Glossary A-Z

The following definitions are adapted from two sources, Paul Halsall's "Glossary of Terms Used in Paleography" (Fordham University, 1996) and the Medieval Thought Project's "Glossary of Paleography Terms" (abbreviated as MTP; Stanford University, 2010).

A

Ampersand (Ligature). The "et" ligature (&), which stands for "and" (MTP, 2010).

Ascender (Stroke). Stroke above the headline (above minim height), e.g., the first stroke of h (MTP, 2010).

Aspect. The general appearance of the script: can be slanted or straight; square, oval, or round (MTP, 2010).

Autograph. Signature of the owner of a codex (MTP, 2010).

B

Baseline. The writing line, i.e., the line on which the minims, the ascenders, and the majuscules are written (MTP, 2010).

Bifolia. Double sheets of parchment or vellum (MTP, 2010).

Bilinear script. Script composed of uppercase letters (MTP, 2010).

Biting. The convergence or joining of two letters, e.g., de, po (MTP, 2010).

Book binding. Unlike rolls, which were stored as is, codices need to be bound. This could be done in silk or leather, usually used to cover wooden boards. Some important books had elaborate bejeweled covers which are art objects in themselves (Halsall, 1996).

Book hand. Type of writing used for literary texts meant to last. The aim was clarity and regularity. In the antiquity, when a book trade existed this copying might be done to dictation. In the Byzantine period, copying seems to have been the work of individual scribes. The major division is between the uncial book hands used until the 9th century and the minuscule book hands used thereafter (Halsall, 1996).

Book trade. At many times and in many places the ancient world there was an active book trade, and hence commercial copying of texts. This trade collapsed at the end of antiquity and book production in Byzantium henceforth depended private commissions or on ecclesiastical (usually monastic) institutions. Books were very expensive as the materials were costly and they took a long time to write (Halsall, 1996).

Bounding lines. Marginal lines that aid in line justification and text division (MTP, 2010). See also Ruling.

Bow. Curved stroke in a letter, e.g., b or o (MTP, 2010).

Byname. A well-known manuscript's familiar name or nickname (MTP, 2010).

C

Calligraphic script. A script in which the individual graphs are carefully constructed, often with a complicated ductus employing many lines with the pen (MTP, 2010).

Catchwords. The opening words of the following quire, written on the last verso (MTP, 2010).

Caudate. "with a tail" - a stroke indicating missing letters, usually diphthongs (MTP, 2010).

Codex. The arrangement of pages of text in single sheets bound between covers - in other words the form of the modern book. Unlike rolls, pages in codices were written on both sides. They were thus more economical (Halsall, 1996).

Codicology. The study of manuscripts as objects rather than texts. Looks at ths creation (materials, scriptoria, etc.) and history (commissioning, place in collections and libraries). Equivalent German term is Buchwesen (Halsall, 1996). The study of manuscripts as physical objects - how the paper or parchment is prepared, how it is ruled, how it is folded, how it is bound, etc. (MTP, 2010).

Colophon. Information about the author, title, scribe, date, etc., which appears after the text (MTP, 2010).

Composite codex. A codex (or manuscript) in which two or more manuscripts from different origins have been bound together (MTP, 2010).

Contraction. An abbreviation which omits the middle letters of a word (MTP, 2010).

Cross-stroke. A center stroke, e.g., the center stroke of the uppercase E (MTP, 2010).

Cursive (Script). A writing style derived from the running action of the pen. It was used throughout antiquity, for private and public documents, and its letter forms were used as the basis of the more formal minuscule. A fundamental school taught alphabet of 24 letters remained behind all the letter forms (Halsall, 1996).

D

Descender. A stroke below the baseline, e.g., the first stroke of p (MTP, 2010).

Digraph. A two-letter character (MTP, 2010).

Diplomatics. The study of documents connected with governmental and ecclesiastical archives (Halsall, 1996).

Display script. Enlarged letters (MTP, 2010).

Documentary hand. Types of writing used to write official documents. Often written rapidly without lifting the pen (Halsall, 1996).

Ductus. The order, direction, and number of strokes used to write a single letter; may be described as formal or cursive (MTP, 2010).

