprise that we at Scriptum adore fountain pens. Tall, short, thin, chunky, metal, resin, plastic: we love them all!
We have recently been fortunate enough to expand the range of pens we stock to include some absolutely fantastic Esterbrook pens, and so I felt it would be opportune to give the Scriptum Blog readers a short history of the Esterbrook Pen Company, and to detail what makes their writing instruments truly special.
]]>We have recently been fortunate enough to expand the range of pens we stock to include some absolutely fantastic Esterbrook pens, and so I felt it would be opportune to give the Scriptum Blog readers a short history of the Esterbrook Pen Company, and to detail what makes their writing instruments truly special.
Cornish Beginnings
Our story begins, perhaps oddly for a tale of such uniquely American triumph, in 19th century Cornwall, where, in 1812, Richard Esterbrook was born into a Quaker family. He studied business before setting up a stationery shop, and grew rich from investing the shop's profits into tin mining. He retired on his investment profits, planning to live out his days on a farm he had purchased, but a family predicament called for his return to the business world.
His son had decided to try and set up a pen company in Philadelphia (having taken inspiration from his father's stationery successes), but was struggling to get off the ground, and thus asked his father for help. Being of hands-on, Quaker heritage, Esterbrook did not simply provide a cash injection, instead opting to call upon a few pen makers from Birmingham and overhaul the failing filial business. After a few years of working side by side with his son, Esterbrook Senior dissolved the partnership they had, and took full control of the business. Upon this dissolution, he changed the company's name from 'The Steel Pen Manufacturing Company' to the far grander 'The Esterbrook Steel Pen Manufacturing Company', and Esterbrook as we know it was born. Following the name change, the company relocated to Camden, New Jersey, where it would remain based until its closure over 100 years later.
Building an Empire
Esterbrook were inarguably one of the most successful pen manufacturers over the next 30 years - the variety, versatility, and durability of their nibs being far beyond their contemporary competitors. At the peak of the company's success, the plant's 600 workers were producing 600,000 pens per day, an absolutely unfathomable number in today's digital age. Despite this success, however, it was only after Richard Esterbrook's death in 1895 that the Esterbrook empire truly began to take shape.
Following his death, a branch was started back in Birmingham - where Esterbrook's original manufacturers had been requisitioned from - putting them on two continents, and helping to increase their domination of the pen market. The company remained solely focussed on its dip pen nibs until the 1920s, but with the rising popularity of fountain pens they decided to expand out into this market, originally using gold and jewel nibs of only the highest quality. During the coming economic depression these materials would quickly become too expensive for use in mass-manufactured pens, and the iridium nib came to prominence in their stead, and remaining a popular choice for fountain pen nibs to this day.
War and Decline
The pen industry was hit hard by the Second World War, with Esterbrook being hit in both the physical and metaphorical sense. Half of its Birmingham plant was destroyed by a single German bomb in 1940, and the government subsequently took charge of this space after funding its reconstruction, in order to meet the manufacturing needs of the war effort. The post-war economic downturn lead to reduced demand for Esterbrook products, and profits began to fall, but unlike many businesses of the time, this decline was eventually reversed thanks to broadening of product ranges, and expansion on previous lines.
This bounce back would unfortunately prove to be the final upswing inn Esterbrook's, as by 1967 declining exports combined with decreasing domestic demand left the company in need of a buyout. The Venus Pencil Company - who came to prominence in the First World War due to a breakdown in German trade, and would later be purchased by Faber-Castell - stepped up to the plate, and thus 'Venus Esterbrook' was created. This new endeavour was destined to fail, though, and a mere fours year later Berol purchased the company, ceasing Esterbrook operations altogether as one of their first business moves.
As of 1971, Esterbrook, in all the many states it had existed, was sadly no more.
Legends Never Die
While an active Esterbrook company may not have been existent, the impact the enterprise had on the cultural consciousness of the United States meant that its name was still closely associated with the pen industry, and in 2014 the Esterbrook name was purchased by Harpen Brand Holdings. It was following this purchase that the 'America's Original Pen Company' moniker which is so widely recognised today, was created.
Production of Esterbrook classics such as the Deluxe fountain pen was resumed, with such success that the rights to the Esterbrook name were purchased again only a few years later by Kenro, where production remains today. Where before the Esterbrook name had been utilised in order to draw older collectors back into the fore, today Esterbrook looks to the future, with a hope to bring the beauty and tactility of fountain pens to as many new people. Esterbrook aims to remind us all about the beauty of the handwritten word, in a world where keyboards and touchscreens have dominated the correspondence of the last decades. So determined are the current Esterbrook team to acknowledge where the brand came from all those years ago, they have developed a unique converting system for nibs, which allows all vintage Esterbrook nibs to be used with their modern designs, both unifying the brand, and democratising the use of historical writing materials.
