The best material on which to write family trees is vellum. This is the carefully prepared skin of calves, sheep or goats and is a writing surface which preceeds paper and was used by medieval monks for their illuminated manuscripts. Skins of vellum take much preparation and there are few companies which still produce calf, sheep and goatskin vellum. It is quite costly but it's advantages over paper are considerable, it is much more durable and alterations can be easily made. The Florey family tree opposite is written on classic vellum which is vellum that has not been bleached white as has manuscript vellum. It therefore retains a lot of the original colour of the calfskin as can be seen from the variation in colour of the background.Click on image for enlargement (large file).

Section of a large family tree on manuscript vellum (actual size 80cm x 76cm) illustrated with coats of arms. The title is in Sharpened Gothic lettering and the remaining text is in Foundation Hand (see Lettering Styles). Manuscript vellum can be almost as white as paper and it is prepared for writing on both sides so that it can be used for book pages if required.Click on image for view of whole chart (119KB).

The chart to the left is a large family tree on manuscript vellum (size approximately 120 x 90cm) illustrated with coats of arms. The title and text are in Foundation Hand lettering.Click on image for view of whole chart (302KB).

The family tree to the right is on vellum effect paper (size approximately 50 x 25cm). The title is in Sharpened Gothic lettering and text is in Foundation Hand.