Seminar Series in Latin Palaeography
24 September-3 October 2013
Charles University, Prague
Instructor: Professor Greti Dinkova-Bruun
(Fellow and Library Director, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto)
This 6-session seminar series is an intensive introduction to medieval handwriting in the
Latin West. The seminars will focus mainly on the scripts of the later Middle Ages, with
only a short introduction on the Roman system of scripts and the national hands. It is
designed for those who wish to acquire the skills that will enable them to work with
unpublished Latin manuscript materials from the later medieval period. Students will be
introduced to the main medieval systems of abbreviation, along with the principles of
transcription, through exercises in identifying, dating, and transcribing various scripts.
Reading knowledge of Latin is essential and will be assumed.
The series will incorporate 6 seminars, each between 3 and 4 hours long, every day
9-12:30 (or 13:00). Some in-class quizzes on abbreviations and script identifications will
also be included. Students inscribed at the Charles University in Prague can receive 3
credits (ECTS).
There is a limited number of places, so anyone interested in attending the course
should contact Lucie Doležalová at lucie.dolezalova@ff.cuni.cz .
SEMINAR I (September 24, Tuesday) Celetná 20, room 147
1) Terminology, nomenclature, transcription principles
2) Introduction to Medieval Abbreviation
3) Roman Scripts (Square Caps, Rustic Caps, Uncial and Half Uncial)
4) National Hands (Insular Scripts, Merovingian Scripts, Visigothic Script, Beneventan
Script)
SEMINAR II (September 25, Wednesday) Celetná 20, room 147
1) Quiz 1 on Abbreviations (Tironian Notes, Nomina Sacra)
2) Comments on transcriptions
3) Caroline Minuscule and Protogothic Script
SEMINAR III (September 27, Friday) Celetná 20, room 147
1) Quiz 2 on Abbreviations (Notae Iuris)
2) Introduction to Gothic Textualis, Cursiva and Hybrida
3) French Gothic
SEMINAR IV (September 30, Monday) Celetná 20, room 147
1) Quiz 3 on Abbreviations
1) Comments on transcriptions
3) English Gothic and “German Gothic”
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SEMINAR V (October 1, Tuesday) Celetná 20, room 342
1) Quiz 4 on Abbreviations
2) Comments on transcriptions
3) Italian Gothic and “Spanish Gothic”
SEMINAR VI (October 3, Thursday) Celetná 20, room 342
1) Quiz 5 on Abbreviations
2) Comments on transcriptions
3) Humanistic Scripts
BASIC SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY
General Works
Aris, Rutherford B. Explicatio formarum litterarum: The Unfolding of Letterforms from the First Century
to the Fifteenth Century. (St. Paul, Minn., 1990)
Battelli, Giulio. Lezioni di paleografia (Città del Vaticano: Libreria editrice vaticana, 1999, 4 th ed.)
Bischoff, Bernhard. Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages. (English translation). (Cambridge,
1990)
Boyle, Leonard E. Medieval Latin Palaeography: A Bibliographical Introduction (U. of Toronto Press,
1984)
Brown, Michelle P. A Guide to Western Historical Scripts. (Toronto, 1990)
Brown, Michelle P. A Guide to Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts. (J. Paul Getty Museum, 1994)
Clemens, Raymond and Graham, Timothy. Introduction to Manuscript Studies (Ithaca and London: Cornell
University Press, 2007)
Derolez, Albert. Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books, from the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth
Century (Cambridge 2003).
Glénisson, Jean, ed. Le livre au Moyen Âge (CNRS: Paris 1988)
Shailor, Barbara A. The Medieval Book: Illustrated from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library,
Medieval Academy of America, Washington 1991; reprint: Toronto)
Facsimile Collections
Lowe, E.A. Codices latini antiquiores. A Palaeographical Guide to Latin Manuscripts Prior to the Ninth
Century , 11 vols. and supplement vol. (Oxford, 1934-71)
The New Palaeographical Society. Facsimiles of Ancient Manuscripts: First Series (London 1903-30)
Second Series (London, 1913-30) (covers 400 BC-1535 AD.)
Abbreviations
Cappelli, Adriano. Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane, 6th ed. (Milan, 1994) The Italian
introduction to this manual has been translated: A. Capelli, Elements of Abbreviation in Medieval
Latin, trans. D. Heimann and R. Kay, (Lawrence, KS 1982)
Lindsay, W.M. Notae latinae. An Account of Abbreviations in Latin Manuscripts of the Early Minuscule
Period (c. 700-850) (Cambridge, 1915; reprint Hildesheim, 1965)
Pelzer, Auguste. Abreviations latines medievales: supplement au Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed
italiane de Adriano Cappelli (Bruxelles: Editions Nauwelaerts, 1982)
Traube, Ludwig. Nomina Sacra: Versuch einer Geschichte der christlichen Kürzung (Munich, 1907).
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