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<title>The Role of Book in Medieval Film Credits</title>
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<h2 class="header_chapters">
Case study:<br />The Role of Book in Medieval Film Credits
</h2>
<div class="content_chapters">
<p><a class="content_anchors" href="#introduction">Introduction</a></p>
<p>
<a class="content_anchors" href="#data-analyzed">Data analyzed</a>
</p>
<p><a class="content_anchors" href="#analysis">Analysis</a></p>
<p>
<a class="content_anchors" href="#classification">Classification</a>
</p>
<p>
<a class="content_anchors" href="#script-examples">Script Examples</a>
</p>
</div>
<section>
<h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3>
<p>
To immerse the spectator in the space of a picture set in the Middle
Ages, the directors often turned to the image of a book. This imagery
is not just visually eye-catching. It is a bridge connecting cinema to
medieval storytelling traditions, a nod to the source material that
lends the story a sense of historical grounding. Any movie begins with
a script, and in the case of my subject, with a literary basis,
whether it is legends, novels, fairy tales, or poems. Putting a book
in the space of the film seemingly authorized it, made it more
“veritable”, tied it to a material and semantic entity, i.e. a book.
</p>
<p>
This case study explores particular instances when a book as an object
– whether its cover or pages – is used in the opening credits of
movies from the database. How are these books presented? To what
extent do they correlate with the time in which the action of the film
unfolds, capturing the essence of the period? How is the association
with the movie and the past shown in it made? These are the questions
that this chapter sets out to answer.
</p>
<h3 id="data-analyzed">Data analyzed</h3>
<p>
Will Straw in his article on film credits incorporated into the city’s
architecture and skyline states that “[t]he credit sequences of
classical and preclassical cinema will almost always model themselves
on the printed page, the theatrical curtain, or the emblematic
slide.”<a
href="#fn1"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref1"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>1</sup></a
>
This assertion, however, is rather misleading in relation to the
sample of films which are presented in this study. Among the 103 films
released before 1964 that used medieval aesthetics in their titles,
only 12 use the image of a book and turning pages – that is only ~12%.
It cannot be claimed that this figure indicates a trend, but it is not
worth ignoring the number of titles that follow the same pattern.
Slightly, but not critically higher, is the percentage of such titles
in movies with scripts that have a literary basis: eight out of 58
films, that is ~14%. By literary basis, it refers to a wide range of
sources from epics and legends to newspaper comics.
</p>
<p>
In this selection, a marginally more general example is deliberately
omitted. This is a separate category of title cards that appears to be
hanging on the path to the representation of the book as a physical
object, i.e. titles imitating parchment or scroll. There are enough
examples of such films in the database used<a
href="#fn2"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref2"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>2</sup></a
>, but this chapter’s main objective is to analyze a special kind of
title sequence directly related to European book culture.
</p>
<p>
Hereafter, a list of relevant films. The title cards are presented in
chronological order of film release in the Figures section of the
chapter. For ease of search and unification purposes, titles are given
in English as films were released in theaters in English-speaking
countries.
</p>
<ul class="film_list">
<li><em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em>, dir. W. Dieterle (1939)</li>
<li>
<em>Adémaï in the Middle Ages</em>, dir. J. de Marguenat (1935)
</li>
<li><em>The Devil’s Envoys</em>, dir. M. Carné (1942)</li>
<li><em>The Black Arrow</em>, dir. G. Douglas (1948)</li>
<li><em>The Iron Swordsman</em>, dir. R. Fredda (1949)</li>
<li>
<em>Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino</em>, dir. P. Francisci
(1952)
</li>
<li><em>The Monastery’s Hunter</em>, dir. H. Reini (1953)</li>
<li><em>The Saracen Blade</em>, dir. W. Castle (1954)</li>
<li><em>Joan of Arc at the Stake</em>, dir. R. Rossellini (1954)</li>
<li><em>The Pied Piper of Hamelin</em>, dir. B. Windust (1957)</li>
<li>
<em
>The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of
the Great Sea Serpent</em
>, dir. R. Corman (1957)
</li>
<li>
<em>The Shepherd from Trutzberg</em>, dir. E. von Borsody (1959)
</li>
</ul>
<p>
The earliest available film with credits that imitate (or only attempt
to) a book, came out in 1935, the latest (certainly strictly within
the sample) in 1959. Two films each came out in 1954 and 1957, with
the most movies – seven – released in the 1950s. 58% of the movies in
this case study are shot in black and white, exactly seven out of 12.
