How to make vellum (or other animal based writing materials...)

Well, I haven't posted here regularly in some time, but I still lurk and keep up on Berserk, so I thought that I would mention this/ask for help. I am a student at Xavier University (the one in Cincinnati), and I am currently taking a class about the history of writing, taught by our medievalist. Now, I have an assignment in which I must create a working definition of what consitutes technology, and write it on an unorthodox, pre-paper material (rock, clay tablet, bone, animal skin, etc.), and subsequently write a paper.

Being a history major who is fascinated by the middle ages, I am going to attempt to do so by making my own vellum, or at least some sort of animal material, specifically because I was raised on a relatively large farm and have access to the necessary material. I have begun researching this, and found that there are some medieval buffs out there who still do this sort of thing, and I know that some of my fellow posters here are into forging replicas of medieval weaponry and armor, as well as fellow historians, so I was really hoping someone might be able to offer a few tips on the process. Also,I am going to be taking detailed notes and quite a few photos during the process, which I will put online, and if anyone would be interested in seeing these I would be more than happy to post a link.

Any help would be UNBELIEVABLY appreciated...

Hi bph, good to see you. I can tell you the basics of making parchment from animal skin and provide links with pictures but they'd be in French (I could sum it up for you if you're interested).


But as for vellum specifically, I can't help. Wasn't it made in cotton and used as a kind of curtain though, and not for writing? We can still buy "velum" for our gardens over here. Check this illustration.

Actually, the term "vellum" has been applied to two different materials, due to changes in etymology and technology.  In the middle ages, the term referred to calfskin or sheepskin that had been limed and stretched, and all illuminated manuscripts were written on it.  Additionally, most paintings before 1500 were done on this calf or sheepskin vellum.  In the 1700's, after extended contact with Asia and the newfound availability of cotton, as well as the New World and the Spanish plantations, it was used to make a new type of "vellum", which was easier to produce and to write on than the previous animal skin vellum.  In fact, most papal documents are still written (in Latin) on vellum of the sheepskin variety and stored away, as well are copies of the Torah.

Essentially then, as an apsiring medievalist with access to calfskin, (my family has a farm with about 80 head of cattle), I was very interested in pursuing the former method.  If it doesn't work out, I may go with cotton, or possibly try to make my own oracle bone, I'm still weighing it out.  Also, I am nowhere near fluent, but I've taken up to French 202, and I may be able to figure out the links if you would care to post them, although a summation would probably be more helpful if you would be willing to do that.

Additionally, this site is quite interesting... http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/leather/leath.html

Thanks Aazealh!

bph said:

Actually, the term "vellum" has been applied to two different materials, due to changes in etymology and technology. In the middle ages, the term referred to calfskin or sheepskin that had been limed and stretched, and all illuminated manuscripts were written on it.

Click to expand...

Ah yeah, it's related to "vélin," I should have known...

The link you provided seems pretty useful. I'm not sure I can tell you much more than what's in it (haven't really read it though, sorry). If you have access to calfskin then that's a perfect starting base. I think the hardest part will be to find quicklime to clean the skin. Without it you won't be able to do things the old way, I'm afraid. Sodium sulfure is what they use to replace it nowadays.

Basically you need to skin the animal, then soak the skin in water for a while, one day is fine but longer can also do. Ideally it'd be running water, like a river for example to keep to old ways. That's to humidify the skin as well as to remove insects (and dirt). Then wash it well, and hang it to let it dry a little. After that pile the skins on top of one another (assuming you're making several), the "flesh" side always on top, to let them dry completely.

Next comes the removing of the hair or wool depending on the case (some of the outer skin might remain, it has to be removed too). That's for the outside art, on the other side, you need to delicately remove the flesh so that the skin isn't damaged, using sodium sulfure (Na2S) that you have to smear on the flesh. Back then they used quicklime but if you also want to, be careful as it's very dangerous and can burn badly (or even kill someone). Once the flesh is removed, you need to fold the skin on itself, flesh side on flesh side, and leave it like that between 1 and 2 weeks (I'd go for 2).

Then comes the hard part: you need to soak the skin in quicklime. That way more hair is removed (including the roots), as well as the fat of the skin. That part might require several tries because I don't know how strong the "quicklime" should be or if you need to change them several times, etc. I don't even know how long it should soak, but for sheepskin it's usually 4 or 5 days. Again be careful as it's very dangerous. Anyway, while you leave it there it'll produce an awful stench because of putrefaction. Once it's done, the skin needs to be rinsed with water and stretched on a special wooden device using cords (called "herse" in French), see pictures in the link below.

At that point if you want a better final result (higher quality parchment) you can wet the skin again, for 2 to 4 weeks. Then you scrub the skin with a sharp tool (carefully of course), removing the hypoderm, the remaining flesh and fat. After that you rinse the skin using hydrogen peroxide to whiten it, it's not obligatory but it gives a nicer result. Finally, you leave the skin to dry in fresh air, still on a "herse," for a month minimum, more if needed. You smoothen the skin with an adapted whetstone to make it as equally flat as possible, then smoothen it some more with a wild boar's tusk or some lambskin for example. That'll also make it thinner, which is more important than one might think.

The finishing touch is applying a specific kind of chalk powder on it to make it less porous. You're done!

Please note that for "true" vellum it's apparently required to use the skin of a still-born calf, that makes it thinner and of higher quality.

Here's a link with some pictures, not sure how helpful that'll be: http://www.terebenthine.com/histoire/parchemin.html (click on "parchemin")

Thanks for all the help, Aazealh, I'm definitely going to ATTEMPT to implement it. I actually discussed this with the professor, and I'm going to attempt to copy a selection of an Aquinas text in this way as well, just to get a feel for it. I have absolutely no clue of how long this is going to take, or if I will be even remotely successful, but I will at least try.

You're welcome, I hope it'll help. As for the time, if you do this the old way I think it'll take around 3 months from start to finish. In my opinion the hardest part is the one involving quicklime. It's really easy to fuck up from what I know, if it's too strong it'll dissolve the skin in no time and if not it won't produce the desired result.

Good luck.