paleography

paleography, study of ancient and medieval handwriting. The term is derived from the Greek palaios (“old”) and graphein (“to write”).

Precise boundaries for paleography are hard to define. For example, epigraphy, the study of inscriptions cut on immovable objects for permanent public inspection, is related to paleography. Casual graffiti, sale or election notices as found on the walls of Pompeii, and Christian inscriptions in the Roman catacombs are likewise part of paleographical knowledge. In general, however, paleography embraces writing found principally on papyrus, parchment (vellum), and paper. Today, paleography is regarded as relating to Greek and Latin scripts with their derivatives, thus, as a rule, excluding Egyptian, Hebrew, and Middle and Far Eastern scripts. It is closely linked with diplomatic, the study of forms in which official and private documents are drawn up.

The scientific study of Latin paleography (and of diplomatics) dates from 1681, when the French monk Jean Mabillon published De Re Diplomatica, the first textbook on the subject, while his compatriot Bernard de Montfaucon performed a parallel service for Greek paleography in his Palaeographia Graeca in 1708.

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The primary task of the paleographer is to read the writings of the past correctly and to assign a date and place of origin. Close acquaintance with the language of the text is a prerequisite. Help in dating is offered by changes in styles of handwriting and variations from area to area. Abbreviations in texts likewise help in dating and localization.

Types of writing materials

A paleographer must be familiar with writing materials. Any smooth surface able to accept writing has served in the past, notably, pottery fragments, animals’ shoulder blades, slabs of wood, bark, cloth, and metal.

The great writing material of the ancient world was papyrus, in use by 3500 bc. In preparing the surface, strips taken from the papyrus reed (byblos) growing in the Nile Delta were laid side by side, while other strips were laid across at right angles, and the whole impregnated with paste. After treatment a fine smooth surface was obtained. Much of the administration of the Roman Empire depended upon papyrus, in the same way that modern bureaucracies depend upon paper. Warfare and a damp climate resulted in an almost total disappearance of papyrus from Europe, though the dry (if war-scarred) sands of Egypt have preserved vast numbers of documents. Papyrus was imported into Europe from Egypt even after the fall of Rome. Chance survivals include charters of Merovingian kings in France (7th century) and business documents (5th–10th centuries) at Ravenna, the old administrative capital of the late Roman Empire.

The other great ancient writing material, still in occasional use today, is parchment, or vellum, the terms being often used interchangeably. Vellum is a term usually applied to skin from a calf (cf. veal, veau), while parchment is an expression often applied to sheepskin or goatskin. The word parchment is derived from Pergamum in Asia Minor, the ancient centre of its manufacture.

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Both papyrus and parchment were expensive and were replaced for everyday use by wax tablets corresponding to today’s notebook. Tablets made of wooden blocks were hollowed out and filled with melted, often black wax. Notes were made in the hardened surface. Even documents of permanent significance, such as property conveyances, were made on wax tablets.

Because ancient writing materials were expensive, they were often reused. Papyrus presented difficulties, for ink soon bonded itself firmly into the surface. Parchment could be more readily reused, because it is tougher and can be washed or scraped clean. Many medieval monks, when short of writing materials, took ancient books to pieces, cleaned off the leaves and used them again. The original script can often be brought out under ultraviolet light. Parchments thus cleaned and freshly inscribed are called palimpsests (Greek palin, “again”; psēstos, “scraped”).

Paper is the third great writing material. In use in China at a remote period, it was employed extensively in the Arab world by the 9th century. Not in common use in Europe until the 14th century, it took over the name of the half-forgotten papyrus.

In the early classical world the standard form of book was the papyrus roll, commonly called biblion, taking its name from the material of which it was made. It consisted of papyrus sheets pasted edge to edge with a slight overlap. The text was set out in columns, drawn up at right angles to the edge of the rolls, and started at the left. The reader unrolled as he went along and at the conclusion was obliged to reroll the book. The roll was an inconvenient form of book, difficult to consult, which probably accounts for the inaccurate quotations found in early literature, caused by an author relying on his memory rather than troubling to unwind a long roll. By the time of Christ, a new form of book was coming into fashion, the codex, or book in the shape in which it is known today. The codex is almost always of parchment, since papyrus cracks when folded. The codex seems first to have been used for notebooks or account books, the conservatism of booksellers and readers ensuring the survival of the roll for centuries. The Christians popularized the codex, using it for the Gospels.

Various instruments have been used for writing. The early Egyptians used a slender rush. From about 300 bc the thicker reed pen was used. The reed was in general use in the Greco-Roman world. Metal pens, copied from the reed, were also employed. For wax tablets a stylus was used, made of wood, bone, ivory, iron, or bronze. In many northern European areas, where reeds suitable for writing purposes are not indigenous, the feather (penna) became the main writing instrument. It was usually stripped of its vanes and the quill alone used.

Lead, used in classical times for ruling guidelines in manuscripts, was used extensively in the Middle Ages for rough notes and annotations in the margins of books.

Ink has been prepared in a variety of ways. In classical times the black discharge of cuttlefish was used, as well as concoctions of soot and gum. In the Middle Ages oak apples were steeped in water with “vitriol” (ferrous sulphate) to produce ink.