If all instances for a selection of all the films in the whole paper
are factored into the statistics, the percentage drops to 38%, i.e.
only 40 films out of 103 are black and white. Important to specify
that it considers tinted black and white films to be color films by
this criterion.
</p>
<p>
The list of films analyzed in this case study includes nine films
whose screenplay is based on a literary source. In almost all
instances, these are pieces written long after the events portrayed.
One exception is
<em>The Iron Swordsman</em> (1949) which is based on a short episode
about the life of the Italian nobleman Ugolino della Gherardesca told
in Dante’s <em>Divine Comedy</em>. A second example set shortly before
the literary basis is
<em>Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino</em> (1952) based on a
chivalry romance from the 15th century.
</p>
<p>
Seven of the dozen films are set in the 15th century, three examples
are from the 13th century, and one described events from the 14th
century. The strict chronological limits of another film are not
specified in the story or in the sources that have arisen around that
film and are currently available, but fall between the 8th and 10th
centuries.
</p>
<p>
The locations of the films are quite predictable: most of the films
are about France (four films), followed by Italy and Germany (three
each), then England and Scandinavia (one each). This ratio is not
unexpected. These countries were the leaders in film production, along
with the United States, and their focus was concentrated on local
history. In post-war Germany there was even a name for such a genre,
Heimatfilm. It includes plot-driven, simple romantic movies that tell
a straightforward story of love and friendship in a village setting.
The perfect type for Medieval movies.
</p>
<p>
Regarding the country of production, the supremacy of the United
States is undeniable and also unsurprising. The selection analyzed in
this chapter consists of films released between 1935 and 1959. The
shift towards advanced capitalism in the US film industry is dated by
some film historians to the period between 1919 and 1935.<a
href="#fn3"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref3"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>3</sup></a
>
Changes in film budgeting schemes, bankruptcies and mergers of
production companies eventually led to the very form of the classic
Hollywood style of shooting and production as we know it. The telling
of universal stories as the main formal goal, the revisiting,
reworking and adaptation of different narratives, the gravitation
towards clear and unambiguous plots. David Bordwell consciously
compares the movie studios of that era to monastic scriptoria.<a
href="#fn4"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref4"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>4</sup></a
>
However, Hollywood had production facilities that medieval monks could
never have dreamed of.
</p>
<div class="chapter_gallery_wrap">
<article>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/Figure_1.png"
loading="lazy"
class="clickable-image"
alt="Figure 1"
/>
</article>
<article>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/Figure_2.png"
loading="lazy"
class="clickable-image"
alt="Figure 2"
/>
</article>
<article>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/Figure_3.png"
loading="lazy"
class="clickable-image"
alt="Figure 3"
/>
</article>
</div>
<div id="imageModal" class="modal">
<span class="close">×</span>
<img class="modal-content" id="modalImage" />
</div>
<h3 id="analysis">Analysis</h3>
<p>
As Richard Burt notes, the study of the so-called elements of
“cinematic paratext,” which include opening credits, offers a fresh
look at the relationship between medieval book culture and cinema as
old and new channels of media communication<a
href="#fn5"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref5"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>5</sup></a
>.
</p>
<p>
The first movie in the selection in which the opening credits are
presented in the pages of a book is
<em>Adémaï in the Middle Ages</em> (1935). The book here occupies the
entire space of the frame, the spectators see nothing but the pages
being turned. This “book” is nominal but there is no doubt that it was
the “book” effect that the creators of the titles were trying to
achieve. Some pages have small illustrations, made in a much more
modern manner than the font. In the shot with the film title an image
of a fortress is placed in the background, which does not correlate
with the aesthetics of the font. Interestingly, when listing the
supporting and third actors, the sheet turns into a scroll moving from
bottom to top. After the shots with the names of the crew there is a
montage effect of “flipping” rather than, as it was in the beginning,
the obviously manual turning the pages.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/r76hqrlrdgfa30fc7ibry/1935_Ad-ma-in-the-Middle-Ages.png?rlkey=85dmmeh3g184mvf6ooaovllun&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="Adémaï in the Middle Ages"
/>
<figcaption>Adémaï in the Middle Ages, 1935.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The typeface used for the credits certainly refers to Gothic minuscule
and to some intermediate variant between Gothic Textura Prescissa,
littera formata (moderately formal grade)<a
href="#fn6"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref6"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>6</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote6.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Gothic Textura Prescissa"
/>
<figcaption>
Book of Hours (Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis), Folio 97r: Office of
the Dead: Death. c.1470 (creation date). Trinity College, Watkinson
Library (Hartford, Connecticut, USA).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The opening titles were painted by hand and the artist has undoubtedly
introduced new artistic elements into it, relying on the traditional
handwriting that is ubiquitous in European manuscripts, especially
those found in what is now France and Spain, from the 12th to the 15th
century. This font is the highest grade of the Gothic range of
bookhands. The film is set in the late 1420s, so this stylization of
the credits looks justified.
