Scribes and Scholars

A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature

Bibliographic Data

ID9312566
AuthorsN G Wilson (Fellow and Tutor of Brasenose College, Oxford), Leighton D Reynolds
Year1991
Pages321
Publication date1991-03-14
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueScribes and scholars (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University PressOxford (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/oso/9780198721451.001.0001
OpenAlexW2788077731
Open LibraryOL1880750M
ISBN9780198721451
LanguageEN
Citations received330

As we said in the preface to the first edition, this book is designed as a simple introduction for beginners to a field of classical studies which generally remains little known or understood despite its importance and intrinsic interest. In schools and universities students read Greek and Lado authors in editions equipped with an apparatus criticus, but they are too often unacquainted with the historical facts which make such an apparatus necessary, and are at a loss to evaluate the information that it gives. There are few works in English to which they can be referred, and a short guide is needed, especially one which can be read by those whose linguistic and historical knowledge is limited. We have attempted to outline the processes by which Greek and Latin literature have been preserved, describing the dangers to which texts were exposed in the age of the manuscript book, and showing to what extent ancient and medieval readers or scholars were concerned to preserve or transmit classical texts. The history of texts cannot be separated from the history of education and scholarship, which also bulk large in these pages. On the other hand, matters of pure palaeography receive attention only if they are of direct importance for transmission. The book is intended in the first place for students of Greek and Latin, but the theme handled is so inextricably connected with the cultural history of the Middle Ages and Renaissance that we think our account may be useful to anyone concerned with these periods. We also hope that students of biblical scholarship may find some thing of interest. Whereas the first edition took the story no further than the Renaissance and lacked notes, the second was enlarged in both these respects. In order not to encumber a readable text with a heavy apparatus we put the notes at the end of the book and made them largely bibliographical. The new chapter had to be even more selective than the others, but it seemed worth the effort to complete the historical perspective

Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Classical languages · Classical literature · Classical literature, history and criticism · Criticism, Textual · Cultuurgeschiedenis · History and criticism · Humanists · Klassieke oudheid · Klassieke talen · Learning and scholarship · Literatuur · Manuscripts · Manuscripts, Medieval · Manuscripts, Renaissance · Medieval Manuscripts · Receptie · Renaissance Manuscripts · Scriptoria · Tekstoverlevering · Textual Criticism · Transmission of texts