Ed wrote: >Arthur wrote: > > >She also tracked down > >some pieces if lute music that may be compositional sketches. There is not > >too much material like that because it is thought composers first wrote a > >piece oin a wax slate, and then when the composition was complete, ink it > >into a manuscript (or intabulate it?). > > > >arthur > >I had heard about slates, but I didn't know they were wax. I wonder >what they wrote on them with. I'm assuming they worked out their >compositions in a kind of score and then copied them to part books.
They used a pen-like device that was made up of a sharp stylus on one end and a sort of flat scraper on the other to smooth out the table (or erase bits). The practice of using wax tablets started with the Romans and lasted up until sometime in the 17th century. Here are some references; http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/tablets.html http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/8927/vindolanda/tablets.html http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/artefacts/tablet1.htm http://geocities.com/karen_larsdatter/tablets.htm Regards, Craig
