Manuscripts
Writers’ handwritten manuscripts and drafts for plays and books give an insight into how they work and how they go about the creative process. Brief notes to friends and family while they are in the throes of creation can give an indication of how they reached their final creation.
Before Gutenberg all manuscripts were hand-written. Many of those made by the Christian monks of Europe contain wonderful illuminations. In earlier cultures, the ancient Egyptians carved hieroglyphics onto stone. Elsewhere in the Middle East scribes wrote on scrolls of cured leather known as parchment.