Friends in high places
At their peak Esterbrook nibs were adored by millions across the United States, and with their ubiquity came many a claim to scriptorial fame. Among the ranks of famous Esterbrook users you can find:
- Carl Barks, idolised Disney artist and creator of Donald Duck, who used an Esterbrook 356 nib to create works that would stick in the minds of children and adults alike for generations to come.
- American presidents Abraham Lincoln, Lyndon B. Johnson, and John F. Kennedy, who all used Esterbrook pens to sign legislation in the Oval Office. Kennedy, specifically, used his Esterbrook fountain pen to sign a bill increasing NASA's budget by billions of dollars, leading to the first manned mission landing on the Moon with Apollo 11.
- All 72 signees of the original Civil Rights Act, which resulted in landmark changes to the protection of the rights of millions of marginalised American citizens.
Our selection
With such a tapestried history in mind, we would be lying if we said we weren't brimming with excitement over our opportunity to sell these magnificent writing materials here in our shop.
Joining our ranks from the Esterbrook brand are the Estie, and the Oversize Estie, both iconic symbols of 20th century nostalgia. These pens are made by turning and blending the highest quality acrylic mix, which is then meticulously polished to give them that classic Esterbrook sheen. The gold clips accents the pens beautifully, and allow for easy slipping into a pocket, without worry of loss.
The pens also feature a cushion closure mechanism, which ensures their nibs stays wet by creating a secondary seal when the pens are capped.
To see our current stock, please do come and visit us in store, as we would love to show you the beauty of an Esterbrook pen up close and personal. If you can't make it to see us in store, you can also view the pens on our website - the regular Estie is viewable here, and the Oversize Estie is viewable here.
We are sure you will love them as much as we do, and hope you found this history of a true pen industry titan as fascinating as we did.
Stay safe and well, Scriptum blog readers x
]]>In Oxford, there is always a good chance you will run into someone famous - a visiting author here to speak at the Union, perhaps, or a celebrity alumnus back for the day to stroll the spires and reminisce. However, if you are looking for a guaranteed face to face with some of the world's most prominent thinkers, look no further!
]]>We are incredibly pleased to introduce you to our range of Hanging Historical Figures, available right this second either in store, or here on our website. There are a wide range of both literary and musical figures - such as Verdi, Dante, Jane Austen, and Sherlock Homes - for you to have a tête-à-tiny-tête with, so you can really assess who will make the perfect gift for the artist in your life, or addition to your own home.
The figures are all hand sewn, and are sourced by St. Nicolas Heritage and Christmas Decoration Designers. For almost three decades, St Nicolas have employed disadvantaged rural women in Thailand to produce their unique decorations, and in doing so have prevented these women from the necessity of leaving home to work in a factory. The organisation currently employs over 200 women, some of whom have been making these decorations for over a decade now, and we are extremely pleased to be working with them to support this important endeavour. On top of all this, we also happen to think the decorations are simply stunning!
We believe the best way of viewing them is to get up close and personal with them in the shop, so that you are able to see the intricately sewn details on each and every decoration, but if you don't have the time to drop in, we also have them displayed beautifully in our window, allowing you to brighten your day with a walk-by-viewing as you head out into Oxford! Whatever your method of viewing, we are certain you will be as enamoured with them as we are.
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As the weather remains a bit miserable, we here at Scriptum are keeping our spirits up by focussing on the things we love. Today, we thought we would take a look at the intersection between two of our greatest loves: opera, and letter writing. The two have an incredibly special place in our hearts, of course, but also have a very interesting relationship themselves, and we want to share some of the highlights of that today.
Eugene Onegin - Tchaikovsky
No discussion of opera and letters could be possibly be considered complete without talking about Tchaikovsky’s masterful Eugene Onegin. Premiered at the Male Theatre in 1879, it is an adaptation of Pushkin’s 1833 novel of the same name, following the eponymous hero and his troubled love life. The catalyst for much of the opera’s drama is a letter that Tatyana (who is in love with Onegin) writes in the first act. In it, she confesses her love for Onegin, and lays bare her feelings, only for him to nonchalantly reject her, which sets him on a dark path.
You can hear what an emotional event it is for Tatyana in this extract from the Metropolitan Opera’s 2013 staging of Tchaikovsky’s classic here.
