"Writers write so that the future may learn," a 5th-century French monk once inscribed in a diligent hand. This program is a concise history of the illuminated manuscript and book production. The everyday lives of the writers, scribes, and illustrators are revealed, and honor is paid to the best known: Einhard, biographer of Charlemagne; Gerald of Wales; the Abbot of Wearmouth Jarrow; the poor miscreant scribe, Raulinus; and Jean Mielot, scribe of the court of Philip the Good of Burgundy. The work of husband-and-wife illuminators, Richart and Jeanne de Montbaston, is shown and discussed, along with the operation of Florentine bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci—book agent to kings and nobles. The program ends with the arrival of the printing press and movable type. (24 minutes)