Authentic, historical and handmade
From 2006 – 2010 in the very start the project went under the name Textura. The name Textura is a Latin word which means “weaved”, as well as being the first named font; the font we today know as “Gothic writing”.
Textura (Gothic writing) originates from the second half of the 12th century. Gutenberg imitated and used this originally handwritten font in the first printed books. In 2010 the Textura project was offered to ‘inherit’ the domain name Scriptorium.dk from a medieval writings colleague. I took this great offer and chose to rename the project to Scriptorium.dk
Scriptorium.dk is a small artist firm that recreates and reproduces historic, illustrated handicraft. Most of the products are made by the owner and graphic designer Søren Bie, from his idea that historical illustrations don’t just have to be enjoyed and experienced in books, in museums and through digital media, but also as copy-art which can bring joy and be owned by many.
Most of the pieces are made in my own studio and are made from handmade high quality materials. Every piece is either unique or made in very small numbers. Every artwork is carefully chosen and is an authentic, historical and handmade copy. As far as I know, there are no others that work with this and nowhere else can you achieve these artworks in such a high unique quality.
Recreated after the original historical works
Today, it’s hard to even come near an original book from the Middle Ages. They are priceless and very rare and are usually only kept in Universities, in State Libraries or with private collectors. These early illustrative masterpieces can, on account of their fragile nature, understandably only be experienced by a select few people.
For the largest part, only historians and students have access to these. If you are neither and you want to experience the original medieval scriptures today, you have to go to an exhibit, through a digital media or via a modern reproduction.
Try to imagine having one of these exquisite artworks hanging on your wall with a page from a book that looks like it is from the 13th or 14th century? This is actually possible today. Except it’s not an original, 700-year-old page or illustration, but an almost exact, handcrafted copy. It is hand-painted, “real” copy-art, carefully recreated after the original historical works.