How To Create Your Own Gilded Vellum Manuscript

The materials for this manuscript project can be found at the bottom of this page. The fully illustrated manual is available from the download page.

This project brings together a refreshingly simple method of gilding onto paper with an even simpler method of making an imitation vellum. If you just wish to know how to gild onto paper ignore the last stage of the four steps mentioned further down the page.

Generations of bookbinders have known  how to make their own imitation vellums, having as their ideal the medieval illuminated manuscript.

The paper you choose for this project is important. Bookbinders knew a great deal about paper and chose those papers most suited for what they were trying to achieve.

I have used a particular paper for many years.

It is called Medieval Laid and is made by a specialist German paper manufacturer called Hanhnemhule, this paper comes in two weights, 90gsm and 130 gsm, it is the 130gsm paper you want.

I do supply this paper but I feel free to find it yourself if you wish, It should be available from any fine art store.

There are several things that make this medieval laid paper stand out, it is an archival quality paper, acid free and wood free made from alpha cellulose. It will last for centuries.

It is a hard sized paper, which means in effect that it can be printed on with an ink jet printer and the ink will not bleed into the paper nearly as much as other papers.

It is just the right tint to produce the final colour we want, and it is just the right weight to give the feel of a light weight vellum manuscript.

Lastly the paper has flecks of debris embedded in the paper when it was made, this was done to emulate the appearance of old hand made paper. It also emulates the appearance of genuine vellum which often has small blemishes on the surface. So that is why I recommend this paper.

OK, enough about the paper.

This is what you need;

An inkjet printer, “Word” software or similar.

A good quality paper to print onto.  The paper you use is important, I have to recommend Hahnemühle Medieval Laid paper as it is better than perfect for producing an imitation vellum manuscript.

Imitation gold leaf, you can use 23 carat gold leaf, but after you have applied the imitation vellum finish it will be hard to tell them apart.

Gold size or adhesive, I have developed my own gold size after extensive experiments with traditional and modern gold sizes. The size I supply is ready to use when dry and remains ready to use for weeks, it takes the guesswork out of knowing when the right time is to apply the leaf. I have called this size “Simple Scribe” it is available from the gold lead supplies page

A small amount of blonde de waxed shellac. This is going to be the basis of our vellum finish, it is important to get this type of shellac by name; it is the right tint for what we are looking for.

Methylated Spirit is needed to dissolve the shellac, this is a 90% proof alcohol made to smell and taste bad, in America it is known as denatured alcohol.

Some small paint brushes and one larger one for applying the imitation vellum finish to the whole sheet of paper.

Lastly you will need a pair of scissors, a scalpel, or craft knife, a steel ruler and a cutting mat or sheet of waste card to cut upon, and a little masking tape.

You are welcome to source your own materials and use this manual as you see fit, but naturally I do hope you will avail yourself of the kit or supplies that are available at the bottom of the page and from the gold leaf supplies page where the component parts of the kit are to be found.

There is a manual available from the download page which fully describes and illustrates every step of the process.

Applying the gold metal leaf.

If you have not gilded before don’t worry, imitation gold leaf is much thicker than 23 carat gold leaf which makes it much easier to handle, you can even handle the leaf with your fingers.

Take the book of metal leaf and remove one sheet of gold sandwiched between two sheets of tissue, I have found it easy to tear the three layers straight from the book of leaf, grip the sandwich firmly and gently tear out.

I have to say it would be a little easier if I had some patent gold leaf, it being mounted on a thin sheet of paper and in this one respect easier to use than loose leaf, but as you can see from the pictures it is not difficult to handle the leaf.

Now lay the sandwich onto your cutting mat or waste card.

Cut the sandwich according to the size pieces you need.

In this case I am going to cut the leaf into quarters as this size suits the capitals I am going to gild.

Remove one sheet of tissue from one of the pieces and lay the leaf down over the capital to be gilded keeping the top piece of tissue in place.

Lay the leaf down flat over the area to be gilded and smooth the paper down flat.

You can now rub down firmly with the tissue still in place; in effect this is burnishing the leaf, so rub down well.

Now we want to remove all the surplus leaf which will reveal the letter we have gilded.

Tear of a piece of masking tape 2 or 3 inches long.

Using a gentle dabbing action work your way over the leaf, as soon as the tape has picked up leaf move on to an unused part of the tape.

This works because the gold adhesive is stickier than the masking tape.

Applying the imitation vellum finish.

As I have said, bookbinders in the past used to produce imitation vellum and parchment by varnishing certain types of suitable paper.

We are going to do the same thing.

The shellac is mixed up 1 part of shellac to four parts of methylated spirit/denatured alcohol.

Place the shellac in a glass jar with a screw top, add the alcohol and shake occasionally over a 48 hour period.

The alcohol does give off fumes so work in a room that has good ventilation if they bother you.

Just paint the shellac on, doing so does several things.

It colours the gold slightly giving it a deeper hue; it also seals the leaf so it will not tarnish.

It also hardens the paper, making it more like vellum in the way it handles.