Palaeography

Quaritch, Bernard, 1819-1899Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 198K words
Chapters: 20

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Palæography by Bernard QuaritchAuthor: Quaritch, Bernard, 1819-1899,Language: English, Class: Z: Bibliography, Library science, Release Date: Mar 18, 2014

Editor's review

This Palæography by Bernard Quaritch is a classic introductory text in Western palaeography: concise in length yet covering the key points of identifying classical scripts such as Greek and Latin and the course of their development. Writing as a bibliographer and bookseller, the author sets out letter forms, abbreviation rules, and methods of dating clearly and systematically, and the plates and specimen analyses are especially helpful for understanding the dating of manuscripts. As a public-domain ebook, it lacks the color plates and systematic exercises of a modern textbook, but it preserves the rigorous exposition and scholarly-historical perspective of a nineteenth-century scholar, through which readers can trace the methodological origins of palaeography. Its value lies in building a basic framework for reading early handwriting and understanding the material basis of book history and textual transmission. It is suitable as supplementary reading for students of classics, history, and library science, and as a handy reference for those engaged in cataloguing rare books and identifying editions. It is best consulted alongside specific manuscripts or inscriptions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of classics and history seeking a basic framework for reading early scripts
Cataloguing and rare-book professionals in libraries, as a methodological reference
General readers interested in book history and manuscript culture who want to learn about the evolution of scripts
Readers of history and literature with good English reading ability, as a public-domain scholarly work

Not a good fit for

Beginners in palaeography who want modern color plates and systematic exercises
Readers without English reading ability who need a Chinese textbook
Casual readers looking only for light stories or travel accounts

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and conclusion first to grasp the range of scripts and chronological clues, then go through the chapters in detail.
Keep pen and paper to copy the letter forms and abbreviations listed in the book, and practice identifying them against images of real manuscripts.
Read alongside works on Greek and Roman history or book history, situating the evolution of scripts in its historical context.
There are many English technical terms; compile a short table of abbreviations and script names for repeated reference.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning palaeography from scratch?

It can be read, but it is not beginner-friendly. It assumes some initial knowledge of Greek and Latin writing traditions, and the terminology is fairly specialized. Readers with no exposure to classical scripts should first read an illustrated Chinese introduction to palaeography, then return to this book; it will be much easier to follow.

The ebook has no clear plates; is it still usable?

The textual discussion remains valuable, especially the descriptions of letter forms and methods of dating. But palaeography relies heavily on plates, so it is best read alongside manuscript facsimiles from public libraries or databases, applying the book's descriptions to specific letter forms for the greatest benefit.

What is Quaritch's background, and will it affect reading?

Quaritch was a nineteenth-century British bookseller and bibliographer who long worked with rare manuscripts and early printed books. The book carries the scholarly conventions of its time, and some views may have been revised by later research. Readers can treat it as an introduction to method and a piece of scholarly history rather than as the latest conclusions.

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About the author

Quaritch, Bernard, 1819-1899 Author · German · 1819–1899

Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) was a German-born bookseller who founded the London firm bearing his name, Bernard Quaritch, and dealt for many years in rare and antiquarian books, gaining a considerable reputation in the European trade in old books. The works he handled were mostly scarce editions and valuable documents, and his knowledge of editions and of the market made the shop one of the notable centres of the London antiquarian book trade in the late nineteenth century. The library holds one work by him, Palæography, which concerns ancient writing and the identification of manuscript scripts, a subject consistent with his professional background in old books. On the whole his writings are few, and his principal role was that of a bookseller rather than a scholar; public information about his life and academic training is limited, and his influence lies mainly in the circulation and collecting of antiquarian books.