The range of helping hands is remarkable. It appears he already knew the text well before he owned a copy. This is interesting because it means that the reader already knew what passages he would wanted to have highlighted. If this inference is correct, it suggests that the reader asked the artisan to insert them during production. These pointing hands – the manuscript contains many of them – were probably done professionally. Interestingly, while the dragon could easily have been doodled by the reader himself, the depictions seen in Fig. 1300): dragon with hand – Source, via Fig.

7 – British Library, Royal MS 12 E.xxv (c. These hands are not just meant to point out an important passage, they must also have been intended to bring a smile on the reader’s face. 8 (which look like ladies’ gloves) are attached to the wrong location on the human body.

7 shows and an arm that was turned into the body of a dragon, while the hands in Fig. Then there are the really exotic hands, which are turned into a visual feast. Fig. 5 – Berkeley, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 085 (14th century) – Source Fig. 4 – Berkeley, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 085 (14th century) – Source Fig. Another way to point out more than one line is seen in Fig. He did the same thing elsewhere in the manuscript, this time using an octopus with spread-out tentacles (Fig. 4 is not only unusual in the size of the sleeve and the notes written on it, what really jumps out is the size of the fingers and the way in which they are fanning out. The reader no doubt meant to point out an extensive passage and so more fingers were drafted into service. The fingers of a pointing hand can easily be more elaborate. The hand in Fig. The reason, of course, is that the tip of the finger needs to point out one particular line – otherwise the system would fail. 2 is representative of a phenomenon that is frequently encountered: the pointing finger is stretched well beyond human proportions. Not all pointing hands look realistic. The one seen in Fig. Without having done any conclusive research on this, it appears right hands are more common than left ones. As you would expect, pointing fingers are attached to both left and right hands. There is even a nail attached to the finger – the first I have encountered. It is a very natural looking hand, with the digits in just the right shape and angle. Looking at surviving maniculae in medieval books sparks yet another correction: tiny hands are often not really tiny. 2 – St Andrews, University Library, Typ NL A85 JT (Antwerp, 1487-1490) – Source Fig. It is tempting to think that we are looking at the reader here – although, realistically, this would probably be pushing it too far. It also makes you wonder what to think of a full figure as seen in Fig. If this is true, we may potentially be able to tell something about his status, for example whether he is a monk (wearing a habit) or a private individual. This inference potentially prompts an exciting kind of study, which has never been undertaken. 2). It is an exciting thought that the medieval reader who added this tiny drawing in the margin may simply have looked down and replicated his own arm. Sometimes these sleeves are elaborate and realistic, with folds and all (Fig. Pointing hands are almost never just pointing hands. Usually there are arms attached, which may even be fitted in sleeves. The term “manicula” is somewhat deceptive. This post celebrates the variety encountered in these personal and permanent pointers, from the plain hand to the exotic octopus. The charming hands function as a kind of fingerprint of a particular reader, allowing us to assess what he or she found important about a book or a collection of books. Since the reader was able to shape hand and finger as he or she saw fit, we can sometimes recognise a particular reader within a single manuscript, or even within the books of a library. 1 – Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, VLQ MS 99 (13th century) – Photo EK This is due to the fact that there was no standard format for the hand – beyond the point that it had to resemble one (Fig. While the purpose of these “helping hands” was the same (they were usually put there to highlight an important passage), their appearance varies considerably. Medieval readers do not seem to have been hindered by this convention: in the margins of books before print one frequently encounters a manicula or “little hand”. Pointing with your finger is rude, even though it is often extremely convenient and efficient.

Pointing hand old manuscript