E

Epigraphy. The study of texts inscribed on buildings, other structures, and other physical objects. The main advantage of epigraphic texts is that they come to us directly, without the mediation of copyists. Some fairly long texts -- entire law codes as well as substantial chunks of religious texts -- were inscribed on objects. Where there is no physical damage, reading such texts is usually straightforward. Epigraphic information can give quite specific information about funeral practices, and thus demographic data, not available in any other way (Halsall, 1996).

Exemplar. A model specifically created for copying (Halsall, 1996).

Explicit . The last few words of a text (MTP, 2010).

F

Facsimile. A reproduction of an original document. Sometimes this is photographic, other times only the shape of the letters is reproduced (Halsall, 1996).

Final position. The end of a word (MTP, 2010).

Foliation. The numbering of folios within manuscripts (Halsall, 1996).

Folio. One leaf of a codex (Halsall, 1996). Half of a folded sheet, creating two pages, recto (front) and verso (back; MTP, 2010).

Formal. Highest script grade; written slowly with many separate strokes (MTP, 2010).

Fusion. The convergence or joining of two letters: as often occurs with de, po, etc. (MTP, 2010).

G

Gathering. Section of book obtained by folding a single sheet of parchment or paper into 4, 8, 12, 16 or 32 pages (MTP, 2010).

Gloss. Synonyms of words added by scribes or commentators (Halsall, 1996). An explanation or interpretation of the text, often appearing in the margin (MTP, 2010).

Grade of script. How much care has been taken when copying or writing the text, e.g., formata, libraria, etc. (MTP, 2010).

H

Hairline. A thin line created when the scribe writes with the the pen's nib instead of its full width (MTP, 2010).

Hand. The shape of an individual scribe's writing (MTP, 2010).

Headline. The midline (m height; MTP, 2010).

Headstroke. Top horizontal stroke -- e.g., the top of f (MTP, 2010).

Holograph. A manuscript handwritten by its own author (MTP, 2010).

I

Illumination. Originally meant the use of gold leaf to "lighten up" a manuscript, but now applies to all kinds of illustration and decoration. There is, however, only one illuminated historiographical manuscript, the so-called Madrid Skylitzes (Halsall, 1996). Painting or pen-work decoration, particularly those done in gold (MTP, 2010).

Incipit. Opening words of a text (MTP, 2010).

Initial position. The beginning of a word (MTP, 2010).

Ink. Inks in antiquity were usually made of carbon, (lamp soot for instance), mixed with a binding gum and water. After parchment became a more common writing material, (after 300 CE) iron based inks, which fade more easily, came into us. Red Ink {Greek: ko/kkinon me/lan, Latin: minium) was often used in headings (see lemma (Halsall, 1996).

Insular. Describes Irish and Anglo-Saxon origin, for paleographical purposes (MTP, 2010).

J

Juncture. The convergence or joining of two letters, as often occurs in de or po, etc. (MTP, 2010).

L

Leaf. Half of a folded sheet, making two pages: recto (front) and verso (back; MTP, 2010).

Lemma. The title of a work or chapter within a work (Halsall, 1996). A word or passage selected for comment (MTP, 2010).

Libraria. Word used to describe a book hand; the middle grade of book script (MTP, 2010).

Ligature. Two or three letters which are joined together, but where the form of each letter is preserved. They were uncommon in uncial manuscripts, but very common in minuscule manuscripts. Since they make reading harder, although writing faster, it is unfortunate that many were taken over an preserved in early Greek printer's fonts (Halsall, 1996).

Line filler. A bar used to fill up empty space at the end of a line (MTP, 2010).

Litterae notabiliores. Enlarged or decorated letters (MTP, 2010).

M

Majascules. Uppercase letters (MTP, 2010).

Majuscule script. Script composed of uppercase letters (MTP, 2010).

Manuscript. A document written by hand on parchment or paper (MTP, 2010). Often abbreviated as MSS.

Medial position. The middle of a word (MTP, 2010).

Minim. An upright stroke from headline to baseline, as in i, m, n, or u (MTP, 2010).

Miniscule. The form of letters used in Greek changed from about 800 CE. Minuscule manuscripts do not separate words, but do add breathings and accents, which increase legibility. (Halsall, 1996).

Miniscule script. A script in which minims, descenders, and ascenders are used (MTP, 2010).

Monocondyle. A word or sentence written without lifting pen from paper (Halsall, 1996).

Monogram. A symbol in which a number of letters, usually of a name or title, are arranged together without any consideration for order. (Halsall, 1996).

