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Medieval Marginalia

Whether we like to admit it or not, we have all doodled in the margin or on a photo in a book at one time in our lives. Doodling has been a component of writing since people starting writing their thoughts on cave walls. On this Tumblr page, I am going to share some of the more weird and wacky medieval marginalia that has been found and cataloged.

Let's start off with a cuddly animal everyone loves! Bunnies!!

public domain

These are no ordinary bunnies!!! These are killer bunnies.

public domain France 13th cent. Royal 10 BL

public domain La Somme le Roy, France ca. 1290-1300. British Library, Add. 28162, fol. 12v

public domain

public domain

public domain Breviary of Renaud de Bar, Verdun, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 107, fol. 96 v .

public domain Breviary of Verdun. Image: Verdun, Bibliothéque municipale, MS 107, fol. 141v.

It looks to me like they are exacting their revenge!

Did one smart rabbit get a whiff of what what was cooking in the house?

Silly human, rabbits can't read!

Let's take a look at a few more categories of marginalia!

The cost of a book in the 12th -14th century was astronomical. Only the literate elite could afford them. Just imagine you acquire a one-of-a-kind handmade book and you open up to see in the margin, a man who farts, or find a tree of male appendages at the bottom of a page.

Which brings us to our next category:

Rear ends and appendages

This upside-down world found in the sacred texts is very perplexing. I would love to be a medieval fly on the wall when the book purchaser gets his book delivered, sits down in his very uncomfortable 13th century chair, and beholds this glorious illuminated manuscript to find butt trumpets. Many, butt trumpets.

public domain from the Rutland Psalter, c. 1260. (British Library Royal MS 62925, f. 87v.)

public domain

public domain The Vows of the Peacock c. 1350

public domain

public domain

public domain

public domain

public domain

public domain Maccesfield Psalter

Appendage elements were also prevalent in early marginalia.

public domain Arderne’s treatise. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MS HUNTER 251 (U.4.9)

public domain from the Roman de la Rose, c. 1325-1353. (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v.)

public domain Decretum Gratiani with the commentary of Bartolomeo da Brescia, Italy 1340-1345. Lyon, BM, Ms 5128, fol. 100r

Not all marginalia is grotesque, vulgar, and crude. There are many whimsical and charming examples, too!

Here are just a few random styles that do not fit into a specific category.

public domain from the Summer volume of the Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, Metz ca. 1302-1305. (Verdun, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 107, f. 99v.)

public domain Cosmographie universelle, selon les navigateurs tant anciens que modernes / par Guillaume Le Testu, pillotte en la mer du Ponent, de la ville francoyse de Grâce (1555). Detail of ‘Mer de l’Inde orientale’ (p.64)

public domain Glasgow University Library MS Hunter 251 (u.4.9)

public domain Taymouth Hours, 14th c. The British Library ms 13, f. 142r

public domain The Gorleston Psalter, c. 1310 The British Library, ms 49622, f. 104v

public domain diurnal, France c. 1400 Avignon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 103, fol. 45r

public domain Paulus Kal: Fechtbuch, gewidmet dem Pfalzgrafen Ludwig - BSB Cgm 1507, [S.l.] Bayern, second half 15th century (not after 1479)

public domain book of hours, c. 1320 The British Library, Harley ms 6563, f. 78v

public domain Holy Land by Martin de Brion of Paris, France, 1540, Royal MS 20 A. iv, f. 3v

public domain Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, 0711, detail of f. 32. De natura animalium (13th century)