While ya’ll were out there running around, Indiana Jones-style, looking for a holy relic, I found the Grail. I touched it. With my own little hands, I held it… My Holy Grail.
Oh yes. The feeling was indeed otherworldly. I held, in these two hands, sans gloves… I can barely write the words… a Welsh land deed from the calamitous Fourteenth Century written on vellum. Now, if that isn’t the Holy Grail, I don’t know what is. Makes me weak in the knees.
The printed word. The printed word is my Grail. I think entering those caves in Lascaux would be pure bliss, because those paintings are, once again, the written word in its most expressive, elemental form.
It’s not tools that make us human. Heck, my dog can use a tool. He holds a stick in his mouth and uses it to fish his ball out from beneath the television. What makes us human is our overwhelming need to say… Kilroy was here.
Now, if someone would just let me pet The Book of Kells…
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Dogs are so intelligent.
I find it fascinating that in this historical moment of time-the publishing industry becoming digital-there is beauty in both paths. The “old” way-and its historical journey of the written word-and the “new” way, that is carrying us into the future. You are very lucky to be touched by both worlds. There will come a day where a printed book is more valuable than diamonds. And you did indeed get to touch the holy grail.
I went to a museum in Munich that contained countless numbers of illuminated texts and pages. Spent hours and hours in awe. It so inspired me, I bought pens and ink to learn calligraphy.
So I know the feeling.
That is the one thing that bothers me about ebooks. As much as I love them, as much as I wouldn’t give them up, I wonder where they’ll be in 50 years. I know where my printed books will be (barring floods or fire), but the ebooks? Who knows.
I have a few thousand books and manuscripts. Not just fiction, but things like the Domesday Book (where I can read about my children’s ancestors) and copies of various ancestor’s wills and pension records. Something about the hand written word is very powerful. I’ve done calligraphy for years. Creating something with the same letter forms as say…the early Celtic priests, taking time to plan the layout for a special piece of writing, adds importance to the words. If you want to see something truly beautiful created in the modern era, check out the http://www.saintjohnsbible.org
Each sheet is two feet by three feet. Gorgeous.
When Gutenberg first introduced his printing press the gainsayers said that history would be lost as people stopped telling stories to be passed on from hand to mouth, and look at you guys, telling stories every day with an audience that Gutenberg and people of the 13th and 14th centuries would never dream could exist
So there…..
I adore historical items artifacts, Julia. That’s one of the reason I’m so in love with the little town I live in. Not even two minutes from where I live, there is an ancient cathedral that was built during the middle ages and another one less than ten minutes away. Everyday when I go outside, I’m walking on stones that were lain so many hundreds of years ago. I love it. History is everywhere and I love it. So inspiring.
Oh, I know, Delilah! That’s how I felt when I was in Europe and Israel, like I walked on the bones of history. Amazing!
Oh, but Tom, I love Gutenberg too! Do you know… well, of course you don’t, but some of my ancestors were printers. In fact they’d been printers for so long their last name meant ‘printer’. Must be genetic! We tell stories, yes, but if I could do calligraphy on vellum, now that would be heavenly!
I agree, Anny, fantastic! I think it’s wonderful that you do calligraphy. Love the link!
Oh Jaye, don’t you want to get down on your knees and worship? I love illustrated manuscripts. Ebooks? Hmmm… They’ll be floating around in the ethernet. Print books will remain treasures.
Hey Penny - I think there’s both beauty and pragmatism. For the moment, pragmatism wins out. This is why Jaye works so hard to improve the look of ebooks, to enrich the entire reading experience. Because just reading type on an ereader isn’t as satisfying as it could be. I miss the overall round, 3-D, experience of reading.
Very true, Amber!
Here’s a link that shows one of MY pieces…hope you enjoy it! http://sevennightwriters.blogspot.com/2011/11/process.html
A piece of artwork that nailed me to the spot in awe was Anselm Kiefer’s massive winged book made of lead. He totally summed up human feelings about the burden, sanctity and immortality of the printed word.
XXOO Kat
Wow, Kat… just wow. I think you’re like a young/old wise woman. Like a Medicine Woman.
Thanks, Anny! Great stuff!
If only we could find our own….
I wish I could scan and post a photo of that piece of art. Any writer or avid reader would instantly get it.
XXOO Kat
I recall a professor who theorized that humans evolved to upright so we could communicate. Just a thought.
Savannah… our own grail or our own land deed? I do have some old books with hand-inked illustrations.
That would be great, Kat. Let me know if you ever do.
Maybe, Steph. Or we just needed to see over the grass.
The book of kells would be something to see!
In defense of e-books, they do make it cheaper to include illustrations. Why shouldn’t adults enjoy the same detailed color illustrations that inhabit many children’s books?
‘a Welsh land deed from the calamitous Fourteenth Century written on vellum.’ Very cool.