N

Nomina sacra. A limited number of names of sacred persons were often reduced by contraction - for instance "IC" for Jesus, "KS" for "Kyrios". Often the name is marked by a line over the letters used (Halsall, 1996).

Notae communes. Common abbreviations; point and bar suspensions (MTP, 2010).

P

Page. One side of a folio (Halsall, 1996).

Page layout. How the page is arranged for writing: single or double bounding lines, open or frame ruling, columns, etc. (MTP, 2010).

Pagination. The numbering of pages. This was a fairly late development and is feature of printed books, not manuscripts (Halsall, 1996).

Paleography. The study of old handwriting (MTP, 2010).

Palimpsest. A manuscript in which a second or third text has been written over the original content which has typically been partially erased. (Halsall, 1996).

Papal knot. A distinctive abbreviation stroke that looks like a figure eight (MTP, 2010).

Paper. Early paper was usually made out of rags. It was in use in China as early as the ninth century CE (Halsall, 1996).

Paragraphus. A sign used to mark a new paragraph or section of the text, e.g., gamma or tau. (MTP, 2010).

Paraph. A new paragraph, stanza, etc; it is a sign developed from a capital C with a vertical stroke or strokes. Scribes often used "//" as a sign to the rubricator as to where to introduce the paraph (MTP, 2010).

Papyrology. The study of texts written on papyrus (Halsall, 1996).

Papyrus. A writing material made from the unrolled and hammered together pith of an Egyptian reed plant (Latin: Cyperus papyrus). It was the main material used in the ancient world for texts meant to last (wax tablets were used for many everyday purposes). The papyrus industry was on a large scale and a monopoly of the Ptolemies and later the Roman emperors. From the 4th century on parchment came to be used as well as papyrus, and the 7th century Arab conquest of Egypt seems to have hastened the move to other writing materials. It no longer grows in Egypt, apparently, but can be found in Sudan. Pliny the Elder (Nat. Hist. 12.2.2) gives a description of its manufacture (Halsall, 1996).

Parchment. Animal skin (sheep, goats, donkeys, calves) prepared for writing by being made smooth on one or both sides. Now usually sheepskin (Halsall, 1996).

Pastedown. Parchment used on the inside covers of a codex to paste down the edges of a leather binding (MTP, 2010).

Pecia. University-approved exemplars, rented by stationers (MTP, 2010).

Plummet. Guidelines made with lead, often red in color (MTP, 2010).

Positura. Critical sign which marks the end of a paragraph or section (MTP, 2010).

Praecisa. Describes letters with flat bases lacking feet (MTP, 2010).

Pricking. Making holes in the parchment to guide ruling (MTP, 2010).

Protocol. The opening section of a legal document (MTP, 2010).

Provenance. History of a manuscript; its origin and owners (MTP, 2010).

Punctuation. Greek punctuation is a relatively modern invention. It consists of the comma (,), the semi-colon (·), the period (.) and the interrogation mark (;). Many manuscripts lack punctuationl in others the main punctuation mark is a high dot, which may indicate a complete sentence or merely a pause (Halsall, 1996).

Q

Quadrata. A treatment of the feet of Gothic textualis letters (MTP, 2010).

Quire. A folded set of sheets of papyrus, parchment or paper. It could vary in size from one folded sheet to, most commonly, 4 sheets or more (hence the Greek and Latin terms). The result was a quire of two folios or four pages for each sheet used. Quires were sewn together to created each codex (Halsall, 1996). Section of book obtained by folding a single sheet of parchment or paper into 4, 8, 12, 16 or 32 pages (MTP, 2010).

Quire numeration. Letters, numbers, or a combination thereof used to guide the binder; they usually appear on the last verso folio (MTP, 2010).

Quire signature. Letters, numbers, or a combination thereof used to guide the binder; they usually appear on the last verso folio (MTP, 2010).

R

Recension. An important classical or patristic text underwent various editions at the hands of later ancient and Byzantine scholars. Each version is called a "recension" (Halsall, 1996).

Recto. The "top" side of a folio or leaf, or any right-handed page (Halsall, 1996).

