Editing Scribe (section)

===Monastic scribes===
[[File:Archive-ugent-be-2563040A-7640-11E8-B87C-CA810AD9BE4D DS-15 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Monastic scribes copying manuscripts, in a miniature from the manuscript ''Werken'', manufactured by [[John van Ruysbroeck|Jan van Ruusbroec]] in Bergen-op-Zoom, published 1480<ref>{{cite web|title=Werken|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:2563040A-7640-11E8-B87C-CA810AD9BE4D#?c=&m=&s=&cv=6&xywh=-483,-206,6839,5592|work=lib.ugent.be|access-date=2020-08-21}}</ref>]]
[[File:Titivillus.jpg|thumb|[[Titivillus]], a [[demon]] said to introduce errors into the work of  scribes, besets a scribe at his desk (14th century illustration)]]
In the [[Middle Ages]], every book was made by hand. Specially trained monks, or scribes, had to carefully cut sheets of parchment, make the ink, write the script, bind the pages, and create a cover to protect the script. This was all accomplished in a monastic writing room called a [[scriptorium]] which was kept very quiet so scribes could maintain concentration.<ref name=" Pavlik, McIntosh">{{cite book|last1=Pavlik|first1=John|last2=McIntosh|first2=Shawn|title=Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780190271510|pages=66–67}}</ref> A large scriptorium may have up to 40 scribes working.<ref name="book" />

Scribes woke to morning bells before dawn and worked until the evening bells, with a lunch break in between. They worked every day except for the [[Sabbath]].<ref name="Lyons"/> The primary purpose of these scribes was to promote the ideas of the Christian Church, so they mostly copied classical and religious works. The scribes were required to copy works in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew whether or not they understood the language.<ref name="Lyons" /> These re-creations were often written in calligraphy and featured rich illustrations, making the process incredibly time-consuming. Scribes had to be familiar with the writing technology as well. They had to make sure that the lines were straight and the letters were the same size in each book that they copied.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Books : a living history|last=Martyn.|first=Lyons|date=2011|publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum|isbn=9781606060834|location=Los Angeles|oclc=707023033}}</ref> It typically took a scribe fifteen months to copy a Bible.<ref name="Lyons">{{cite book|last1=Lyons|first1=Martyn|title=Books: A Living History|date=2011|publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum|location=Los Angeles|isbn=9781606060834|pages=36–38, 41}}</ref>

Such books were written on parchment or vellum made from treated hides of sheep, goats, or calves. These hides were often from the monastery's own animals as monasteries were self-sufficient in raising animals, growing crops, and brewing beer.<ref name="book" /> The overall process was too extensive and costly for books to become widespread during this period.<ref name=" Pavlik, McIntosh"/>

Although scribes were only able to work in daylight, due to the expense of candles and the rather poor lighting they provided, monastic scribes were still able to produce three to four pages of work per day.<ref name="Lyons" /> The average scribe could copy two books per year.<ref name="book">{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Stuart A.P.|title=The Library: An Illustrated History|date=2009|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|location=New York, NY|isbn=9781602397064|pages=[https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr/page/33 33–34]|ref=15|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr/page/33}}</ref> They were expected to make at least one mistake per page.<ref name=":0" />

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, copying became more of a specialized activity and was increasingly performed by specialists. To meet expanding demand, the ''[[pecia]]'' system was introduced, in which different parts of the same text were assigned to hired copiers working both in and out of the monasteries.<ref>Lyons, M. (2011). Books: A Living History. Getty Publications.</ref>