Rubric

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
This article is about rubrics in text and as instructions. For other uses, see
Rubric (disambiguation).

Dominican Missal, c. 1240, with rubrics in red (Historical Museum of Lausanne)

Rubrics in an illuminated gradual of ca. 1500

A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in
red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the Latin: rubrica, meaning red ochre
or red chalk,[1] and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th
century or earlier. In these, red letters were used to highlight initial capitals
(particularly of psalms), section headings and names of religious significance, a
practice known as rubrication, which was a separate stage in the production of a
manuscript.

Rubric can also mean the red ink or paint used to make rubrics, or the pigment used
to make it.[2] Although red was most often used, other colours came into use from
the late Middle Ages onwards, and the word rubric was used for these also.

Various figurative senses of the word have been extended from its original meaning.
Usually these senses are used within the set phrase "under [whatever] rubric," for
example, "under this rubric, [X is true]," or "[X was done] under the rubric of Y."
These senses are defined in part by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate[3] as follows: "an
authoritative rule"; "the title of a statute"; "something under which a thing is
classed: CATEGORY"; "an explanatory or introductory commentary: GLOSS"; "an
established rule, tradition, or custom"; "a guide listing specific criteria for
grading or scoring academic [assignments] ."[3] (See Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate[3] for the full listing.)

Contents
1 As liturgical instructions
2 After the development of printing
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
As liturgical instructions
Instructions for a priest explaining what he must do during a liturgy were also
rubricated in missals and the other liturgical books, and the texts to be spoken
aloud were in black.[4] From this, "rubric" has a secondary denotation of an
instruction in a text, regardless of how it is actually inscribed. This is the
oldest recorded definition in English, found in 1375.[5] Less formally, "rubrics"
may refer to any liturgical action customarily performed, whether or not pursuant
to a written instruction. The history, status, and authority of the content of
rubrics are significant, and sometimes controversial, among liturgical scholars. In
the past, some theologians distinguished between rubrics they considered of Divine
origin and those merely of human origin. Rubrics were probably originally verbal,
and then written in separate volumes. The earliest extant liturgical books do not
contain them, but from references in texts of the first millennium it appears that
written versions existed.[6] Full rubrics regarding matters such as vesture,
appearance of the altar, timing of specific liturgies, and similar matters still
may be published separately. In modern liturgical books, e. g. the Catholic Roman
Missal, lengthy general rubrics, probably printed in black, pertain to such matters
and preface the actual order of liturgies, which contain shorter, specific rubrics
that still are usually rubricated. Red is also often used to distinguish words
spoken by the celebrant and those by the congregation, or by other specific persons
involved in the liturgy, e. g. those marrying.
After the development of printing

Page from the 1896 Kelmscott Press edition of the 13th century Laudes Beatae Mariae
Virginis, with numbers and first lines of the Psalms rubricated in between prayers
in black.[7]
With the arrival of printing, other typographic effects such as italic type, bolded
type, or different sizes of type, were used to emphasize a section of text, and as
printing in two colours is more expensive and time consuming, rubrication has
tended to be reserved for sacred and liturgical books or luxury editions of other
works.

William Morris's medievally inspired typography for the Kelmscott Press at the end
of the 19th century included chapter titles and other accents in red, or rarely
blue, ink, and was influential on small press art typography associated with the
Arts and Crafts movement in both England and the United States, particularly the
work of the Ashendene, Doves, and Roycroft Presses.[7][8]

Around 1900, rubrication was incorporated into a Red letter edition of the King
James Version of the Bible to distinguish the Dominical words, i. e., those spoken
by Jesus Christ during His corporeal life on Earth, because that translation lacked
quotation marks. Other versions of the Bible have since adopted the popular
practice.