medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Diana Wright <[log in to unmask]>
> Is that a metal armature holding the top part of the desk, what kind of
metal, & did it swivel or anything?
> > http://www.kzoo.edu/history/Wickstrom/vincent.jpg
this form of writing desk is not uncommon in contemporary woodcuts
--presumably it was the latest bit of Hi-Tech scriptorium furnature, right
there on the Cutting Edge of Information Technology before it all got swept
away by that Lazy Luddite, Guttenberg.
remember that the Crank was a pretty recent invention (unless you count Bernie
of Clairvaux, who was a Head of his time).
i've always puzzled about them, but have never seen one in color before.
certianly *looks* like it's a piece of 4 inch iron pipe, in three sections,
with two welds a right angles.
simple enough to make, these daze, but not possible in the M.A., to my
knowledge (and yet, there it *is*).
because of the stresses it would take, i can't imagine it being made out of
wood, and it looks to be too large in diameter for being cast.
presumably it's advantage over the traditional form would be that, yes, it
could be swiveled, to share one's work with a curious collegue.
i would not be surprised if one survives in some museum somewhere, presumably
in Germany (seems like at least one of everything survives in some German
museum).
c
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