Manuscript layout and design depends on precise measurements. Therefore, determining the page size is the first step in creating a manuscript. Since animal hides serve as the material for manuscripts, no standardized sizes exist untill the advent of printed books. Fortunately, medieval manuscripts traditionally adhered to specific ratios between the width and height.
German calligrapher, typographer and book designer Jan Tschichold published an essay in the 1955 edition of Der Druckspiegel, titled ‘Die Proportionen des Buches‘ or ‘The proportions of the book‘. He writes about having measured the page proportions of various medieval manuscripts. What he found was that medieval scribes used a system to determine the text area on a given page.
Medieval Proportions?
Jan Tschichold found that medieval manuscripts generally have a ratio of 2:3, 3:4 or 1:√2 (the latter of which can be expressed more simply as 1:1.41). Since manuscripts get trimmed during (re)binding, Tschichold measured the text areas and white space towards the spine of the book. In this blog we’ll take a closer look at the 2:3 and 3:4 ratios, since they appear the most in digitized manuscripts across Europe.
How do ratio’s work?
A ratio compares two values, showing the relative size of one to the other. In the context of manuscript design, a ratio like 2:3 means that for every 2 units of width, there are 3 units of height. For example, if a page has a width of 18 centimeters, a 2:3 ratio means the height would be 27 cm (18 x 3 / 2). We’re that a 3:4 ratio, it’d be about 24 cm (18 x 4 / 3)
Manuscript page size in 2:3 ratio
The 2:3 ratio means that the height of the page increases by 3 units for every 2 units of width. Thus, a page width of 18 centimeters would result in a height of 27 centimeters. Particularly early medieval manuscripts (Carolingian and Romanesque art movements) use the 2:3 ratio. You’ll find some examples of manuscripts using this page ratio in the gallery below.
Typically, manuscripts with page ratios of 2:3 feature a single column of text. However, there’s a number of examples showing a double column layout. We’ll find these in the larger sized books. Though the main layout in the early middle ages, the ratio isn’t rescticted to a specific time period. It’s possible to find many examples from anywhere between the 8th and 15th century.
Manuscript page size in 3:4 ratio
The 3:4 ratio means that the height of the page increases by 4 units for every 3 units of width. Thus, a page width of 18 centimeters would result in a height of 24 centimeters. Late medieval manuscripts (early and late Gothic art styles) are more like to feature this ratio. Again, the gallery below show some examples of manuscripts using this page ratio.
Compared to the 2:3 ratio, manuscripts in the 3:4 ratio are more likely to feature two columns for the text area. This ratio lends itself well for the inclusion of multiple text columns on a page. They appear slightly more frequently in examples of the late medieval period. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to learn if there’s a particular explanation for the introduction of double column layouts.
Manuscript Page size
Once you have determined the ratio that you want to use for your manuscript, you must consider the size of the pages. Technically speaking, there are no true guidelines as to what size your manuscript should be. Medieval manuscript page sizes were limited by the available materials and often influenced by their purpose. I found this video from UB Leiden which explains the differently sized manuscripts the best:
So, in retrospect, if you expect a book to travel a lot, you should prefer smaller sizes. But for a big choir book, make it as large as possible. When making your own book, consider the purpose and limits of your available materials. While you can certainly follow the mentioned ratios, since they’re so predominant, they should serve more as guidelines than definitive rules.
My personal advice on selecting page sizes: if you create your first medieval manuscript, choose a page size of 13 by 19.5 centimeters. This size is slightly smaller than DIN A5 and similar to an A4 paper folded in half, while conforming to the 2:3 page ratio. There are three reasons for this: first, it’s cheap because you can start with any standard DIN A4 paper by folding it in half. Second, it creates an easily, portable book. And, third, your bookbinder will thank you for the extra paper to trim the book block to its correct, final size.
Manuscript Layout
Once you’ve decided upon the size of your manuscript, you can start adding the layout. Essentially, this is done by dividing your individual pages into nine squares. However, I find the process somewhat complicated to explain through text. Therefore, I decided to record a video in which I gradually take you through the process. You can find it below:
Once you’ve finished designing your page layout according to the video above, you’ll possess a rough page layout for your manuscript project. However, it is still lacking the text lines to write on. These can be made in a way that they are proportional to the text area. I will show how to do this in a later video. The easiest way is to simply decide the height of your text lines and add them within the determined text area.
Once you determined the layout of the text area itself, the design can be converted into a pricking template. This will allow you to consistently mark and rule all the pages for your book, if you’re planning to create one. This is the workflow I use in my own manuscript projects, and you’ll be able to find videos of the steps in this blog post.
All manuscript examples in this blog, unless otherwise noted, were sourced from e-codices.ch and re-used under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.