Codicology ( Latin codex , genitive case codicis , “book” + Greek. Λόγος - “word, science”) is an auxiliary historical discipline , the subject of which is the study of manuscript books. The word "codex" ( lat. Codex, archaic. Caudex ) originally meant a log, a block of wood, or a plaque, since the first records in the antiquity were made on waxed planks.
A modern specialist in the field of codicology studies the origin of a single manuscript book , or their historically developed complexes, studying the circumstances of the production of book manuscripts, their internal and external form, writing technique, as well as the characteristic features of the work of the book workshop ( scriptorium ), the direction of the migration of books and their scope existence, their further archival and library fate [1] .
Although the basic principles of codicology were formulated as far back as 1739 by the French philologist Monk-Moorist Bernard de Monfocon in the work “Library of Libraries” (mainly based on Greek manuscripts), it developed as a special historical discipline only two centuries later. The term "codicology" was proposed in 1949 by the French Byzantine scholar . His senior contemporary, preferred to use the term codography. The famous Belgian researcher Francois Maze called codology "archeology of the book" (Archelogia dei libri) [2] .
The main tasks in the study of manuscript books are to study the history of their creation and fate, as well as their collection, clarification of the role of manuscript books in the history of culture, description and compilation of their catalogs. The material side of manuscript books is also studied: the paper on which they are written, filigree (watermarks on paper), bindings, jewelry, miniatures , changes in the space and time of writing schedules, handwriting of individual scribes, and the professional and social composition of scribes. The composition of manuscript collections and the history of their texts are investigated. An important task is to establish the time of writing and authors of manuscript books in close connection with archeography, bibliography, source study, literary criticism, paleography and textology.
I. I. Sreznevsky , E. F. Karsky , O. A. Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya , A. D. Lyublinskaya , L. V. Cherepnin , I. N. Lebedeva, L. I. made a great contribution to the codology of East Slavic manuscript books. Kiseleva and others
In Russia, codicological studies are conducted in the manuscript departments of the largest libraries and museum collections, in particular the State Historical Museum , the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg), the Russian State Library and others
Literature
- Kiseleva L. I. Letter and book in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Lectures on Latin paleography and codicology. - SPb .: Publishing house "Dmitry Bulanin", 2003. - 310 s: ill.
- Codicology - the science of manuscript books // Stolyarova L.V., Kashtanov S.M. Book in Ancient Russia (XI-XVI centuries). - M.: University of Dmitry Pozharsky, 2010 .-- ISBN 978-5-912440-16-8 .
- Paleography and codicology. 300 years after Monfocon : Proceedings of the international. scientific conferences. - M.: Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000. - 296 p.
- Stolyarova L.V. Codicology // Ancient Russia in the medieval world . Encyclopedia / Ed. E. A. Melnikova , V. Ya. Petrukhina . - 2nd ed. - M .: Ladomir, 2017 .-- S. 404.
Notes
- ↑ Stolyarova L.V. A Journey into the World of Old Russian Books. How were books created? // Site "Russian Faith".
- ↑ The concept of codicology // Reasonable. Good. Eternal.