Once Onegin realises his true feelings for Tatyana, he is overcome with regret at his previous rejection of her, and declares that he will write to her in turn to declare his true feelings. The question is, will she be able to forgive him for his initial snubbing of her affections? We don’t deal in spoilers here at Scriptum, so we will leave you to find out for yourself.
Falstaff - Verdi
Taking a much lighter tone, our next opera is Verdi’s Falstaff. The final of the 28 operas he wrote, it premiered at La Scala in 1893, and follows the eponymous Sir John Falstaff in his calamitous efforts to seduce two married women, with the goal of taking over their husbands’ vast riches. After Falstaff’s initial letters of proposition to the two women, they catch on to his scheme, and they set about teaching him a lesson. A deluge of letters follows, ultimately leading to Falstaff getting his comeuppance in Windsor Forest. This scene in particular is incredible, as you can see here in this performance by Opera Colorado.
Cyrano - David DiChiera
Now, for something a bit more modern, let’s look at David DiChiera’s 2007 opera Cyrano. It is, of course, based on Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, and chronicles the trials and tribulations of the titular character. Cyrano is deeply in love with his distant cousin Roxane, but cannot confess his love for her due to his unusually large nose. Roxane is in love with a cadet called Christian, who in turn is in love with Roxane, and enlists Cyrano to help him woo her due to his lacking intellect.
Cyrano begins writing letters to Roxane on Christian’s behalf, and thus the two fall even more deeply in love. Just before Cyrano can reveal he is the author of the letters, Christian is fatally shot, and Roxane collapses in distress. The final act shows Cyrano mortally wounded, and asking Roxane if he can read Christian’s final letter to her. As he reads it aloud, Roxane realises it was he who wrote them all, though he denies it to the last. Inn the emotional denouement, Roxane tells Cyrano se loves him, just before he succumbs to his injuries. You can experience this gut wrenching moment from the Metropolitan’s staging of Cyrano here.
In the mood to write a letter?
If our list has got you in the mood to write some letters, then we’ve got just the things for you. Whether it be to release a pent up confession of love, or to challenge your love rival to a duel, our letter writing sets can cater to all needs, and all budgets. Alternatively, our beautiful Opera Cards are the perfect way to wish someone well or to commiserate, whilst keeping in mind what is truly important in life: gorgeous stationery and opera!
Until next time Scriptum blog, stay safe and well x
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In 1221, monks from the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence began using their home-grown herbs to create various medicinal products for use in their infirmary. These products, and their impressive healing properties, soon gained a reputation in Italy, leading to Catherine de' Medici commissioning a unique perfume for her wedding day from the pharmacy in 1533. This came to be known as the 'Aqua della Regina' - meaning 'The Queen's Water' - an iteration of which is still available to this day.
This commission proved fortuitous, as Santa Maria Novella - which by 1612 was trading very successfully on Via Della Scala - was awarded the title of 'His Royal Highness' Foundry' by Ferdinando II de' Medici in 1659, helping to cement it as the household name it is today.
The craftsmanship and quality of these products simply cannot be overstated, and so we are thrilled to be able to bring Florence's finest export to our Turl Street shop. Whether you are searching for your signature scent, or wish to try out some new soap to add a little bit of luxury to your mornings, we would love to talk to you about all of these marvellous products, and advise you on any questions you may have.
Santa Maria Novella's products are available in-store, or over the telephone if you would like us to post them to you. Our full range is listed below - please contact us for availability, or if you have any other questions.
Soaps
Jasmine Milk Soap 100g — £12
Gardenia Milk Soap 100g — £12
Rose Milk Soap 100g — £12
Verbena Milk Soap 100g— £12
Violetta Milk Soap 100g - £12
Pomegranate Soap 100g — £12
Pomegranate Soap 200g — £18
Pomegranate Soap Box (3 pieces) 400g — £42
Olive Oil Soap 100g — £14
Tuscan Tobacco Soap 150g — £28
Vellutina Soap 150g — £32
Aritea Lavender Soap Box (4 pieces) — £32
Floral Cologne Soap Box (4 pieces) — £32
Home Fragrances
Rose Water Room Spray 250ml — £24
Orange Blossom Water Room Spray 250ml — £24
Pot Pourri 100g — £24
Carta d'Armenia - £18
Scented Terracotta Pomegranate — £60
Bathroom
Bath Salts 500g — £41
Fragrances
Freesia Acqua di Colonia Cologne 100ml — £125
Rosa Novella Acqua di Colonia Cologne 100ml — £125
Colonia Russa Cologne 100ml — £125
Angeli di Firenze Cologne 100ml — £125
Tuscan Tobacco (Tobacco Toscano) Cologne 100ml — £125
Pomegranate (Melograno) Cologne 100ml — £125
Acqua di Santa Maria Novella Cologne 100ml — £125
Orange Blossom (Zagara) Acqua di Colonia Cologne 100ml — £125
Acqua di Sicilia Cologne 100ml — £125
Acqua Della Regina Cologne 100ml - £125
Patchouli Cologne 100ml - £125
Vetiver Cologne 100ml - £125
Scented Candles
Rose Scented Candle 300g — £25
Relax Scented Candle 300g — £25
Angeli di Firenze Scented Candle 300g — £25
Tobacco Toscano Scented Candle 300g — £25
Iris Scented Candle 540g — £55
Pomegranate Scented Candle 540g — £55
Natale (Christmas) Scented Candle 540g — £55
Accessories
Pill Box Gold Plated — £54
Pill Box Silver Plated — £54
Pot Pourri Holder Gold Plated Small Heart — £60
Pot Pourri Holder Gold Plated Large Heart — £80
Pot Pourri Holder Gold Plated Large Round — £80
Candle Holder Gold Plated — £80
Compact Mirror Gold Plated — £84
Soap Dish Gold Plated — £84
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We’re over the moon to have recently won the best window display award at the Stationery Awards in London. We love creating displays in the shop and we were especially proud of our opera-themed effort, which you may have seen gracing our window around this time last year. The name of our winning display, "Vincerò", aptly means “I will win”! Here's a picture of Holly and Azeem grinning away outside the shop with our award.
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The other thing we love, naturally, is writing. Everyone here is moderately obsessed with penmanship (how could we not be?) and I am decidedly the worst. As well as working at Scriptum, I do a lot of freelance calligraphy, and Azeem wanted to combine this with his own opera fanaticism to make some beautiful cards with our ten favourite arias. There was much lively discussion - some things were said about Wagner which I shall never forgive nor forget - but the final list was:
We wanted a classic, old-manuscript look to the cards, so we decided on a gothic style for the script, and a simple colour scheme of black and red, enhanced with gold-lined envelopes. It took several days of intensive writing to complete the calligraphy. The lyrics were written out first, then I broke up the lines by adding the C clef symbol, which used to be used in musical notation for vocal music before the treble and bass clefs became standard in the 19th century.
When the main aria was done, I gave each card a bright red inset first letter illustrated with a floral background, as a nod to medieval manuscript illumination. I also bookended each aria with interesting facts about each opera's premiere and role originators (the best name to write, without a doubt, was the superbly monikered Giuditta Pasta, who was the first to sing Casta Diva). Finally, we designed the box to include my favourite musical phrase from Tosca; test out your sight-reading by having a look at the notes and seeing if you can sing it!
You can now buy the cards here on our website or in store.
* If you are wondering whether Rossini actually said this about Wagner, the answer is... probably. It's by far the most accurate description of Wagner I've ever come across, in any case.
]]>Happy International Women's Day! It's wonderful to see so many people celebrating the achievements of amazing women, but we must also remember that despite some progress we've still a long way to go, even in the seemingly genderless world of stationery... remember this idiocy from Bic?
May our tiny lady hands wield our tiny lady pens more mightily than swords in the continuing fight for equality!
]]>Some truly terrible poetry for your delectation this Valentine's day; on this Victorian Valentine's card, the poet presses their suit by trying to convince their beloved that they are more worthy of love than a nest of birds. Okay. Only really a legitimate comparison if the recipient is an ornithologist, but nonsensical blather seems to be a key component of most Valentine's cards even now. This prime specimen of sentimental verse, however excruciatingly twee by today's standards, is at least saved by the restrained and rather sweet illustration by Kate Greenaway (though the card itself hasn't got away without lacy edging. The Victorians really loved their lacy edging). The card was printed 1876 and can be seen in the Early and Fine Printing Collection at the Library of Birmingham. So, if you are stuck for a Valentine's day verse and happen to be dating a bird lover, try winning them over with this little gem:
Five blue eggs in a nest,
Two brown birds on a tree,
And which do you think is best,
The eggs, or the birds, or me?
The eggs may sing in time,
I sing to you to-day;
The birds are in singing prime,
But who knows what they say?
The eggs may fall and break,
The birds may fly away,
If winds the tree should shake,
But I shall always stay.
