Global Manuscripts Midterm
What kinds of tablets found in House F? What was the significance of their variation in size?
nearly a thousand tablets, mostly in fragments, excavated from this site. Half of them discovered to be the by-products of an elementary scribal education, evidence that this place was used as a scribal school in 1740s BC- tablets made in five shapes and sizes, based upon the scribal exercise that each group of students was expected to do in terms of exercises to be conducted, stages of education that each scribal student needed to accomplish within a curriculum focused upon memorization and recall
Paul Pelliot (1908)
next explorer to take manuscripts from Duhuang caves- could speak and read Chinese, therefore could read a lot of manuscripts, allowed him to make particular selections in taking manuscripts back with him
Where do we find Papyrus manuscripts?
no continuous transmission down to present, so they are preserved in dry climate of Egypt- best rolls found in tombs, often books of dead- many papyrus rolls are highly fragmentary
Scripto Continua
no spacing between the words
Buddhism vs. Christianity
not a religion like Christianity- not same idea of a word/belief, it is more of a praxis, about what you do more than what you believe (defined by actions/behaviors)- Buddhist practice and articulation will be diverse depending upon region/locality
Silk
not very durable but versatile and valued highly- can often decay and fall apart, so manuscripts made out of this are very rare- often used for binding for other writing materials
Colophon
notes at the end of a script- a short personal note by the scribe/owner, usually at the end of the text, originally used for Western manuscripts. text that is added by somebody else after the birth of manuscript itself: 'post-face' and 'afterward'-
Turfan Oasis
oasis and towns (ca. 2nd BCE- 14th c CE) with numerous texts- part of the Uighur (Turkish) kingdom -4 German excavations (1902-1914) of these manuscripts, manuscripts carried out by explorers- work of these travelers often admired and contained good intentions of putting the manuscripts in institutions -over 40,000 full and fragmented manuscripts taken and thousands of frescoes and other objects taken/carried out for preservation
Diary of Merer
oldest ex. of inscribed papyrus- only discovered 5 years ago in 2013 in Egyptian desert - 4th dynasty, contains instructions on building pyramids
Regular pothi
on leaves, with long width, less length
critical edition
one activity of philologists has been to make critical editions of ancient and medieval texts- that is, to reconstruct a hypothesized original text of a given work (such as the Bible, the Aeneid, or the Tale of Genji) by comparing different manuscript copies of that work. The resulting "critical edition" is then made available in a print book (and/or in digital/online form)
Codex components
one or more quires constructed by folding bifolia- quires sewn together to form book block
R. Talipat
one version of palm leafs- common in S. India, originally preferred as it didn't grow well int eh North- absorbed ink well, so could be written on with reed brush
Spread of Buddhism in Eurasia
overlaps with paths of Silk Road and travel- religion seen as driving the spread of manuscripts
The religious founder Mani was famous in ancient Persia for his
painting and picture book
L. Palmyra
palm leaf later adopted for writing- more uniform shape that may have been more practical to use- requires using a stylus to create abrasions and use charcoal ink, wiping away excess ink so it stays in abrasions- required this type of abrasions as it did not absorb ink
Although the earliest texts at Dunhuang are made of wood, the majority are made of
paper
Which material was used to make the Roman codex?
papyrus
Most surviving codices are on what?
parchment
Gregory's rule/law
parchment/codex structure where hairside and airside are together, flesh side and flesh side are together (or in papyrus, vertical/vertical fibers and horizontal/horizontal fibers are together)- helps you identify conjugate leaves, and use Gregory rule for papyrus to find where parts of ancient books can be reconstructed 1r on same page as 8v, or vice versa
protokollon
piece at the beginning of papyrus left blank
stub-guard
piece used to paste in new leaves when new pages added in
Illuminated miniatures
planned as part of the manuscript production ex. an illustration of a plant from Dioscorides De Materia Medica Greek from Roman Empire, a drawing that contains its own page in the text and is directly relevant to the text
What are some locations in which manuscripts were produced in the Middle Ages?
predominantly in a monastic setting, but, by late 13th century, they were often produced in workshops located in city centers, becoming productions of an urban micro-culture
Clay for Cuneiform Tablets
prepared by sieving to remove plant and stone particles, then kneading for air -after inscribed, tablets were played out to dry in sun, hardening them - some literary tablets intentionally baked during fires, such as one in "Library of Ashurbanipal"
In what ways was the production of manuscripts in the medieval period 'decentralized'?
production of manuscripts is first seen as this in terms of the literal and textual authority of the author- often observed that certain literary scribes were seen to hold an adequate amount of unreliability- moment within later Middle Ages wherein the textual agency defied the author's control, creating a form of decentralized authority, wherein monasteries were seen as losing monopoly over book production as Universities and commercial artisans began to prosper- manuscripts in the medieval period thus transformed into a decentralized and amateur book production
Per cola and Commata
punctuation by sense units or phrases, with indications to the separate lines (used in British poetics)- utilized the help readers/ singers of lyrics to make differentiations between phrases
Apart from words, what aspects of the book carry meaning?
quills, ink, parchment, paper, the pricking and ruling of the page, navigational aids, and glosses
double sewing quires
quire with another quire inside it
The earliest classical representation of papyrus rolls show a person
reading
The horizontal fibers in a papyrus are usually associated with which side of a page?
recto
Papyrus roll kollema
roll made of multiple kollema pasted together, writing in multiple columns from left to right, so the text is read left to right
What does papyrus do best?
rolls better than it folds
Majuscule writing
rustic capital, wherein all the letters are approximately the same height in capital letter forms- no distinctions between upper and lower case letters- tend to be all upper case letters, though not always- typically used in formal literary productions of more important writings
Manuscript culture vs. scholarship
scholars often focus upon the physical description of the manuscript, but understanding the cultural area of manuscript 'culture' is also important- traditional scholars want to compare the 'pure' text, but manuscript culture wishes to go past this, as something that interacts with different people- traditional scholarship rarely studies the post-production elements of the manuscript, or, if they do study this post-production, the study is often only applied to small case studies, and is therefore a fragmented situations wherein connections are not drawn between different texts, languages and regions -a manuscript 'culture' wishes to create a more cohesive sense of the manuscript lifecycle, and to focus predominantly upon postpartum stages of the manuscript
What variables affected scribal practice?
scribe's physical geological location, his possible affiliation with an institution (such as a monastery house), the reason why he copied books (to produce personal copies, to produce personal copies, to produce on a monastic rule or to do so for a profession). when he was trained in manuscript writing and what circumstances surrounded his training- time, space, training, and cultural background all affected the way that the scribe created a specific manuscript
Greek culture of scribes
scribes from the lower class, so no image of scribes often seen- but Greek scribes must have written on a table/desk due to more rigid styluses
In a multi gathering codex, gatherings are
sewn together
Ramayana
shorter of the two great epic poems of India, composed in Sanskrit by poet Valmiki- Tulsida reworked this religious text, and here, large-scale manuscript production went on alongside frequent oral performance
Recto
side of papyrus with horizontal fibers
Verso
side of papyrus with the vertical fibers (often left blank in literary works)
P46
single most famous early papyrus manuscript- a single quire collection of Letters of Paul to the Hebrews, probably copied in 3rd century
Gloss
something extra added to the text to be used as an interpretation aid, or something that is ordered to be added in by the reader
When did many tablets come to light, and why could they be found?
tablets are sturdy, thousands discovered in excavations especially in 19th c. however, many were found in unscientific excavations and sold to antiquities market, so context for some tablets is hard to study
What sorts of texts were found in the royal library of Nineveh and where did they come from? What information do the 'colophons' reveal?
tablets of Ashurbanipal's Library, besides holding letters, administrative documents, and legal records, also contained literary and historical works, religious rituals and prayers, medical collections, and long compilations of terrestrial and celestial omens, with complex commentaries on each- because these texts were long composition-wise, their contents were divided into standard tablet-sized chapters- colophons were used to record the tablet's place in the sequence and the first line of the next tablet to help manage multi-tablet compositions- colophons also state that the tablets were written copied and checked from older originals
What is the name of the procedure for securing a single-gathering codex?
tacketing
Sillybus
tag attached to scroll indicating its context
How did Buddhist books function as ritual objects?
texts come to represent the ultimate presence of the Buddha and his supernatural powers- often not read but hidden, placed within an amulet or container, or an altar- texts could be incomplete and still represent the whole of Dharma- merit or punya generated by copying or reciting manuscripts- Copying the word of Buddha thought to bring merit to the scribe and to the donor who sponsors the act of copying regardless of the philological quality of the final product- Mahayana sutras in particular hold the prospect of enormous merit to those who venerate, recite, expound, or read and copy the texts.
miscellany
the combination of units to create a whole, like scrapbooking, but with manuscripts- a mixture of texts, which can be compiled by readers- in this way, manuscripts can be open to a larger variety of included texts...with miscellany, manuscripts were not seen as a reproducible commodity, as a printed book is seen, but are instead seen as numerically unique artifacts
What is the manuscript matrix and why is it 'presentist'?
the dynamics of the parchment page as an interactive space in which invites continual representational and interpretive activity by the scribes and or writers of the particular text.- a space where multiple sign systems on the page simulate diverse cognitive reflections of each reader and viewer so as to reflect the diverse experiences of the world- contains interpolations of visual and verbal insertions which are thought to be 'pulsations of the unconscious' so the subject on the page reveals and conceals itself- seen as being 'presentist' because each time a version of a manuscript is being created, the writer or scribe is considering the past editions of the text and then re-interpreting them according to perceptions from the modern world they live in- manuscripts can accurately reflect the political or social mindsets of both past and present time periods
Lindisfarne Gospels
the earliest English translation of the Bible with a 10th century old English Interlinear Gloss to aid people in understanding the text
Book block
the entire compilation of the quires, which are sewn together to form this- covered with wooden boards, which are attached by sewing for protection (wooden boards are then covered with leather for further protection)
According to Kwakkel, what is a crucial difference between manuscripts and printed books?
the primary difference is prominent when considering the relations between scribe and reader, when creating manuscripts the scribe typically knew exactly who manuscript was for, and client receiving the manuscript was invested in the production process. In contrast, printed books are made for a speculative market of anonymous readers who have no say in the production
Two principal actors determined by the book?
the scribe and the reader
Palaeography
the study of ancient scripts (literally 'old writing')- in an attempt to try and date manuscripts
Codicology
the study of any structure of the book
Seals
type of signature used by one person- a practice to adding to the manuscript if you are the owner (ie with collector's seals)- collector's seals themselves often add to the value over time
Bamboo Slips
ubiquitous and durable- ideal for creating books- often used in China
What aspects of scribal culture is a printed critical edition meant to replace?
used by modern philologists and scholars to correct the 'scribal error, bias, interference, or commentary' in a manuscript- involved a process of purging all paintings, rubrics, commentaries, decoration, and marginalia from the manuscript- compared different copies of a manuscript to create a printed edition which would more accurately reflect the original author's intentions - in doing so, all possibly insightful observations of the manuscript scribes are ignored
Birchbark
used for manuscripts- 6-8 layers that you can tear apart, with a waxy surface
Insular Manuscript with word separation
used in Early medieval Britain and Ireland, where latin words are not widely spoken, so words were separated as a reading aid.
Palm Leaf
used in South Asia/Southeast Asia- held together by strings- written on often by breaking the surface of the leaf, then wiping the pigment onto the surface- Sanskrit Buddhist texts often use this
Palm Leaf for Manuscripts
varieties of palm leaves- organic, susceptible to moisture and insects, vulnerable to environments
What non-textual components of the manuscript does Nichols highlight as important? As "representational components of medieval manuscript culture"
verbal and visual elements- rubrics, miniature paintings, decorated or historiated initials, marginal embellishments and glosses - contribute not only to the way the codex represents the work, but also to the sense of the work itself
Pothi manuscripts from Dunhuang are usually in which format?
vertical
Holster books
very narrow books used by teachers or by soloists in Mass, small width allowed it to be held in hand easier.
Silk Road
very significant in terms of creation/trade of manuscript and manuscript material
In Greece and Rome, wooden tablets were often covered with
wax
Ptolemaic Period
when Egypt was ruled by Greeks/Macedonians- papyrus was written on with reed pens, used to write the Greek language
Oblong format
when width is greater than the height- usually a Quaran format
caudex
where codex word derives= wooden block
In the Phaedrus, Plato (through Socrates) critiques writing because
will destroy memory
Materials in Duhuang cave
wood, birchbark, palm-leaf, leather, silk, paper -leather not often used (as it goes against Buddhism in killing animals)- same may apply for silk/silk worms
What other written media were used in ancient Iraq? Why have only clay tablets survived?
wooden boards with waxed writing surfaces were utilized, but were made out of organic writing media, which could easily perish over time
Formats in Duhuang cave
wooden strips, birchbark scrolls (Gandharan influence), paper scrolls (Chinese), palm leaf and birchbark pothi, paper pothi, concertina rolls, booklets, butterfly bound
How were the teachings of the Buddha originally transmitted after his death, at least according to Theravadan tradition?
words of Buddha were recited by eminent monks and then collected to establish and confirm them as the authentic message of the Buddha- arranged into a certain classification, which was the system of the Tripitaka ("Three Baskets") and then faithfully transmitted within groups or schools of reciters- transmission remained oral for centuries, until it was decided to adopt medium of writing to preserve the words of Buddha
Protocuneiform
writing began not with literature but with documentation of objects ex. Beer Inventory ca 3100BCE
Important things to keep in mind with East Asian Manuscript analysis
- In the production and reception of manuscripts, there is not such a strong reliance on scribes in East Asia -Relevant social conditions: the role of Buddhism in particular relation to the manuscript is important (ie. in sutras) -Material Makeup- some hand scrolls are taken apart purposefully and placed into a codex binding/frame -Paleography and orthography (what is the language being used and how)- particularly important for Buddhist sutras- language often in Sanskrit, but translated with glosses in Chinese/Japanese -Manuscript/print- not such a strong chronological association between manuscript and print (for example, the producing of a manuscript is often used to gain merit/good karma, and even with print culture, a lot of handwritten texts are still being used/written -Composition (ie. text blocks, margins, ruling, etc.) -Marginal glosses/notes -Colophon/s and seals -Illumination/illustrations
Mise en Page on Cuneiform tablets
- tablets are rectangular, written parallel to smaller side (width) -read in horizontal lines, from left to right -usually inscribed on both sides -Cuneiform texts were sometimes separated into standard series of tablets (which is a standardized from-proves that tablets are counted as books) -the title and table number, and opening lines (incipit) recorded in colophon, signaled by double line and larger spacing - a tradition of inking tablet rather than just incising it as well (colophon sometimes written in ink) -tablets used for 3000 years before disappearing
40,000 manuscript fragments in Turfan Oasis-languages
-22 different languages and 20 different scripts, in multiple combinations - most common languages: Sanskrit, Old Turkish (13th c), Chinese, Middle Iranian, Tocharian (dead language- Into European of Central Asia 9th c) -latest texts are of 14th century in this area -Mostly religious, but also medicine, astrology, and grammar manuscripts -most documentary texts= in Old Turkish
Languages in Duhuang cave
-50,000 manuscripts -Languages (approx. 12) Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Old Turkic, KIhotanese, Sogdian, Tangut and Mongolian -Hebrew, Syriac -Undeciphered: Nam and Zhangzhuang
Characteristics of materials as a technology
-Availability -Durability -Capacity -Surface qualities -Binding style -Convenience
Writing is technology because
-It does not come about 'naturally' like speech -It is governed by consciously contrived, articulable rules -It requires tools
Buddhist Manuscript Formats/Materials
-Pothi rolls/scrolls- moved to booklets later -shift from palm leaf to paper manuscripts, maybe due to wish for concertina format
How was clay prepared for writing?
-levigated or sieved to remove particles of stone and plant fiber -clay puddled or kneaded to remove air bubbles and increase elasticity -rarely baked, but left out in sun to dry- could be recycled later when soaked in specialist basins and reshaped
Size of text block/margins for manuscripts in Western format
-margin sizes were substantial, often reserved for marginal text/images -pricking and ruling
Turfan Oasis: Formats and Materials
-materials: paper, palm leaf, parchment, birchbark, wood, silk -formats: codex, rolls, oblong pothi, accordion books (xylographs) in Chinese, Uighur, Tibetan, Tangut, Mongolian, from 13th to 14th centuries
Colophon info. in Cuneiform tablet
-ownership of tablet -name of scribe and patron -date of copying -purpose of copying -source of copy these colophons come at the end of the tablets
Manuscript materials
-paper -clay -papyrus -parchment -birchbark (Slavic/Afghanistan) -palm leaf (South Asian sphere) -bamboo-China -silk- China -stone/durable materials
Book (Broader Meaning)
1. A collection of paper leaves bound together 2. A number of written/printed sheets fastened together at the bak by means of some kind of cover (binding) 3. a literary treatise, usually written/printed in one volume but sometimes in several volumes if forming a single work 4. A literary work 5. Main parts of a literary production Word 'book' connected with the name of the beech tree
What two types of tablet production and acquisition do the colophons of Ninevah tablets reveal?
1. Writing and inheritance by indigenous scholars who were members of prestigious, courtly families 2. the forced transfer of both tablets and scholars from Babylonia 3. Also indicate that Ashurbanipal himself was one of the few Assyrian kings to have been trained in scribal arts, not only building up a palace library, but also writing many texts himself -shows that Ashurbanipal viewed even Babylonian books as highly valuable cultural capital, and viewed himself as a guardian of Mesopotamian culture and power
According to Nichols, how are manuscripts viewed in modern culture? Why are they seen as primitive? (3 reasons)
1. since manuscripts handwritten by a scribe and decorated by an artist they are unique and not mechanically produced sets 2. because manuscripts are produced individualistically, they lack the uniformity that many modern communities consider as an indication of accurate representation 3. because manuscripts are both individualistic and unique, they do not transmit the author's work integrally in its original form- often seen to represent artisanal rather than technological reproduction
The oldest discovered papyrus roll dates to about
2900 BC
Codices/booklets appear in Dunhuang in the
9th-10th centuries
Digital surrogate
A digital reproduction of a material object, often presented in institution, online collections (ie. of manuscripts)
Western format of manuscript
All manuscripts rectangular, height often greater than width -can come in two columns or just one
What meanings do the aspects of the book carry?
All of the book's features become forms of hidden data that show how to read and interpret the material book
Which of the following does Diringer Not Consider a pictographic representation of stories?
Alphabet
Facsimile
An exact copy or reproduction of a book, document painting, or other item of historical significance
Parchment
Animal hides, scraped and treated in a fax to remove hair, before being stretched tough and hairs scraped off. - can clearly tell between flesh side and hair side due to follicles- usually made out of cows, young cows (bellum) and goats
Cuneiform tablets possibly used to write in what form
Aramaic
Graeco-Egyptian Scribes- Reed Pens
Because they used hard pens cut from reeds, the Greeks must have written on a solid surface of wooden boards/tables
Ancient Egyptian Scribes- Reed Brushes
Because they used soft brush-like pen, it influenced the Egyptian posture wherein they would copy their texts sitting on his heels on the ground holding the roll in their lap
Aurel Stein (1900)
British authority who offered to first buy manuscripts of Duhuang caves from Yuanlu- did not have strong Chinese abilities- took him 6-7 years of befriending Yuanlu until it was agreed for him to have some of the manuscripts
Rubrics
Chapter headings that were often marked in red, or displayed through a differentiation between Majuscule and miniscule, or differentiated with darker ink (as in Chinese/Japanese calligraphy, as all of ink is attempted to be utilized through one phrase)
Potential research questions Robert Darnton values more than others
Darnton may argue that a question like "What was the effect of machine-made paper on printers' budgets?" may be better than "What were Shakespeare's original texts?" as he makes an argument that bibliographers may never be able to fully reconstruct a Shakespeare manuscript but that argues that the process of demonstrating different text editions matters more than the original texts themselves, and that questions involving both social and literary history are more significant
One resource more likely to be valued by Robert Darnton, and one less valued
Darnton sees publisher account books to be a vital resource for book history study, as he contends one could learn a lot about the attitudes towards books and context of their use by studying advertising and publisher papers-- In this way, publisher account books are seen as more important than a letter from a famous author to a publisher, though they are often thrown away
Where did manuscript material predominantly come from in South and Central Asia?
Duhuang and Turfan
The most important site of discovery for Central Asian manuscripts, both fragmentary and fully preserved, is the
Dunhuang Library Cave
When did the medium and format of clay tablets disappear?
Early 1st c. CE
The earliest evidence for the Roman codex comes from
Egypt
According to Theravadan tradition, when and why were Buddhist texts first written down?
First written down during reign of King Vattagamani Abhaya- various political and natural disasters occurred during this time, and there was a risk that scriptures would be lost if they were only maintained through oral culture- parts of the scriptures were disappearing due to the deaths of monks who had memorized them- thought that Buddhism and its ideas may remain so long as the scriptures were preserved, which is why these scriptures were eventually written down
Papyrus
In Egyptian, meaning 'what belongs to king', suggesting it was of royal monopoly- English word 'paper' derives from it
Difference between the manuscript and the book
In a manuscript, the reader often has control over the manuscript made and works with scribe - in book, only the author has the control, as books are produced for readers in mass
Aristotle, constitution of the Athenians
In greek world, the tyrant Peisistratus of Athens said to have been the first founder of a library, but probably not public -School of Aristotle at Athens, the Peripatos, aim of study directed at universal knowledge of all the visible phenomena in the world- texts of Greek authors a main subject of study
Papyrus plants grew
In the marshes of Lower Egypt
Although Ong implies that not all manuscript cultures are limited to 'craft literacy,' he notes that writing stays relatively specialized, among a small group of scribes, because
It is physically difficult
Indus Valley Script, Brahmi, Kharosthi
Kharosthi script- descendant of the Aramaic alphabet- 5th c. BC in north- western India- the Persian administration probably introduced this script- a popular cursive and commercial/literary and calligraphic book hand Kharosthi manuscripts contain no known predecessors- it is the only script not connected with the Brahmi -Brahmi- the proto-type of all other Indian scripts- the earliest South Asian script invented at Ashoka's court
When writing is first adopted by a culture, because of its restricted use, it is frequently regarded as
Magical
Languages of Buddhist manuscripts
Major (original) source Languages: Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan Major Target (translated) Languages: Mongolian, Tangut, Uighur
Birchbark manuscript fragments- Gandaharan scrolls
Manuscript in Karasti, 1st c. CE- Buddhist texts which all vary in terms of texts/materials- indicates a variety of texts being created- northern regions of subcontinent, modern Pakistan, Afghanistan
Bamiya (Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan)
March 2001, the Taliban decided to destroy the two gigantic Buddha statues carved into the rock of the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan despite protests around the world from Buddhist populations- fragments of birch bark manuscript had been wrapped in cloth and placed inside a cylindrical metal object inside statue
Chinese and Tibetan texts
Often text is translated from Tibetan and then remains in Chinese when spreading to other areas- Tibetan left to right, Chinese vertically from right corner- required an adaptation when creating glosses, have to rotate parchment to read the texts
Book (Anglo-Saxon Etymology)
Old English 'boc' meaning charter, or 'tablets'- introduced by ecclesiastics who applied it to written charters
Dipavamsa
Oldest historical record of Sri Lanka
From which Egyptian site have the most book fragments of Greek authors been excavated?
Oxyrhynchus
Earliest surviving codex
P Oxy 745- parchment- latin historical text, Rome, 1st/2nd century- writing on front and back the same, which indicates that it is a codex rather than a scroll
Which material has been frequently used for writing books in South and Southeast Asia?
Palm Leaves
Which of the following does Diringer Not consider a forerunner of the book?
Primitive Writing Materials
Relationship between manuscript and how it is mounted- in scrolls
Scrolls can be mounted on a hanging scroll or cut into fragments to be placed in an original bound book
Which language was 'widely used in Central Asia for centuries'
Sogdian
What are the stages of the manuscript lifecycle?