Roll. The main form of the book in the ancient world. Rolls were made up of 20 to 50 glued sheets of papyrus. The horizontal fibers of the papyrus were on the inside (recto). Some rolls were made of animal skin (e.g. the Dead Sea scrolls). The were wound around wooden stick (Greek: o'mphalos) and often kept in parchment cover (Greek: diphe/ra) or box (Greek: kibwto/s). A label called a syllabus (Greek: si/llybos) was attached as an identifier. The rolls were read horizontally. From the 1st century CE on rolls tended to be replaced by the codex. Rolls continued to be used for some liturgical functions (Halsall, 1996).

Rotunda. A Gothic script with more rounded bows or letters, especially in Italy (MTP, 2010).

Rubrication. Headings, especially red letter headings, highlights, and initials (MTP, 2010).

Rubricator. Person responsible for adding in the rubrication (MTP, 2010).

Ruling. Marginal lines that aid in line justification and text division (MTP, 2010).

Ruling pattern. Parchment manuscripts, and less frequently, paper manuscripts, had lines ruled on the page before they were written on. There were a variety of ruling patterns (for instance one wide column of text or two parallel columns) , which help in identifying dates and locations of MSS creation (Halsall, 1996).

Rustic capitals. Majuscule script with minimal bows, curved heads, feet, or flourishes (MTP, 2010).

S

Scholia. Commentaries and annotations on a text. Byzantine scholars loved to comment on older texts. A common way to do this was by making line-by-line marginal notes to a base manuscript. Such comments were often not original but compiled from earlier commentaries. They were common in Byzantium in 9th- and 10th-century manuscripts (Halsall, 1996).

Scriptorium. The place were books were copied. Monasteries of certain size might have specific work rooms for the copying of manuscripts (Halsall, 1996).

Serif. A short line stemming from, and at an angle to, the top or bottom of a stroke (MTP, 2010).

Set. A formal ductus, in which the pen is often lifted (MTP, 2010).

Shading. How thick or thin the strokes are in a script (MTP, 2010).

Signature. Section of book obtained by folding a single sheet of parchment or paper into 4, 8, 12, 16 or 32 pages (MTP, 2010).

Signature numeration. Numbers on the recto (front) sides of the first half of a quire (MTP, 2010).

Signe-de-renvoi. Literally a 'sign of return', a signe-de-renvoi is a graphic symbol marking a place where a correction or insertion is to be made. A corresponding symbol, usually written in the margin, introduces the corrected text or insertion. A signe-de-renvoi may also mark a cross-reference (MTP, 2010).

Skeletal forms. Initials decorated with superfluous lines, often doubling strokes (MTP, 2010).

Spur. A pointy stroke projecting from an ascender to the left, near the headline; often seen in tall s (MTP, 2010).

Square capitals. An angular majuscule script suitable for chiseling (MTP, 2010).

Stemma. The "family tree" of a text's manuscript tradition, which is established by comparing manuscripts and identifying "clusters" or patterns, which can include input errors. (Halsall, 1996).

Suspension. An abbreviation which omits the end of a word (MTP, 2010).

T

Tachygraphy. A form of shorthand used in antiquity and by some Byzantine scribes. A number of the signs were used as abbreviations in non-tachygraphical manuscripts (Halsall, 1996).

Transcribing. The process of writing out the text of a document. (Halsall, 1996).

U

Uncial (Script). The script deriving from the common letter forms of antiquity, used in most Greek books until the 9th century, when it was largely replaced by minuscule. It was used after that in headings (see "lemmata") in minuscule manuscripts and liturgical manuscripts. The letters were unconnected and of uniform height, and no word division was used. (Halsall, 1996).

V

Vellum. Animal skin prepared for writing. Usually used to mean parchment of especially high quality. Now usually calf or goat skin (Halsall, 1996).

Verso. The "bottom" side of a folio or leaf, or any left hand page (Halsall, 1996).

W

Watermark. Paper made in the west and imported to Byzantium contained watermarks created by wire patterns attached to the paper mold. They can be seen by holding the paper up to the light. Because watermarks had a limited life span, usually 3-5 years, they are useful for dating manuscripts from the 13th century on (Halsall, 1996).

References:

Halsall, P. (1996). "Glossary of terms used in paleography." Fordham University. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/byz/paleoggloss.asp

Medieval Thought Project. (2010). "Glossary of paleography terms." Stanford University Libraries. http://cgi.stanford.edu/group/rufus-project/cgi-bin/paleography.php