</p>
<p>
Chronologically following is
<em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em> (1939), the US production. Frames
of the opening credits are changed using a montage, and on the credits
with the film crew becomes a scroll as in the previous example. The
film is set in the late Middle Ages, but from the credits this dating
is not clear. The serif font looks printed and stylistically refers
rather to the books of the middle of the 19th century or, a little
later, to the private press movement. On the other hand, the authors
may have been inspired by the title pages of editions of
<em>Notre-Dame de Paris</em>. However, no similar design was found
among the various editions of Victor Hugo’s novel available online.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s08eurz4k0m60oxz6kzqu/1939_The-Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame.png?rlkey=28ln8uye3e7lnj6065cp34zkn&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
/>
<figcaption>The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
What stylistic features, adopted from manuscripts and printed books
and reworked by artists, can be seen in the opening title pages? The
title is in two colors. First, the ornamented capital letters “H”,
“N”, and “D” grab the attention. They are an example of so-called
<em>fleuronée</em> decoration, which is a special case of the broader
term <em>penflourishing</em> or <em>penwork</em
><a href="#fn7" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref7" role="doc-noteref"
><sup>7</sup></a
>. The design extends above and below the letter space, the
<em>filigrée</em> initials being the centerpiece. This type of initial
decoration is one of the oldest and was common throughout the whole
Middle Ages. The popularity was due to the use of only two colors, the
relative ease of execution compared to more complex forms, and the
guaranteed results. The second aesthetic element is the simple
abstract ornamentation around the perimeter of the page margins. It
does not resemble the typical ornaments found in manuscripts of the
late Middle Ages, in which the events of the novel unfold<a
href="#fn8"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref8"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>8</sup></a
>, but more resembles part of the <em>bandeau</em> ornaments that were
usually located at the beginning of a chapter of printed books.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote8.jpeg"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Penflourishing"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragment of: Rare Book Division, The New York Public Library. "The
VVhole Booke Of Psalmes" New York Public Library Digital
Collections.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Therefore, the credits of <em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em> are a
far from authentic stylization that does not refer to anything
specific but a fine blend of different aesthetics, yet significantly
modified.
</p>
<p>
A more stylistically interesting example is the credits of
<em>The Devil’s Envoys</em> (1942). This film often appears in papers
analyzing medievalism and filmic incarnations of the Middle Ages<a
href="#fn9"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref9"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>9</sup></a
>. The titles here are absolutely “spectatorial”, they hold the
attention, make the viewer look at the book. The credits do not skimp
on ornamentation and decoration.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rom7bd5f4ipi11ns8azfo/1942_The-Devil-s-Envoys.png?rlkey=81lpfuigprsl05028dk4dtzs7&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>The Devil's Envoys, 1942.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The action takes place in 1485 in France which is told to us in the
introduction by a manuscript page, that is similar in its function to
the intertitle of a silent movie. This page follows the opening
credits, also written in the book. In the first shot, the spectator is
presented with the lavishly embellished book cover. This elaborate
<em>plaque</em> (or plate) is attached to the book-cover within which
the caption pages are enclosed. The <em>plaque</em> comprises a
central plate surrounded by ornaments made of gemstones and painted
patterns. The central element is an <em>appliquée</em> image, a
portrait of a woman, framed by a simple metal and ivory-like inner
frame. The woman wears a high pointed hennin with a white veil. It is
an extravagant choice of noble European women of the late Middle Ages,
beginning in the 1430s. Such headdress was especially common in
France, Burgundy and Flanders<a
href="#fn10"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref10"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>10</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/1942_The Devil's Envoys_First Frame.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys, first frame"
/>
<figcaption>The Devil's Envoys, 1942.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
This cover design (with inlay, ivory, metal, and ornaments) often was
characteristic of liturgical books. Examples of such design are found
before and after the Middle Ages. Usually the central element was the
figure of Jesus or the Crucifixion. However, there are examples of
similar designs in non-liturgical literature as well<a
href="#fn11"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref11"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>11</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote11.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Detail of a book cover: Antiphonary. 15th–16th century. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
As with <em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em> the pages are turned,
however in this movie the spectators see the hands that do it. This
first-person filming accomplishes a more immersive experience of
interacting with the opening credits. The title card is decorated with
plane plant ornamentation around the perimeter of the page; the title
itself includes decorated initials. The lettering is hand-drawn and
stylistically influenced by the Gothic script system. Such
inscriptions were used in books produced in monastic scriptorium.<a
href="#fn12"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref12"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>12</sup></a
>
Similar letter designs are found in various manuscripts from the 15th
century<a
href="#fn13"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref13"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>13</sup></a
>, although it is obvious that such a script is not strictly tied to a
particular period. The letter “V”, however, is out of the overall
style: its drawing does not correspond to the common norms, besides,
the letter “U” was usually used for initials.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote13_1.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragments of pages: Oxford, Balliol College MS 238C, fol. 2r (left),
fol.3r (right).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote13_2.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragment of: Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximillian (Flemish,
c. 1444–1519) (artist), and Associates (artist). c. 1500. The
Cleveland Museum of Art.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The floral ornamentation on this and the following pages, shown in the
credits, refers to the design of books of hours<a
href="#fn14"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref14"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>14</sup></a
>, lavishly decorated highly personalized prayer books, which were
very common in the 13th–16th centuries. Such books for daily use
usually consisted of a liturgical calendar, prayers, and psalms.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote14_1.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragment of: Book of Hours (Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis). Office of
the Dead: Death. Trinity College, Watkinson Library (Hartford,
Connecticut, USA), fol. 97r.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote14_2.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Book of Hours (Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis). Hours of the Cross:
Crucifixion. Trinity College, Watkinson Library (Hartford,
Connecticut, USA), fol. 37r.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote14_3.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Devil’s Envoys"
/>
<figcaption>
Book of Hours. Hours of the Virgin: Lauds: Visitation. Trinity
College, Watkinson Library (Hartford, Connecticut, USA), fol. 48r.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Overall, the credits for <em>The Devil’s Envoys</em> can be considered
a curious example of working with a depicted era and skillfully
integrating its characteristics into the space of the opening credits.
</p>
<p>
The opening sequence of <em>The Black Arrow</em> (1948) is organized
similarly. Its design, however, from the very first frame casts doubt
on the adherence to the 15th century aesthetics in which the events of
the film took place. The book shown in the credits has the so-called
half-binding (or <em>demi-reliure</em>) which did not emerge until the
19th century.
</p>
<div class="chapter_gallery_wrap">
<article>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/1948_The Black Arrow_First Frame.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Black Arrow"
/>
<figcaption>First frame of The Black Arrow, 1948.</figcaption>
</figure>
</article>
<article>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uzs7r3xxyrn002phgbkug/1948_The-Black-Arrow.png?rlkey=xtvaef9xstyxfjdrecmnnbmg5&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Black Arrow"
/>
<figcaption>The Black Arrow, 1948.</figcaption>
</figure>
</article>
</div>
<p>
The central element of the cover is a super ex-libris with a coat of
arms, so the book can be attributed to the armorial binding<a
href="#fn15"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref15"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>15</sup></a
>
type which gained popularity after the Middle Ages.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote15.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Black Arrow"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragments of book covers (left to right): <br />
1. [Reliure aux armes de Vintimille du Luc,
Charles-Gaspard-Guillaume de (1655-1746)]. BnF Catalogue général;
<br />
2. [Reliure aux armes de Tschiff, D]. BnF Catalogue général; <br />
3. Légende des Trois Rois Mages. BnF Catalogue général.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
In most cases such binding was non-original. The script on the pages
is a liberal artistic interpretation of several written traditions<a
href="#fn16"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref16"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>16</sup></a
>. The same kind of two-color decorated initials we have already seen
in <em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em> but in this film there is also
an unusual mixture of Gothic Quadrata and Rotunda, and Humanistic
