The Osma Beatus Prof. Peter K. Klein.
original manuscript is preserved.
First romanesque Beatus from Spain and a master piece of romanesque art.
The codex with the Commentary to the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana, today stored at the Diocesan Historical Archive of El Burgo de Osma Cathedral, is nowadays viewed as one of the most important texts by Beatus among those currently known for several reasons: it is the earliest Romanesque Beatus known in Spain and an international masterpiece of Romanesque art. Among the most creative with respect to traditional iconography, the Beatus held at El Burgo de Osma is one of the best preserved of the rst two original editions of the Beatus. For this reason, the recent critical edition of the Commentary by Beatus, published in the prestigious series of the “Corpus Christianorum” by the pro minent specialist in Vetus Latina, Professor Roger Gryson (University of Louvain), is illustrated with miniatures from the Osma Beatus (imitating the layout of a Beatus Codex).
Parchment as a medium for conveying knowledge.
For the last fifteen years Scriptorium has been publishing high quality facsimiles using the best paper supports existing. It has even made special production runs of what is known as "pergamenata" paper, which is used, after humidification and later wrinkling treatments, to get a look similar to the natural parchment that was for years the support used in preparing ancient manuscripts. Using any type of paper-based support, natural parchment's own characteristics, such as durability, feel, texture, smell, as well as its uniformity and natural beauty itself, were quite understandably impossible to imitate.
In the last fifteen years, spurred on by our most demanding customers, Scriptorium has for this reason devoted hours, days, months, and in fact several years to attempting to achieve what was at first a dream shared with our keenest followers: recovering the ancient wisdom of the work that was done for centuries by illuminators, copiers and scribes with their patient know-how and painstaking labours to give life to illuminated manuscripts. After making such a huge effort, today at Scriptorium we wish to share with our most enthusiastic friends and customers the great satisfaction that we feel on seeing our works made with craftsman techniques, using genuine natural parchment as sole support, just as our predecessors did so long ago.
Thank you all for your backing and continuing encouragement displayed over these hard and complicated years for all of us, not forgetting the special mention for the entire team of craftsmen responsible for what was once a presumptuous dream, and is now a genuine reality.
Our aim was to satisfy the strictest demands with the greatest enthusiasm and passion, and go on sharing our following projects with all of you.
