Writing for Third Parties

This special issue investigates the practice of writing for third parties, often done on commission and/or for profit (pro pretio), which remains a largely neglected aspect of late medieval manuscript culture. Although professional scribes and book artisans played a central role in the production and circulation of manuscripts, evidence of their economic activities remains scarce and fragmented. This introduction outlines the current state of research on commercial manuscript production. Additionally, it contextualises the contributions to this special issue, which examine who engaged in the professional manuscript trade, the roles these people assumed, and the types of texts and books they produced. These studies collectively highlight the need for sustained, systematic research into archival sources and advocate for a more comprehensive approach to medieval textual culture. Such an approach must integrate diverse types of documentation and draw on methodologies from multiple disciplines, including (literary) history, codicology, palaeography, and digital humanities, to advance our understanding of professional and commercial manuscript production across both secular and (semi-) religious settings.