Some stages: production, use, storage, retail and refurbishment- should not only see production as holding a central position over other stages of the manuscript lifecycle- ex. trade and circulation necessary to inform production practices and decisions- stage of refurbishment is also important in the way man scripts are maintained and then re-circulated to future readers
Shaw's notions of the "mass-produced manuscript" and "manuscript publishers"
South Asia's manuscript culture was enormously productive and well organized- a cultural economy made up as much of professional scribes and patrons, as well as of amateurs making copies for personal use of for family members/teachers- Manuscripts could be commissioned in various sociocultural contexts- some people, such as Chaitanya, were known as professional scribes or 'manuscript publishers' who made copies to be distributed to many communities across South Asia
Which material does Diringer exclude from the history of the book?
Stone (durable materials)
Which pharaonic-era text was often found copied onto papyrus rolls, some quite lengthy, buried with their owners?
The Book of the Dead
Duhuang caves
The Library cave (cave 17)- cave of a Thousand Buddhas- Manuscripts from here have been dispersed to all different places -collection of materials ranging from 400-1000 ca., sealed and unknown until ca. 1000
Othography
The conventional spelling system of a language
According to Kwakkel, which two principle actors determined the design of a book?
The design of the book was principally determined by the copyist and the individual or individuals for whom the book was copied- especially concerned with the choices that the two parties made with regards to the paleographical and codicological features of the book
How do codicological features provide clues about when, how, or by whom a manuscript was produced?
The manner at which a scribe puts together a book can connect that manuscript and its scribe to a specific institution -other physical features such as ruling of pages can reveal a date of production for the manuscript (determining whether a page was ruled with a sharp object or lead, and also above topline vs. below topline writing styles) -Handwriting also known to determine when, how, or by whom the manuscript was produced (such as Gothic script vs. pregothic script)- also the use of specific letter shapes, such as rounded strokes in Germanic countries, can help determine a specific region where the manuscript was made
Veda
The most ancient Hindu scriptures, written in early Sanskrit and containing hymns, philosophy and guidance on ritual for the priests of Vedic religion - the collection of divinely revealed Hindu liturgical texts transmitted from teacher to pupil for a thousand years without the use of writing but in a remarkably stable form- cultivation of memory was central to the Vedic tradition
Uighur manuscripts represent an early form of which language
Turkish
Papyrus stalks
Used by ancient Egyptians- stalks are soaked before outer edge is cut off, stripped, and then cross-hatched, smashed until they adhere to each other. Many papyrus manuscripts are 'books of the dead' and were buried with people. Made and best preserved in Egypt within tombs or in the ground
Tripitaka
a scheme or classification that the oral transmissions were arranged into, known as the system of "Three Baskets"
What is cuneiform writing and how was it inscribed on clay tablets?
a technique for sign formation developed by scribes which involved pressing a length of reed stylus obliquely into a clay tablet to create linear strokes or wedges ("cuneiform" means "wedge")- signifies the way that writing grew to be more abstract in appearance as it come to represent sounds rather than objects- form of writing was fully functional by 2400BC, although it remained for the professionally literate and numerate employed by temple and palaces to uphold and manage institutional authority
omphalos
a wooden rod attached at end of the papyrus roll
Pricking and Ruling
act of using a knife to make small marks, and then a straight edge to identify the lines
what aspects apart from the words, carry meaning? What meanings do they carry?
all materials/residues (parchment, quills, pens, rulings, bindings, etc.) can give indications to the time, location, and user/reader of the manuscript
Quires
also called "gatherings", sets of bifolia folded along the center which are then stitched together to form the bootblack of a codex- many contemporary books are made in this way
What was the "holster book" and why was it used?
an unusual style of book that is characterized by a tall and narrow appearance, so book was often three times as high as it was wide, made narrow so that pressure of the book's weight would be guided away from the fingers and thumb towards the palm of the hand, easier to hold- often favored by teachers in the monastic classroom or soloists in the Mass, who were expected to carry their texts easily in hand
Cuneiform
arguably the earliest form of written book, which went obsolete 100AD- a system of vertical and horizontal wedges (Latin "Cuneus") made in soft clay with a reed/bone stylus- signs made up of between 1-12 wedges, each sign a "logogram" (signifying a particular word/idea, and later, sounds -Used to write Sumerian and Akkadian (Babylonian and Assyrian) between ca. 3200 BCE and 75 CE -Arguably the oldest written language wherein Sumerian evolved into Akkadian -Cuneiform tablets were used for 3,200 years, existing longer than codex before becoming obsolete
According to Baudalis, the joining of several wooden tablets through cord run through holes recalls the craft of
basket and mat making
Basic unit of the quire
bifolium, sheet folded together
The word codex/caudex originally meant
block of wood
Mahayana
carried along Silk Road into China, Korea and Japan- lots of texts connected to these practices
Woodblock printing
characters are carved in reverse in wood, dipped in ink and placed on parchment- paper is made in pages and then later pages are pasted together to create a large scroll- pages printed individually
Wooden tablet codex
codex first evolved from here, from Byzantine Egypt
The 'folding book' format is called
concertina
What is the content of the library of Shamash-etir in Hellenistic Babylon? What information do the 'colophons' reveal?