Cursive scripts<a
href="#fn17"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref17"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>17</sup></a
>. The book is a variant interpretation of the past tradition.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote16.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Black Arrow"
/>
<figcaption>
Breviary Leaf, Illuminated Manuscript, Verso. Contains Psalms and
Floral Illuminations, Seven Two-Line Illuminated Initials., 1475.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The title credits of <em>The Iron Swordsman</em> (1949), directly
refer to one of the most famous editions of Dante Alighieri’s
<em>Divine Comedy</em>. The movie tells the story of Ugolino della
Gherardesca, an Italian nobleman placed by Dante in the second circle
of hell for betraying his homeland. The movie opens with a shot of a
19th century book, on the title page of which is inscribed in Gothic
script “<em>Dante. La Divina Comedia.</em>”
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/y7s370012w7dnkmy8loy5/1949_The-Iron-Swordsman.png?rlkey=ks56154xi13yz515diy08e5wz&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Iron Swordsman"
/>
<figcaption>The Iron Swordsman, 1949.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
A hand turns the pages of the book, revealing Gustave Doré’s gravure
for Canto 32 which depicts the devouring of archbishop Ruggieri by
Ugolino. The image enlarges, filling the frame space, and a caption
with the title appears. Interestingly, its font follows the design of
the first American edition of the <em>Divine Comedy</em>, published in
Italian in 1867<a
href="#fn18"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref18"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>18</sup></a
>. The appearance of the book and the layout of the pages do not
coincide, but the font is undoubtedly transferred to the movie from
the cover of this book.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote18.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Iron Swordsman"
/>
<figcaption>
Alighieri, D. L’inferno Di Dante Alighieri, 1867.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
<em>Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino</em> (1952) is another
fantasy on the medieval book subject. In the second shot, right after
the credits with the name of the production company, spectators see a
typical medieval book cover<a
href="#fn19"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref19"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>19</sup></a
>
– metal bosses, a copper roundel, and a massive book clasp<a
href="#fn20"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref20"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>20</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/1952_Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino_Second Frame.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="Second frame of the Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino opening title"
/>
<figcaption>
Second frame of the Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino (1952)
opening titles.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote20.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragments of book covers (left to right): <br />
1. Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Auct. D. inf. 2. 11; <br />
2. Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Add. A. 26; <br />
3. Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Broxb. 84.3.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9ler1u0n7z32ygwhda9qf/1952_Wonderful-Adventures-of-Guerrin-Meschino.png?rlkey=icmz37843uyyq9fpa766c3mfb&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino"
/>
<figcaption>
Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino, 1952.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
An invisible hand is leafing through the pages, which are filled with
artistic variations on medieval writing. In the script can be seen
influences of English cursive (documentary and book script as well<a
href="#fn21"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref21"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>21</sup></a
>) from the 14th century, Gothic cursive, and a simple pen flourishing
ornament of capital letters. The movie is based on the Italian
chivalric novel <em>Il Guerrin Meschino</em>, written in the early
15th century by Andrea da Barberino. The letters in the title credits
are similar to one of the manuscript and first printed variants with
Gothic cursive which are available in the BNF online library<a
href="#fn22"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref22"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>22</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote22.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Wonderful Adventures of Guerrin Meschino"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragments of book pages (left to right): <br />
1. da Barberino, Guerin meschino. “BnF Catalogue général”;
<br />
2. da Barberino, Le premier livre de Guerin Mesquin [...]. “BnF
Catalogue général”.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The first color film to use the book in its credits that is an
instance of the database is <em>The Monastery’s Hunter</em> (1953).
The movie is based on the 1893 novel of the same name by Ludwig
Ganghofer. There are two shots with the title of the movie in the
credits: the first one meets us on the cover of the book, the second
is on a page after the credits with the names of the film crew.
