(online)
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Nonmembers can join us for a nominal fee when they register HERE.
The Book of Durrow
Lecture by Della Hutchison
Della Hutchison will delight us again with a journey through a magical manuscript.
As it did for Edward Johnston in the early 20th century, studying manuscripts that were created hundreds of years ago can inform and inspire our work today. And there’s nothing like the thrill from holding in your hands one of these precious works of art.
But not everyone can afford to jet to exotic locales like Rome or Paris or London or Dublin to view manuscripts in person. And some manuscripts, due to their fragility, are made available only to an elite few.
Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, we can now view digitized manuscripts online from the comfort of our favorite armchair. Digitized facsimiles – often with zoomable images – offer benefits that in-person viewing cannot: they allow us to examine details that wouldn’t ordinarily be visible, and the full-color images can typically be downloaded, allowing for extended study.
Join us online on January 17, when Della Hutchison will invite you to skip the hassle of international travel and join her for a virtual tour of one of her favorite manuscripts, the Book of Durrow, housed at the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Predating the more widely-known Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells, this 1400+ year-old manuscript is believed to be the earliest fully decorated gospel-book to survive from Ireland or Britain.
If you are unfamiliar with the intricacies of Insular art, this manuscript – with its restrained color palette and elegant interlace – is a great introduction to the style’s specialized terminology and imagery. And, if you’re already a fan, you’ll get to spend time with a style – or manuscript – you love.
After a brief introduction to the manuscript’s history, contents, and decoration, we’ll focus on examining pages featuring the “superb Irish majuscule script” (to quote Bernard Meeham) and consider ways to use techniques employed by the original (anonymous) scribe to enhance your own work.
Best of all … no baggage check-in or passports required!
A little about della hutchison
My interest in calligraphy was kindled when my freshman college roommate loaned me her Speedball Handbook. It wasn't until a few years later that I discovered that calligraphy was done with special pens and ink, not just tracing and filling in the letters with a Sharpie marker!
Since then, I’ve enjoyed researching and recreating traditional styles and techniques. As a history buff, I especially love examining specific manuscripts and reproducing the scripts used in them.
When I retired from teaching public school in 2018 – I taught middle school language arts for 30+ years – one of the things I looked forward to most was being able to spend more time improving my calligraphy …. and sharing my passion for historic scripts with others.
Thank you for the invitation to share with you (from my home in Pennsylvania) one of the most amazing medieval manuscripts in existence today.