2020 Essays

Tablets

Bostock, Sahar Mor

A three-line entry on fol. 15v notes the material qualities, ornamentation, and use of metalpoint tablets or “writing tables.” This essay seeks to understand the physical characteristics of the tablet that the author-practitioner had in mind and the context in which he might have used it. The essay surveys the history of tablets, from ancient and medieval wooden tablets inlaid with wax to early modern varieties made of coated paper and parchment for writing and metalpoint drawing. Several contemporary manuscripts feature recipes for a ground that could be applied to different supports, written on with a metal stylus, erased, and reused. As the author-practitioner makes no mention of any ground, the reconstruction examines possible reasons for such an omission. The essay speculates that the author-practitioner may have used a tablet like the one he describes—perhaps an erasable notebook made by an expert in which he could record his observations temporarily before he transferred them to his final manuscript.