</p>
<div class="chapter_gallery_wrap">
<article>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6b9evomldw35lfk9h9ial/1953_The-Monastery-s-Hunter.png?rlkey=tnefaj7p83tme9lgu07i2nc08&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Monastery's Hunter"
/>
<figcaption>The Monastery's Hunter, 1953.</figcaption>
</figure>
</article>
<article>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/1953_The Monastery's Hunter_2nd.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="The Monastery's Hunter"
/>
<figcaption>The Monastery's Hunter, 1953.</figcaption>
</figure>
</article>
</div>
<p>
Before our eyes is undoubtedly a book from the late 19th century. This
is evidenced by the usual landscape orientation and the title directly
on the cover. A resembling font is found in the first edition of the
novel<a
href="#fn23"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref23"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>23</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote23.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="The Monastery's Hunter"
/>
<figcaption>Ludwig Ganghofer, Der Klosterjäger, 1893.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Both of these cases are artistic embodiments of the Fraktur typeface,
which originated around the 1510s in Nuremberg and is the most
recognizable typeface<a
href="#fn24"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref24"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>24</sup></a
>
used for more than four centuries on the German territories<a
href="#fn25"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref25"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>25</sup></a
>. Fraktur refers to strict Gothic script in its letterforms but it
was already widespread in printed books. The authors of the title card
to <em>The Monastery’s Hunter</em> have used it freely (take for
example the unusual lettering of the letter “a”), while leaving
recognizable features (wide lines, elongated letters). And again here
we find decorative capital letters.
</p>
<p>
Fittingly, the trend with more modern books continues with
<em>The Saracen Blade</em> (1954). The cover of the book, decorated
with the title of the movie, looks contemporary to the time of the
movie. This is evidenced by the book’s landscape orientation<a
href="#fn26"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref26"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>26</sup></a
>, which is not typical of the Middle Ages, and the Bradel binding,
which was not used until the 18th century. The cover looks comic, it
promises bright fairytale adventures, although the plot of the movie
cannot be called absolutely detached from the historical perspective.
The title of the movie is made of different scripts: there are the
letterforms we have already seen in T<em>he Iron Swordsman</em>, which
are used for capital letters, and a stricter Gothic variant,
gravitating towards Textualis semi-quadrata. In this movie, more than
in any of those previously reviewed, comes such a clumsy
representation of the book titles.
</p>
<p>
Director Roberto Rossellini puts the title sequence in the eighth
minute of <em>Joan of Arc at the Stake</em> (1954), right after the
opening scene of the burning at the stake. This movie is filled with
music, it introduces the audience from the very beginning, so the use
of musical notation motifs in the title credits is justified and sets
the tone for the narrative. The title shot is interesting for several
reasons. Firstly, the use of letter colors, which has departed from
the conventional use of color. Red and black (or dark brown) have been
swapped.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ors956n31ld8gckosoc4z/1954_Joan-of-Arc-at-the-Stake.png?rlkey=7wrqcngord2zo7ckn0rz9vs6j&raw=1"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img"
alt="Joan of Arc at the Stake"
/>
<figcaption>Joan of Arc at the Stake, 1954.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
During the Middle Ages red color was more often used for rubrication,
the very term “rubric” came from the Latin meaning “red”. This color
was most noticeable in the dark lines rows of the text and helped the
reader to navigate the pages of the manuscript<a
href="#fn27"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref27"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>27</sup></a
>. However, it was not uncommon for red to be used to highlight an
entire piece of text rather than using just a capital letter<a
href="#fn28"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref28"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>28</sup></a
>.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote28.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Joan of Arc at the Stake"
/>
<figcaption>
Examples from 15th century books (left to right): <br />
1. Oxford, Bodleian Library. MS. E. D. Clarke 29, fol. 17v; <br />
2. Oxford, Christ Church MS 87, fol. 10r.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
Other colors such as blue or gilt were used to headline text written
in red. The title <em>Joan of Arc at the Stake</em> inverts this
commonly used trop – the capital letters are set off in dark color,
while the rest of the word is written in red. The typeface itself is
an artistic fantasy. Secondly, the capital letters “J” and “S” are
accompanied by a modest penwork flourishing that does not resemble the
usual manuscript patterns. Third, it is curious to consider musical
notation. Modern musical notation emerged in the 11th century in
Italy, attributed to Guido d’Arezzo. Notation in the time of Joan of
Arc looked different<a
href="#fn29"
class="footnote-ref"
id="fnref29"
role="doc-noteref"
><sup>29</sup></a
>; it did not become modern until the 17th century.
</p>
<figure>
<img
src="./assets/images/case_study_1/footnote29.png"
loading="lazy"
class="chapter_img clickable-image"
alt="Joan of Arc at the Stake"
/>
<figcaption>
Fragment from 15th century music manuscript: [Antiphonaire de
l’office]. “BnF Catalogue général”.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The second musical film in the selection,
<em>The Pied Piper of Hamelin</em> (1957) appealing to an older
Germanic legend about the salvation of the city, is treated loosely in
the opening credits. The audience is greeted by a leather-bound book