contained scholarly tablets which reflect Shamash-etir as a member of a kin-based professional context, within a five-generation tradition of priesthood and book learning- Nine of surviving tablets found name this man specifically- Two of tablets contain instructions for performance of rituals in Anu (great sky god) temple Rest, and info for the four daily meals of the gods and night-time rituals of the autumnal equinox- Within this group of tablets, the colophon on the food ritual writing indicates that this text was captured in the mid-eighth century before being rescued by one of shames-etir's ancestors. Six of other tablets are of mathematical astronomy, and colophons here suggest they are not copies of older works, they are original compositions. One of documents written by Shamash-etir himself- dates on all of the tablets indicate that younger men wrote tablets for the older established scholars as a process of apprenticeship during this time-- colophons situate Shamash-etir himself within five generations of scholars over a forty-year period c. 217-175 BC- Shamash-etir witnessed as part of a restricted, tightly knit social group of priestly scholars who circulated material only amongst their small group
What did readers have control over when ordering a book?
control over the writing support material, dimensions, page layout details, and script- would often alter these aspects to be economically conscious
features of the 'format prefigured by the palm leaf' pothi?
created out of various materials including palm leaf, birch bark, paper, or even precious metals such as gold- consisted of separate pages that were turned over on the upper edge to read the reverse side- bundle of loose pages typically held together with string- Sri Lanka, pages had one or two string holes that allowed for tight fastening, and tradition continues to present (although, in northwest India and Central Asia, the string hole was gradually reduced until it eventually disappeared- often no illustrations or illuminations, no variations in ink color, no lines drawn, and no graphic delimitation of the space used for writing(books not intended as art objects)- but did use circle to indicate the end of the text
Single quire codex
cut so some pages are shorter than others
The binding of a book codex included
decorated cover, sewing of the gatherings, connection of boards to book block
According to One, in manuscript cultures, authors often
dictate to scribes
Miniscule/Carolingian miniscule
different letter sizes, ascenders and defenders (letters that go beneath the lines) "lower case" letter forms such as d or a- generally have more connections between letters and faster to write, may have taken less time or cheaper in terms of writing style
Who found Duhuang caves and when
discovered in 1900 by Wang Yuanlu- was looking for food and water during famine when this cave was discovered
Papyrus rolls in hieroglyphs
displays the papyrus rolls tied and also colored white- though we today see papyrus as yellowed, it is due to these papyrus being in dirt for thousands of years, causing it to yellow in color
Stupa
dome-shaped structure erected as a Buddhist shrine- fragments of manuscripts were found in these, possibly as votive offerings
What makes manuscript theory different from theories of printed books?
each manuscript has such individuality, so it is difficult to generalize them into a cohesive theory that applies to them in a less fragmented sense
"Diamond Sutra" Frontispiece
earliest example of woodblock printing, proving that printing was available early in East Asian literature
Theravada
earliest/1st appearance of Buddhism, introduced into South East Asia
Birchbark
fairly rare material- created Buddhist manuscript discovered in Afghanistan
An example of Indian manuscript production and circulation before the age of print
famous biography of Vaishnava reformer Chaitanya- text known as Chaitanyacharitamrita- text sent back as a copy to Bengal after being composed in the region of Braj. Afterwards, Srinivasa, leader of the Caitanya community, became a 'manuscript publisher' and copies were made and distributed to every community group throughout Bengal, Orissa, and Braj- more than two thousand manuscript copies of the script have survived and are virtually identical, proving print was not a prerequisite for avoiding textual divergence
Features of scrolls used in Indian Buddhism?
format in Northwest utilized during first centuries CE, and could reach several meters in length- prefer the usage of language Gandhari, and to the script Kharosthi, both which were used by the school of the Dharmaguptakas- only a few scrolls written in Brahmi, and only utilized for ritual purposes- disappeared from records once the Kharosthi language fell out of use
Oxyrhynchus papyri
found in trash dump in late 19th c- papyri scraps found, require lots of work to uncover and edit- original format is difficult to recover
What plant does papyrus come from?
from Cyprus papyrus plant- grows in Nile Delta, grows along the southern Nile, thus becoming a symbol for lower Egypt
pothi
generic style of manuscript- almost always refers to palm leaves, but not an exclusive definition, doesn't mean 'palm leaf'- applied to shape as well as material (for example paper pothi, which contains shape and holes often used for palm leaves, so that it is pothi in format
Interlinear glosses
glosses between the text lines, written between the lines- generally done after the initial composition of the book, and used to make one's own interpretations
Marginal glosses
glosses in the margins, more famous in Latin manuscripts ex. Copto-Arabic manuscript with bilinear glosses- rubrics in both the Coptic and Arabic glosses show that the gloss was created at the same time the manuscript was created
Statue of scribe in Ancient Egypt
highly revered in Ancient Egypt-role was limited to temple and government services, given a sort of magical authority in that they wrote prayers
Great Harris Papyrus
historical text, the longest surviving roll, 46cm by 42m- 12th dynasty ca 1155 BCE- discovered in a tomb near Luxor, may not have been read, but used for more of a performative function- when acquired, British cut scrolls up and put into various frames, so the experience of reading the scroll is hard to replicate
Great Harris Papyrus
historical text- longest surviving roll, 46cm by 42m- 12th dynasty ca 1155 BCE - discovered in tomb near Luxor, may not have been read, but used for more of a performative function- when acquired by British, British would cut scrolls up and put them into various frames, so experience of reading the scroll is hard to replicate
According to One "More than any other invention, writing has transformed..."
