The course aims to develop a general knowledge of the manuscript book (mainly, but not exclusively, Greek and Latin) from Antiquity to the advent of printing, with constant attention to its areas of production, circulation, conservation and the changes it underwent in relation to historical contexts and circumstances. The interest of the manuscript book as a material vehicle of knowledge, but also as an indispensable tool and source for studies in philology and the history of the tradition of literary texts will be illustrated. The course also aims to make students aware of the issues of the protection and enhancement of manuscript book heritage, based on the adoption of correct practices of description and preventive conservation.
Specifically, the module aims to provide:
(a) basic historical knowledge of materials and manufacturing techniques of the Greek and Latin manuscript book (with specific attention to the evolution and, where possible, the geographical distribution of the different practices)
b) basic knowledge of book types, production methods and contexts, circulation and conservation. To this end, the following thematic nuclei will be addressed the scope and purpose of the history of the manuscript book and the interactions with other disciplines; the current orientations of codicological research and the main working tools; the origins and affirmation of writing and the book in the context of past societies; the actors, circuits and modes of production, fruition and conservation of the manuscript book in the East and West between Antiquity and the end of the Middle Ages the media, materials and instruments used for writing and decoration; the construction of the manuscript book and the layout of the page; the structure of the manuscript book and its relationship with the content; the principles and criteria for the construction and use of the page; the copyist and transcription strategies; binding; the main content and book types; the problems, models and standards of manuscript description (general notions) and the related technical terminology.