ANST - Re: Scrolls & Charters - Thank you

[Dr Tiomoid of Angle]

--- marsha.greene at mpan.com wrote:

> When you are talking 'historical' seals, they are usually attached to
> the tail end of the document, which has been folded in some special
> way, with a ribbon run through the paper, and dangling down.

Usually braided silk or leather cords were used. To form the tail
through which the cords were run, they just folded it over a time or
two, and cut slits through the whole stack. Parchment is pretty tough;
this makes a pretty secure hanging place.

> Instead of the wax poured directly onto the paper, the best 
> historical way I have seen is that the sealing wax is melted into 
> a small open disk (sort of like a bottle top) which holds the wax,
> then the seal is placed in the wax.    

Pendent seals were most common, and almost invariably used in Britain,
but directly on the parchment ("en plaquet") was more common in France,
and certainly an option if our concern is authenticity. Royal seals
typically had two parts, forming an obverse and reverse on the
resulting seal (Cf. Harvey & McGuinness, A GUIDE TO BRITISH MEDIEVAL
SEALS, University of Toronto Press, 1996, ISBN 0802008674). You pour
wax into the reverse, lay the cords over it, pour in more wax, clamp
the obverse on it, and the whole shebang goes into a screw press. I've
seen the outfit used for the Great Seal of the United States (which is
a good 6" in diameter); it has weights on the arms of the screw press
that are brass and the size of grapefruit.

> Generally, we do not get this complex on our signing with seals as 
> a rule, and most people set the process up wrong.

Well, we *are* an educational organization....

> A major problem with seals is that they can dry up and crack and fall
> off..

Sealing wax is, by its nature, somewhat brittle -- which is not a bad
thing, when the document is sealed closed and somebody needs to break
the seal to get into it -- and often metal cases were made for
protective purposes. That's a bit more elaborate than we need to do, of
course.

> secondly, in our heat, big problems if a scroll is left in a car or
> even out in the open.

I doubt that REAL sealing wax -- Dennison #2, for example -- would be
bothered by even Texas summer heat.

> I think its a 'pretty' idea, and can be really nice, if done 
> correctly... but should probably be reserved for the very artistic
> handworked scrolls, in my humble opinion.

Of course. 


Fra Tadhg Liath OFT
The Grumpiest Pelican
SCITIS IMPLETI * NOSCE IGNOTIS
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