scrivenery

English

Alternative forms

• scrivenry

Etymology

From scrivener +‎ -ry.

Noun

scrivenery (countable and uncountable, plural scriveneries)

1. (uncountable) The practice or work of a scrivener.
   • 1856, W[illiam] H[oward] Russell, The War; From the Death of Lord Raglan to the Evacuation of the Crimea, London: G. Routledge & Co., page 247:

     And yet we have notable penmen at head-quarters, who are at their vocation night and day, and who injure their temper and manners by incessant scrivenery, the results of which are buried in the pigeon-holes of Whitehall, never to be seen even in the lively pages of a blue-book.

   • 1864, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In which Lake under the Trees of Brandon, and I in My Chamber, Smoke Our Nocturnal Cigars”, in Wylder’s Hand. […], New York, N.Y.: Carleton, […], published 1865, →OCLC, page 360:

     So the Vicar's pen was applied, but before he had time to trace the first letter of his name, Rachel Lake resolutely snatched the thick, bluish sheet of scrivenery, before him, and tore it across and across, with the quickness of terror, and in fewer seconds than one could fancy, it lay about the floor and grate in pieces little bigger than dominoes.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 638:

     Parlour games (dominos, halma, tiddledywinks, spilikins, cup and ball, nap, spoil five, bezique, twentyfive, beggar my neighbour, draughts, chess or backgammon): embroidery, darning or knitting for the policeaided clothing society: musical duets, mandoline and guitar, piano and flute, guitar and piano: legal scrivenery or envelope addressing: […]

   • 1977, Flann O'Brien, The Hair of the Dogma: A Further Selection From 'Cruiskeen Lawn', London […]: Paladin Grafton Books, published 1989, →ISBN, page 148:

     There is a mystery involved. I cannot solve it, but it is simple enough to state. Why are all important or momentous things involving scrivenery always done on the back of an old envelope?

2. (countable, historical) A place where scriveners work; a scriptorium.
   • 1906, Harold Bayley, The Shakespeare Symphony; an Introduction to the Ethics of the Elizabethan Drama, London: Chapman and Hall Ltd., page 242:

     At the bottom of folio 109 there is an entry which reads, The Law at Twickenham for mery tales. This is, apparently, a reference to a scrivenery and staff of skilled penmen maintained at Twickenham by Francis [Bacon] and his brother Anthony Bacon.

   • 2012, Anne Lyle, The Alchemist of Souls, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Angry Robot, →ISBN, page 93:

     Legal papers were not the most interesting of jobs, but at least he could do the work at home and keep an eye on his mother. And with Mai's new connections to draw on, he might even aspire to a post in one of the new scriveneries attached to the Inns of Court.

   • 2016, Michelle Butler Hallett, This Marlowe, Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane Editions, →ISBN, page 78:

     When I returned, I did need share lodgings with my brother and there set up a scrivenery just to pay the rent.

References

• “scrivenery”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “scrivenery, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.