[split] Did the VM go straight from cerebellum to vellum?

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Novel or at least transformative works were often autographs (which may or may not be lost). But the vast majority of manuscripts were not novel.

Thanks, but my question is about manuscripts on vellum, specifically.

I would think that, by 1430, people normally wrote new stuff on paper.  (On papyrus before that.)  That included letters, notebooks, diaries, ledgers, -- and the draft of novel books.  And there are plenty of examples in libraries, even though paper was fragile and good material for kindling fires.

I would think that vellum was used only for writing that was important and/or meant to last a lifetime of use, including deeds, contracts, decrees, diplomatic and high-level military orders, religious books, chronicles, manuals, and scholarly treatises -- and the final copy of novel books, if the author could afford it.

It was noted earlier, somewhere on this forum, that the price of Gutenberg's Bible printed on vellum was four times that of the same book printed on paper.  Since the labor cost was exactly the same, one must conclude that vellum was at least five times as expensive as paper.

I would further think that the vellum final copy of novel books would usually be done by a hired  scribe rather than by the author himself -- since it would be a slow and tedious task that required good handwriting, firm hand, sharp eyes.

So, the question remains.  Are there surviving instances of Medieval manuscript books on vellum that are known to have been scribed by the author himself? 

All the best, --stolfi