Then say you love me dear!
And whatsoever weather
May come, I shall not fear,
We'll brave the worst together!
Today is #timetotalk day; a great campaign encouraging us to talk about mental health issues without fear or stigma. My colleagues and I send our love and support to everyone who is struggling, and I'd like to share my own story. For my personal mental wellbeing, I find it really helpful to put pen to paper to remember the good things which happen every day. It doesn't have to be anything big: it could be kindness from a stranger, anything which suddenly makes me smile, even a particularly good cup of coffee. It's easy to get swamped in the negative things which happen in the world and in our own minds, so creating space in the day to write a simple, positive sentence calms and centres me, and helps me focus on good memories. This year I am going to write a line a day in a journal I have called 'The Good Place', and I hope that this idea might help other people too. So, take some time today to have a chat about the problems one in four of us face, and spread the word that it's #timetotalk!
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Amarcord is an Italian bindery based in Piacenza, a beautiful cobbled and campanile-dotted town halfway between Milan and Bologna. The company’s name is a local dialect word for “I remember” in a rather nostalgic sense - very fitting for a maker of journals, the repositories of memories and dreams. We have been working with Amarcord for a number of years, and as well as many of our best-selling journals, they also supply some of our music manuscript journals, wine records and restaurant books, so we were rather excited to meet the craftsmen who make them.
Amarcord is run by third generation leathersmith Sergio, whose grandfather set up the company, originally to make leather luggage and belts, shortly after returning from the second world war. Sergio's father eventually took over the business, and then Sergio in his turn, building on the years of family experience in leatherwork to specialise in journals and binding. He works closely with his colleague Daniela, who is Piacenza born and bred, and passionate about not only Amarcord journals but all the produce and history of their region. When not hard at work in the workshop itself, Sergio and Daniela sit in their office at patchwork leather desks (made in-house, naturally) drinking fragrant espresso and arranging the distribution of their journals all around the world.
The workshop is a light, airy building a few miles from the city centre, filled with the heavy scent of leather, paper, and glue, and the clatter and whir of machines ticking over, waiting to be used by the small team of leatherworkers. With this artisan style of production, each journal comes under Sergio's watchful eye and allows him to ensure the quality of every piece is up to his standards.
The journal-making process begins with the leather. The leather for our Verona journals comes from the Veneto, where the cow hides are tanned, dyed, and greased to give their distinctive soft suede-like texture. The leather for our Trieste journals and Embossed Window journals with a smoother, shinier finish, comes from nearby Tuscany. Amarcord have dozens of other styles and colours of hides stacked in rolls along one wall of the workshop - it’s difficult to pass by without stroking each one to feel the grain and finish, and nigh on impossible for us to decide which we want to use for our order. After poking, prodding and a good deal of sniffing, we finally pick out our favourites to make up the journals which will arrive in Oxford in the spring.
Once we have selected the type of leather, it is taken it to the cutting press. Sergio chooses a sharp-edged press, exactly like an industrial-strength cookie-cutter, for whichever shape of cover he needs, and positions it carefully on top of the hide. The heavy stamp is brought down hydraulically, pushing the sharp edge of the press cleanly through the tough leather to leave the basic shape of the journal, and sometimes a double hole for a tie-closure.
If it is a hardback, the leather now needs to be attached to a thick layer of mount board to give it stiffness and shape. For spines with the traditional ridges, a piece of ridged board is also added to give the leather its characteristic shape after a short stint in a curved spine press. Now comes the embossing. Metal blocking dies with a bewildering array of patterns are neatly filed in drawers, ready to stamp their pattern onto the leather. To do this, the die is positioned in a stamping machine which heats the metal to 125°C before bringing it down on the leather. The heat and the pressure stamp the pattern indelibly onto the leather’s surface.
The next step is the block; a bound collection of pages to put inside the journal. Amarcord use Italian-made book blocks with 85gsm acid-free paper as standard (120gsm for sketch books). The leaves within the block are stitched together as well as glued at the spine, leaving the pages firmly and tightly bound even if the journal is opened completely flat or folded back on itself. Laura Berretti, an expert in traditional Italian marbling techniques, also sends Amarcord blocks with hand-marbled edges from her atelier in Florence. These are the blocks used in our Trieste journals. For books with handmade paper, luxurious deckle-edged Amatruda Amalfi paper is stitched together by hand in the workshop to create the block from scratch.
