ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Manuscript culture

Manuscript culture is all about how people used to write stuff down in the olden days. Instead of using computers like we do now, they would write on pieces of paper or parchment using special pens called quills.

People would make copies of important documents by writing them out by hand. They would usually use special rooms called scriptoria where they could work and concentrate on their writing.

Books were very rare back then and mostly only wealthy people or people in religious communities had them. They would be very careful with them because they were valuable and took a lot of time and effort to make.

Since there were no printers, people who wanted a book would have to pay someone to write it out by hand for them. This meant that books were pretty expensive and not everyone could afford them.

As time went on, printing presses were invented which made it much easier to make lots of copies of books. This was a very important change because it meant that more people could read and learn new things.

So, in conclusion, manuscript culture is all about how people used to write things down by hand a long time ago, how they made copies of important documents, and how they protected and valued books.