human consciousness
Marginal Illumination
illuminations in margins of a text ex. Book of Hours/prayer book- illuminations of jousting monkeys, which have nothing to do with the text
According to One, script direction and page layout
imitate the human body
When and why did writing emerge in southern Iraq?
in late fourth millennium BC- emerged in a context of temple bureaucracy, and occurred because a small number of accountants began to use number signs to account for institutional assets (ie land, labor, or animals) and their secondary products
Kollema
individual sheets of papyrus pasted together
Stone Inscriptions and Rubbings
inscriptions= extremely durable (used in Eastern Zhao dynasty)- in rubbings, paper is applied to the stone, and then ink adheres to the surface of paper when rubbed over stone until it captures the stone carvings
What are some of the unique aspects of King Charles V's copy of the official history of France?
interaction of the text and image, rubrics and interpolated passages- rubrics utilized to describe in detail the historical context and actions portrayed by the miniature paintings within the text- with non-textual components, scribes could retroactively inflict historical manuscripts with evidence which could support later political policies such as the fact that Edward III had violated his sworn oaths of fealty to the French crown in 1337, or that the English were responsible for starting the Hundred Years War- Earlier text from Grandes Chronicles often scraped away to substitute new technologies such as computer-enhanced imaging
Where and why was the Indian (Brahmi) script invented
invented at Ashoka's court, created for political rather than literary purposes- used to promote royal edicts throughout the Mauryan Buddhist empire, which covered from northern Afghanistan to southern Karnataka- Brahmi, due to its promotion, became the first 'pan-endian' script and the foundation for every regional script in South Asia, as well as held prominence in those parts of Central and Southeast Asia which came under Indian cultural influence
Codex Sinaiticus
kept in the British Library; the earliest/one of the earliest complete copies of the Bible -used four columns, probably in an attempt to try and fit as much as possible on one page, trying to use as least page as possible (although maybe is also an attempt to try and mimic the style of the scroll)- also an early parchment codex- 94 quires
Mani
known as being an artist- created picture books
Historiated Initial
large first letter of manuscript which will involve an image of something- ex. a Daily prayer book with an illumination of a man praying
Ashoka
last major emperor in the Mauryan dynasty of India- vigorous patronage of Buddhism during his reign (c. 265-232 BCE) furthered the expansion of that religion throughout India- invented the Indian writing system in 260BC
philology/philologist
literally, a "love/lover of language" specifically a scholar of ancient languages and texts (e.g. Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Chinese, Japanese)
Features that affect the scribal practice
location, time period, training/institutional contexts
According to Boudalis, the transition "from simpler, well-established, widespread technologies, such as rolls, papyrus, and parchment notebooks, and wooden tablets-- to the more complex multi gathering codex" was a
long evolutionary process
According to Shaw, what is the relative significance of manuscripts, oral tradition, and print in Indian culture?
manuscript in South Asia contains long, rich, and diverse history, in that it only ceased about 150 years ago- enjoyed a close and mutually influential relationship with the oral and performative culture that occurred before it, all of these cultures being allowed to coexist and flourish side-by-side- Oral transmission and its ability to cultivate memory remained central to Indian notions of cultural, religious, and literary authority and authenticity- interaction between oral and manuscript traditions has had a deeper and longer lasting impact on the Indian imagination in comparison to print culture- in fact, Indian pop. showed a pronounced resistance to print technologies, print's duplication did not hold any appeal in this region, since a highly developed information network of Muslim and Hindu scribes was already developed
3 eras of book culture
manuscript, print, and digital
Old English "boc"
means charter
Act of producing sutras
meditations that are recited, act of producing and writing these sutras hold merit- may be created in honor of someone who has died- oral literature thus practices a dominant form even after intro. to writing- presentation of Buddha/images of Buddha were both auspicious and encouraged
Bamboo/wood manuscripts
more common in China- Notches put in slips so that thread stays even in binding the scroll - can scrape off ink to re-write letters
Quaternio
most common amount of bifolia= 4 in codices
Papyrus Codex
most of earliest codices in Egypt on papyrus
Robert Darton's contentions in relation to Johnston and Van Dussen's contentions
much like Johnston and Van Dussen suggest that scholars must take a closer look at post-production stages of manuscript for a wholistic viewpoint, Darton also suggests that the study of print history must be more interdisciplinary, more international, and more focused on the behavior of the book after its initial production- suggests that central to the history of books is the study of sociology, and that book is part of a cycle in which parts of book production must be interconnected to create a cohesive whole