If the block needs to be resized, or mount board cut, there are a pair of guillotines for the job. One is a modern machine, which you have to press two buttons about a metre apart to operate - the idea is that as you need two hands to bring the guillotine down, you can't accidentally chop off your own fingers by mistake! The other looks more like a medieval decapitation device than an innocent bindery tool; a manually operated, meter-long, razor-sharp blade which comes chopping down with a sinister swish to cleave easily though the thickest mount board.
Once the block has been selected and trimmed to size, it is time to unite it with the cut-out and embossed leather. In a few quick, deft motions, the block is run through a revolving press, a bit like a mangle. This coats it with a fine layer of glue from the roller, which is fed from a bubbling pot of the treacly liquid. The block is snatched from the roller immediately, then aligned with and pressed onto the leather cover by hand, binding the two firmly and evenly together. It is then put in another press for five minutes while the glue dries. While the team at Amarcord make all this look easy, moving with the assurance and dexterity born of long practice, we Scriptonians kept our hands safely tucked in our pockets, imagining accidentally gluing our fingers to that inexorably revolving mangle.
If the journal has any extra features, such as a tie closure, this is the time to add them. A thin leather thong, stamped out of leather by the same process as the journal covers, is looped carefully through the holes; a fiddly process. Then a beechwood bead, sourced from Bergamo (just north of Milan) is threaded on to make a toggle closure, and the ends of the thong neatly tied and snipped.
And finally, the journal is finished! Although we have been working with Amarcord for several years, it was inspiring and somehow humbling to see how much attention to detail, how many years of experience go into producing each and every journal handmade in their workshop. It all comes back to provenance: if you know where something comes from, you can be assured of not only its quality, but the tradition in which its making is rooted. It was fascinating to discover the story behind each part of our journals, and to meet the people whose passion for traditional leatherwork keep us journal-lovers supplied with the objects of our desire. We can’t wait for the new styles we have ordered to arrive!
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We all know that slightly flat feeling when you have spent time, money, and above all, effort on choosing a present which you know is utterly perfect for someone, but you haven't seen them open it. We've all been on the other side too - received a gift which has touched us ("I can't believe she remembered I wanted this!") but have had to restrain our visible enthusiasm lest Auntie Myrtle realise her Twix mug wasn't quite as thrilling as that incredible compass globe from cousin Althea. It's polite to write a thank you card for any present, but the really thoughtful ones truly deserve it. So, whether it's a dutiful note for a gesture gift or a heartfelt thank you for a long-desired treat, here are our four simple rules for the perfect thank you letter:
1. Be prompt. The acceptable length of the note is proportional to the time you've taken to send it. A couple of lines within a week of receiving a present is perfect, while if you leave it longer, you should really write at more length and detail to justify how long it has taken. And let's face it, the longer you leave it, the less likely you are to write it at all.
2. Be specific. Saying "thanks for the present" sounds like (and probably means) you can't quite remember exactly what they got you. Telling the giver how you have used/will use the item they got you is a nice way of letting them know you appreciate the qualities of the present.
3. Draft it. A two minute scribbled draft will help avoid repetition of fulsome adjectives ("lovely" sounds a bit disingenuous when it has been used three times in a row) and also prevent spelling mistakes and messy crossings out. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece of world literature, but coherence and elegance are always worth aiming for.
4. Handwrite it. Even though it puts my views at odds with the über arbiter of etiquette, Debretts, who suggest that an emailed thank-you is sometimes acceptable, to me they will always look like you are just filling a dull 5 minutes at work, and frankly aren't worth the cyberspace they're written on. A spontaneous text at the moment of unwrapping is all well and good, but the rarer it becomes to write by hand, the more appreciated proper handwritten thank you cards become.
Some examples...
The dutiful note with draft, written the day after receiving the present:
The sincerely grateful note, written after a week:
The "I don't care about your present or you" email:
A word of caution to end on - never write a thank you card for a thank you card. This kind of gratitude one-upmanship is not only in poor taste, but can lead to the dreaded thank you loop. If you have friends who are also stationery addicts, it is disturbingly easy to become trapped on a Möbius strip of thank you notes, thanking them for thanking you, and receiving thanks for your thanks of their thankfulness.
The dreaded thank you loop
Once entered, the thank you card loop can only end in bankruptcy, madness, or death (or more realistically, repetitive strain injury in your writing hand). Having said that, if you insist on engaging in competitive gratitude, you can break the loop by sending a thank you card so magnificent that no reply is possible... so get these ones, and follow the four thank you card rules. You'll win every time.
