The word and the image: Manuscript

Definition

A book, document, or piece of music written by hand or typewritten rather than mechanically printed. In modern usage, it refers to an author's text submitted for publication.

Origin

From the Medieval Latin manūscriptus, meaning "written by hand," derived from Latin manus ("hand") and scriptum, the past participle of scribere ("to write"). First recorded in English in 1597.

Engaging Story

Brother Thomas, his knuckles gnarled from years of precise labor, dipped his sharpened quill into the inkwell. The scent of parchment and iron gall filled the small, sun-dappled scriptorium. Outside, the world was a cacophony of carts and distant shouts, but here, only the soft scratch of feather on vellum broke the silence. Each letter, each illuminated initial, was born from his dedicated manus, his hand. It was a slow, painstaking process, transforming abstract thoughts into tangible marks, a silent testament to the very act of scribere – writing. He wasn't just copying; he was breathing life into ancient texts, ensuring the wisdom etched by other hands centuries before would survive, carried forward page by delicate page, all through the tireless precision of his own.