Palaeography
Paleografia · 50 articles · Principal contributors · All subjects-
Abbreviations (ABBREVIAZIONI)
ABBREVIATIONS. - In ancient manuscripts and on tombstones it was often customary to abbreviate words in order to write more quickly and to… -
Abbreviations, Lapidary (ABBREVIAZIONI LAPIDARIE)
LAPIDARY ABBREVIATIONS - 1) Bolsena, Inscription on the reliquary of St. Christina: i(c) r(e)g(ui)es(cit) c(or)p(us) b(e)at(ae) X(ristinae)… -
Alphabet (ALFABETO)
ALPHABET. - It is the means of expressing the individual vowel and consonant elements of a word by means of definite and constant signs. 1.… -
Arabic Numerals (CIFRE ARABICHE)
ARABIC NUMERALS. - The system in use today for indicating numbers, known by the name of Arabic numerals, actually comes from the Indians,… -
Beneventan, Script and Miniature (BENEVENTANA, SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
BENEVENTAN, SCRIPT AND MINIATURE. - I. SCRIPT. - The script is called "B." which, characterized by particular calligraphic forms, was used… -
Bessel, Johann Georg
BESSEL, JOHANN GEORG. - Benedictine monk, b. at Buchheim (Electorate of Mainz) on 5 Sept. 1672, d. at Göttweig (Lower Austria) on 20 (or… -
Bollatica, Scripture (BOLLATICA, SCRITTURA)
BOLLATICA, SCRIPTURE. - Also called littera s. Petri, it is the script of conventional and characteristic forms with which papal bulls were… -
Cancellaresca, Script (CANCELLERESCA, SCRITTURA)
CANCELLARESCA, SCRIPT. - In paleography the name chancery script (c.) designates the script proper to chanceries, and in particular that of… -
Capital, Sacred Scripture (CAPITALE, SCRITTURA)
CAPITAL, SACRED SCRIPTURE. - I. IN EPIGRAPHY. - Applied to writing, the term "c." means "larger," "more showy," such as the letters… -
Carolina Script (CAROLINA, SCRITTURA)
CAROLINA, SCRIPT — Characteristic letters in the various types of pre-Caroline script. added in the upper crossbar of the t (v. table III).… -
Charta (CARTA)
CHARTA. - Writing material of Chinese invention; its manufacture, made with linen rags mixed with small quantities of hemp and cotton, was… -
Chatelain, Émile-Louis-Marie (CHATELAIN, EMILE-LOUIS-MARIE)
CHATELAIN, ÉMILE-LOUIS-MARIE. - French paleographer and librarian, b. at Montrouge on 26 Nov. 1851, d. at Paris on 26 Nov. 1933. A… -
Cipolla, Carlo
CIPOLLA, CARLO. - Historian, b. in Verona on 26 Sept. 1854, d. on 17 Jan. 1917. A pupil in Padua of Gloria and De Leva, in 1882 he… -
Codex (CODICE)
CODEX. - An ancient term denoting a body of writing material — papyrus, parchment, waxed tablet — gathered into quires. Seneca (De brevit.… -
Curial Script (CURIALE, SCRITTURA)
CURIAL SCRIPT. - This name designates, because they were used by the scribes of certain curias between the 5th century and the 13th, a… -
Cursive Minuscule, Script (MINUSCOLA CORSIVA, SCRITTURA)
CURSIVE MINUSCULE, SCRIPT. - Today this expression generally denotes the Latin script, predominantly documentary in nature, that developed… -
Cursive, Script (CORSIVA, SCRITTURA)
CURSIVE, SCRIPT. - By cursive writing is meant that traced rapidly, currenti calamo, as opposed to upright or set writing. I. IN GREEK… -
Cyrillic Alphabet (CIRILLICO, ALFABETO)
CYRILLIC ALPHABET. - It was introduced into Old Slavonic literature in Bulgaria at the turn of the 9th to the 10th century. It is formed on… -
Gardthausen, Victor Emil
GARDTHAUSEN, VICTOR EMIL. - Born in Copenhagen on 26 Aug. 1843, died in Leipzig on 25 Dec. 1925. He taught ancient history at the… -
Gatterer, Johann Christoph
GATTERER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH. - German historian and diplomatist, b. at Lichtenau, near Nuremberg, on 15 July 1727, d. at Göttingen on 5 Apr.… -
Glagolitic, Script (GLAGOLITICA, SCRITTURA)
GLAGOLITIC, SCRIPT. - A uncial alphabet, quite complicated, comprising 38 letters, composed by St. Cyril in the second half of the 9th… -
Gothic, Script and Miniature (GOTICA, SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
GOTHIC, SCRIPT AND MINIATURE. - Toward the end of the 12th century, in the field of Latin scripts, a script replaced the Carolingian… -
Humanistic Script and Illumination (UMANISTICA, SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
HUMANISTIC SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION. - The humanistic movement, so rich in consequences in all expressions of civilization, could not fail… -
Insular Script and Illumination (INSULARE, SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
INSULAR SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION. - The Latin script of Great Britain between the 7th-10th centuries and of Ireland between the 7th-12th… -
Liebaert, Paul
LIEBAERT, PAUL. - Palaeographer, b. at Courtrai (Belgium), 24 Sept. 1883, d. at Pallanza, 25 Aug. 1915. Doctor in philosophy and theology,… -
Lindsay, Wallace Martin
LINDSAY, WALLACE MARTIN. - Palaeographer and philologist, b. at Pittenweem, in Scotland, on 12 Feb. 1858, d. at St. Andrews on 21 Feb.… -
Mai, Angelo
MAI, ANGELO. - Cardinal, paleographer, b. at Schilpario (Bergamo) on 7 March 1782, d. at Albano on 9 Sept. 1854. He entered the Jesuits at… -
Majuscule, Script (MAIUSCOLA, SCRITTURA)
MAJUSCULE, SCRIPT. - The term m., in its proper sense, does not indicate a particular script, but must be referred, as an adjective, to all… -
Manuscript Tradition (TRADIZIONE MANOSCRITTA)
MANUSCRIPT TRADITION. - In common usage it is the body of codices that contribute to reconstructing an ancient literary work in the form… -
Merovingian Script and Illumination (MEROVINGICA SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
MEROVINGIAN SCRIPT AND ILLUMINATION. - With the name M. Mabillon designated the writing that developed in the Frankish Kingdom up to the… -
Minuscule, Script (MINUSCOLA, SCRITTURA)
MINUSCULE, SCRIPT. - Like the term "majuscule" (v.), that of m. also includes a general idea based on the reciprocal relationship of the… -
Nomina Sacra
SACRED NAME. - Alongside abbreviations (v.) by suspension, in the Christian era one encounters, abbreviated by contraction, words of a… -
Paleography (PALEOGRAFIA)
PALEOGRAPHY. - With this term, improperly coined by B. Montfaucon for a treatise on Greek scripts (Palaeographia graeca, Paris 1708) and by… -
Palimpsest (PALINSESTO)
PALIMPSEST. - A word taken from the Greek language, composed of the adverb πάλιν (= "again") and the verb φαίνω (= "to clean, wash away,… -
Papyrology (PAPIROLOGIA)
PAPYROLOGY. - It is the science that studies papyri (v.) both from the paleographic point of view and from the point of view of their… -
Papyrus (PAPIRO)
PAPYRUS - Part of Claudius's letter to the Alexandrians (41 AD). London, British Museum, Greek papyri, Papyrus 1912. then at Modena;… -
Pecia
PECIA. - As a term of the medieval book industry, it originally meant the whole skin of a calf or other animal tanned for writing use… -
Pergamena
PERGAMENA. - P. or parchment (in Latin membrana) is animal skin tanned according to a process which, according to Pliny the Elder (Nat.… -
Punctuation, Signs of (INTERPUNZIONE, SEGNI DI)
PUNCTUATION, SIGNS OF. - Already in the ancient grammarians there are hints of the punctuation of texts, but in the literary codices handed… -
Rosini, Pietro Maria
ROSINI, PIETRO MARIA. - Olivetan abbot, b. in Venice on 27 Oct. 1728, d. at Adria on 10 May 1807. Archivist, chancellor, secretary general… -
Rotolo
ROTOLO. - The books of antiquity on papyrus paper, and certain medieval parchment documents, were commonly given the form of a rotulus… -
Schiaparelli, Luigi
SCHIAPARELLI, LUIGI. - A distinguished master of the diplomatic and paleographic disciplines, b. at Cerrione (Biella) on 2 Aug. 1871, d. at… -
Scriptorium
SCRIPTORIUM. - According to Isidore (Orig., VI, 9, 2), it is the stylus used to impress signs on wax: but in medieval vocabulary it denoted… -
Scripture (SCRITTURA)
SCRIPTURE. - The invention of writing occupies a most eminent place in the development of human civilization: by means of it man succeeded… -
Stichometry (STICOMETRIA)
STICHOMETRY. - From στίχος (line) comes the conventional system used by the Greeks and Romans to calculate the length of written texts,… -
Tachygraphy (TACHIGRAFIA)
TACHYGRAPHY. - T. (from the Greek ταχύς "swift" and γραφή "writing"), modernly called "stenography," is abbreviated writing with suitable… -
Traube, Ludwic
TRAUBE, LUDWIC. - Philologist, medievalist, and one of the most distinguished paleographers, b. in Berlin on 9 June 1861, d. in Munich on… -
Uncial and Semi-Uncial Scripts (ONCIALE E SEMIONCIALE, SCRITTURE)
UNCIAL AND SEMI-UNCIAL SCRIPTS. - The term "u." is found used for the first time by St. Jerome (preface to the book of Job: PL 28, 1142),… -
Visigothic, Script and Miniature (VISIGOTICA, SCRITTURA E MINIATURA)
VISIGOTHIC, SCRIPT AND MINIATURE - The Latin script used in Spain from the 7th-8th century to the 12th century is generally classified as… -
Wax Tablets (TAVOLETTE CERATE)
WAX TABLETS. - A writing material in common use, widely adopted by the ancients and sporadically down to almost our own day: they served…