Letterpressed Thank You Card Set
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An historian came into the shop this morning to look at our fountain pens, and we started talking. He explained that the reason he writes with a pen is to feel connected to the people whose lives he is examining. He studies the early modern period, and when he looks at documents written by hand, he can see if someone was writing in a rush, in a temper, with passion, or in a lazy relaxed scrawl. The way they write, just as much as what they write, influences his analysis of their meaning. After this conversation, my thoughts (as they often do) turned to handwriting.
It seems disingenuous to complain about this on a blog, but we lose so much when we move our hands from the pen to the keyboard; the reader can't ever see my deleted first choice when I replace a word, can't tell when I've sat for minutes on end searching for a more apt expression, can't see the flow of my thoughts as I shuffle these paragraphs round on the screen. But a pause in handwriting, while the writer sits and considers what to say next, is often subtly marked by a physical trace on the paper; a blot while the pen pauses at the end of the thought or a heavier hand when sad words come unwillingly. There are myriad traces of the writer's progress, from scoring through one choice of word to replace it with something more telling, to the rushed and jagged spurts of inspiration. Have you ever looked at poetry manuscripts? No matter how beautiful and well-chosen the words of the final piece, I find exploring the poet's scribblings and crossings out infinitely more fascinating.
In thoughts that have been typed, qualities such as nuance and irony have to be carefully built into the language itself to avoid being misinterpreted or even missed altogether. This careful consideration of the words we choose might have been a positive consequence of typing if it happened more: but think how often your dashed-off texts and emails are misconstrued by someone who can't gauge their tone, or how often you find yourself flicking to your emoji keyboard as a quick way of ensuring this doesn't happen. To be witty, I should insert a wry-faced emoticon here, but I simply can't bring myself to do it. Our language, or at least our capability of using it to communicate complex thoughts and emotions, becomes worryingly flat when we turn to the keyboard. Little effort is being made to distinguish between subtle gradations of meaning when all you choose is the size of the grin on your smiley.
While content is important, handwriting itself is also undeniably evocative. It is an artefact of time and effort, and this makes the handwritten message, whatever its content, more meaningful than the typed version. I've said it before in these blog posts and I will doubtless say it again; when you receive a handwritten note, your heart leaps in a way it will never do for an email. Leave aside all that 'handwriting experts' proclaim to know about your character from how you form your risers: for me, the simple thrill of recognition is enough. When I see an envelope addressed to me in back-slanted, looping, regular writing, I know immediately it is from my Gran. I read a page of handwritten directions a friend has written, directing me to his unSatNavable house, in a hand so firm and decisive the ink is always scored into the paper, and wish I was always so sure about what I was writing. I receive a thank-you note from an old housemate in his small, neat, almost childish printing, yet it still evokes long-ago messages on the fridge warning of dire consequences for anyone bold or foolish enough to eat his cheese.
Of course when you are late to meet a friend, nothing is better than a quick text to let them know where you are. Of course you won't have to manically pat down all your pockets hunting for your shopping list when it's safe on a smartphone app. Of course when you want a quick answer from a colleague you aren't going to send a masterpiece of calligraphy across the office via carrier pigeon. I don't want this to seem like an anti-technology rant; tear off my parchment mask and you'll find a true technophile underneath. But there is space in the world for the old and the new, for the functional and the beautiful. I wish that the people who come into our shop and say "lovely stuff, what a shame no one writes any more" would take five minutes off Facebook-stalking acquaintances to pick up a pen and dash off a postcard to a friend they hadn't seen in a while, and miss. That rather than "liking" someone's post about the birth of their baby, people would sit down and write to the parents, finding words not only to congratulate the new family but also to share their own experiences of suddenly finding a beloved son, god-daughter, nephew, or grandchild in their lives. Typing is convenient, functional, and necessary. Handwriting is sentimental, emotional, and human. We must not let it be lost.
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A double-headed nib and other beauties unearthed in the quadrennial spring clean of our nib box. A few of these nibs are modern, but we have some dating back to the Victorian era. Writing companies really knew how to advertise their wares back then; one of the oldest boxes of nibs proclaims "3007 newspapers recommend them" along with a charming little rhyme calling their nibs "a boon and a blessing to men"!
]]>If you were really expecting to read about shoes and ships (or cabbages and kings, for that matter) you will be sadly disappointed. This post is about the sole item above which falls into our immediate realm of expertise - sealing wax.
We sell a lot of it. Perhaps it's the novelty value, perhaps it's because there really is no better way to feel like an Austen heroine or a character from Dickens than actually sealing a letter. All the sealing paraphernalia looks wonderful on a desk, and while no-one actually needs to seal anything these days, the look on a friend's face when presented with a gloriously sealed invitation is enough motivation for even technophiles to try it.
