Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |
Subject: Dead Media Working Note 00.7
Dead Medium: The Cyrograph
From: danrabin_AT_a.crl.com (Dan Rabin)
Mr. Sterling,
I just attended your talk at Apple, and I thought I'd try to get this to
you before you get home.
The Dead Medium in question is the CYROGRAPH. It was a form of
authentication for duplicate documents used in the Middle Ages. The
document was written in duplicate on a piece of vellum (or parchment);
the copies were cut apart and retained by two different parties.
Sometimes the cut was deliberately irregular in order to make spurious
matches unlikely. In addition, lettering would be placed where the cut
was to be made so that both the shape of the cut and the lettering would
have to match in order to authenticate the copies.
References (from Library of Congress online catalog):
92-131963: Brown, Michelle. A guide to western historical scripts : from
antiquity to 1600 / London : British Library, 1990. 138 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.
LC CALL NUMBER: Z114 .B87 1990
92-160830: Brown, Michelle. Anglo-Saxon manuscripts / Toronto ;
Buffalo :
University of Toronto Press, 1991. 80 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.
LC CALL NUMBER: Z8.G72 E53 1991
Enjoy,
-- Dan Rabin (danrabin_AT_a.crl.com)
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |