Scriptorium

Before the invention of printing by moveable type, a scriptorium (plural scriptoria) was a normal adjunct to a library, which after the active destruction of classical libraries in the wake of the Theodosian decrees of the 390s and the collapse of public institutions in general, were entirely in Christian hands from the early 5th century.

Further reading

• Haines-Eitzen, Kim, 2000. Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Rosamond McKitterick, Rosamund, 1994. Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, 6th-9th Centuries (Aldershot)
• Bischoff, Bernard, "Manuscripts in the Age of Charlemagne," in Manuscripts and Libraries in the Age of Charlemagne, trans. Gorman, pp. 20-55. Surveys regional scriptoria in the early Middle Ages.