A brief history of sealing wax
In the middle ages, when illiteracy was rife, wax seals were commonly used for things we would use a signature for today, such as authenticating a will or contract - the symbol or crest on your own individual seal guaranteed your identity and integrity, and your acknowledgement of the contents. Some medieval clergymen are reported to have plucked out their own beard hair and added it to the melted wax, to show that the seal was truly a part of them!
Back then, sealing wax itself had a very different makeup to the kind we use now (even discounting beard hair). It was made principally of beeswax and Venice turpentine, then coloured with various pigments, commonly vermilion or cinnabar to give a red colour. Seals were sometimes melted directly onto the document, but just as often hung off documents with ribbon or parchment tags, like the example on the right.
From the 13th century, as people became both more literate and more mobile, sealing wax began to be used less extensively for authentication and more for security and privacy. Letter-writing grew more common, and when paper was still an expensive luxury, people folded their letters so that the reverse side, held shut by a blob of sealing wax, formed the envelope. It was even perfectly normal to cram your writing onto every available blank space still showing on the outside of the letter - paper really was that expensive.
The wax itself now needed to be more brittle than it had been previously, so as to show clearly if someone had tampered with a letter. This meant the composition of the sealing wax had to change away from the malleable beeswax mixture used on medieval documents. From the 16th century, shellac, a reddish natural resin secreted by tiny insects in Thailand and India (see left) became known in Europe, and was speedily mixed with the Venice turpentine and pigment to make sealing wax instead of beeswax.
When some genius invented the gummed envelope in the 19th century, wax seals slipped away from the practical into the decorative - while still retaining their medieval function of proving identity. Although they are still sometimes used in the legal profession, modern seals tend to be either purely decorative or an expression of personality; you can tell a lot about someone by whether they choose a rearing stallion, a delicate butterfly or a elegant fleur-de-lys to represent themselves. Still, the addition of a wax seal to a hand-delivered card does always lend a certain elegance and dignity to the contents, whatever they may be.
Our wax
The wax we stock is made by the French stationery company J. Herbin. As nowadays people also tend to use wax more for aesthetic than practical purposes, we sell the traditional, brittle version of their sealing wax (you can find more details about its composition here, if all this talk of insects and beard hair has disturbed or intrigued you). We like this particular type of wax as it has a beautifully glossy finish, and gives a crystal clear impression of the seal image, so every tiny detail is rendered crisp and true. It is wonderful for decorative use on correspondence, certificates and wrapping, and almost anything else a creative mind can conceive. Scriptum's director used a beautiful custom-designed wax seal to decorate all sorts of things at his wedding, including making napkin rings from hand-marbled paper held together with a seal.
Wax sealing tips
Actually using sealing wax can be a tricky business if you've never tried it before. So, with all the usual caveats you would expect when giving advice for (quite literally) playing with fire - for heaven's sake, children, don't try this at home, and adults, proceed with care and caution and possibly even a small fire extinguisher - here are our handy hints for wax sealing.
The BBC reports that many fountain pen stockists have seen sales increase this year - some up to double 2011’s figures for the same period. But this “is not part of a wider handwriting boom” - sales of ballpoint pens have remained stable. The fountain pen seems to hold a special place in our hearts, not simply for providing a superior writing experience to the ballpoint, but also because of its connection with tradition and its status as a beautiful object in its own right.
Stephen Bayley, writing in the Telegraph, thinks there’s “something touchingly humane about this resurgence. Given the choice, we prefer warm, wet smudginess to glacial perfection.”
In fact, the Telegraph has recently received a deluge of letters on the joys of fountain pens - providing even more reassurance that they’re here to stay (although some correspondents apparently still prefer to write with quills!).
And whilst every fountain pen devotee has his or her own brand of choice, at Scriptum we’d have to side with author Neil Gaiman, who tells the BBC that his current favourite is a Visconti.
Bomo Art are based in Budapest, where they design and make all their beautiful items - from the conception of their unique printed papers, to the handbinding of their journals.
A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of a Hungarian heatwave, we were lucky enough to have lunch with the business's founder at a leafy Budapest cafe and discover for ourselves the passion and workmanship that goes into everything the company produces. Bomo Art say they aim to entice us to write… with stationery this wonderful, how could one resist?
There are cards, photograph albums, address books, boxfiles and a handful of different journals to choose from. To see everything click here.
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