Ink and Rubrication

Photocopy from Bancroft Library

This manuscript does not contain a lot of color. In fact, the vast majority of the text is written in black ink. There is no variation in this particular black ink, and the whole manuscript is inked with the same color. The only exceptions are the letters’ headings; they are rubricated. Headings, like titles, are often not part of the text, but they are instrumental in the organization and identification of parts within the manuscript. Rubrication comes from the Latin word red. It is thus no surprise that the headings in this manuscript are colored red.

Since the manuscript is comprised of five main letter-gatherings, to announce the beginning of a new epistle by Pizan, Secretary Gontier Col used red ink. There is a stark contrast between the red headings and the black body of the text. However, there are not clear headings in every page. Only eight pages contain some red annotations; the rest of the manuscript is in black ink.