I have been following the St. John’s Bible project for years. The primary calligrapher is Donald Jackson. IMHO he is the finest calligrapher and illuminator alive today. I wish his book and movie The Story of Writing was still in print.
It may look impossible to create a Bible in one year or thereabouts, however, at a scriptorium in a monastery, the job was broken down into component parts. The monks used a system very much akin to the medieval practice of apprentice, journeyman, and master. There would be brothers assigned to prepare the vellum and parchment. There would be brothers who did nothing more than page layout (which eats an incredible amount of time up for the individual calligrapher). There would be brothers who prepared the ink and cut and cured the quills and kept them sharpened (and, no, a properly prepared quill does not require sharpening every few minutes). As was noted, there would be others who would draw the border designs, capitals, etc. and others to apply the colors and gold leaf. The actual calligraphy would only be assigned to the most proficient and experienced monks. Paleographers have identified that there are four separate handwritings involved in the Book of Kells, an Irish version of the four Gospels. So, I would think that any of the bigger monasteries would have been capable of doing this.
For those who are interested, I would recommend Marc Drogin’s Medieval Calligraphy. Not only does Drogin discuss the various scripts he goes into great detail about this very issue.
And, I fess up, I’m the one who keeps geese for the quills. Since I’m right handed, I use the left flight feathers only - the curvature of the quill is what orders this. No, I don’t leave any of the feather on - contrary to Hollywood. Not only does it affect the balance of the quill, it is a distraction to the eye and nose.
