How did photography improve the work of textual critics and paleographers in the 19th century?

In the late 19th century, the perfection of photography served as a transformative technical advancement for textual critics and paleographers. Before this development, scholars were often required to travel extensively to examine original manuscripts in person. Photography allowed these researchers to assemble and study their source material at their desks, significantly reducing the expense and logistical burden of their work.1

By providing accurate, reproducible images of texts, photography enabled scholars to conduct detailed analyses of manuscripts held in distant repositories without needing to leave their offices. This shift not only facilitated more efficient research but also supported the broader scientific rigor that was increasingly applied to the study of classical and medieval texts during that period.21