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Paleography

Introduction

Paleography is the study of the history of handwriting, examining the script that appears in historical books, manuscripts, documents, artwork, and any other inscribed objects. Paleography often seeks to contextualize the practice of such writing by examining the materiality, production, and dissemination of written artifacts with respect to their original culture and era.

The Newberry has a strong collection of material that supports paleographical research. This includes myriad historical documents and manuscripts in French, Latin, German, Spanish, and English; the Newberry also collects many reference sources relevant to researching, deciphering, and interpreting examples of handwriting or script.

In addition to the resources available in its collection, the Newberry has a long tradition of training scholars in Paleography through its Summer Paleography Institutes, which offer training for reading texts in several different languages. More information on these institutes can be found here.

The Newberry has many manuscript collections that include handwritten documents. A curated list of these collections can be found in the European Manuscript research guides for pre-1500 manuscripts and post-1500 manuscripts. These documents may be relevant to some paleographical research.

The library has several published and unpublished works that list and discuss the manuscripts in its collection. A list of publications concerning Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at the Newberry can be accessed here. Paleographers focusing in manuscripts may find these publications helpful.

General Reference for Paleography (in English)

Brown, Michelle P. A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing folio Z113 .B76 1990.

Derolez, Albert. The Palaeography of Gothic Manuscript Books: From the Twelfth to the Early Sixteenth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing Z106.5 .E85 D47 2003.

Lancaster, John. Writing Medieval Scripts. North Pomfret, VT: David & Charles Inc., 1988. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing folio Z43 .L362 1988.

Minert, Roger P. Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents: Analyzing German, Latin, and French in Historical Manuscripts. 2nd ed. GRT Publications, 2013. Location: Local & Family History Reference 2nd floor. Call number: LHR Z115 .G4 M56 2013.

Sirat, Colette. Writing as Handwork: A History of Handwriting in Mediterranean and Western Culture. Bibliologia 24. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2006. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z40 .S56 2006.

General Reference for Manuscripts (in English)

Clemens, Raymond. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007. Location: Reference 3rd floor; Special Collections Reference 4th floor. Call number: Ref Z105 .C58 2007b; Case Ref Z105 .C58 2007.

Brown, Michelle P. Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1994. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: ND2889 .B76 1994.

English Paleography/Manuscript Studies

Beal, Peter (ed.) New Texts and Discoveries in Early Modern English Manuscripts. English Manuscript Studies, 1100-1700, 13. London: British Library, 2007. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z115 .E5 E55 1989 v. 13.

Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn. Opening Up Middle English Manuscripts: Literary and Visual Approaches. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: folio Z106.5 .G7 K47 2012.

McLaughlin, Eve. Reading Old Handwriting. 2nd ed. Birmingham, England: FFHS, 1987. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z115 .E5 M35 1987.

Munby, Lionel M. Reading Tudor and Stuart Handwriting. Salisbury, England: British Association for Local History, 2002. Location: Local & Family History Reference 2nd floor. Call number: Local History Reference Z115 .E5 M85 2002.

French Paleography

Audisio, Gabriel. Lire le français d’hier: manuel de paléographie moderne XVe-XVIIIe siècle. Paris: A. Colin, 1991. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z115 .F7 A9 1991.

Bischoff, Bernhard. Paléographie de l’antiquité Romaine et du Moyen Age occidental. Paris: Picard, 1985. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing Z107 .B574 1985.

Gasparri, Francoise. Introduction à l’histoire de l’écriture. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Brepols, 1994. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing Z40 .G275 1994.

Poulle, Emmanuel. Paléographie des écritures cursives en France du 15e au 17e siècle. Recueil de fac-similés de documents parisiens avec leur transcription, précédé d’une introduction. Genève: Droz, 1966. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: folio Z 1 .709.

Prou, Maurice. Manuel de paléographie latine et franc̦aise. Paris: A. Picard, 1924. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z 1 .716.

Italian/Latin Paleography

Bischoff, Bernhard. Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing Z114 .B5713 1990.

Boyle, Leonard E. Medieval Latin Paleography: A Bibliographic Introduction. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z106 .B69 1984.

(Also a version in Italian, 1999. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z106 .B6916 1999.)

Capelli, Adriano. Lexicon abbreviaturarum: dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane usate nelle carte e codici specialmente del Medio-Evo, riprodotte con oltre 14000 segni incisi, con l’aggiunta di uno studio sulla brachigrafia medioevale, un prontuario di sigle epigrafiche, l’antica numerazione romana ed arabica ed i segni indicanti monete, pesi, misure, etc. Manueli Hoepli. Milan: Hoepli, 1985. Location: Reference 3rd floor. Call number: Wing Z111 .C24 1961.

Pelzer, Auguste. Abréviations latines médiévales: supplément au Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane de Adriano Cappelli. 3rd ed. Beauvechain [Belgium]: Editions Nauwelaerts, 1995. Location: Reference 3rd floor. Call number: Ref Z111 .C243 1995.

Petrucci, Armando. Breve storia della scrittura latina. Roma: Bagatto Libri, 1989. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing Z114 .P4.

Spanish Paleography

Carlin, A. Roberta. A Paleographic Guide to Spanish Abbreviations, 1500-1700 = una guía paleográfica de abreviaturas Españolas. Henderson, NV: A.R. Carlin, 1999. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z111 .C37 1999.

Cortes Alonso, Vincenta. La escritura y lo escrito: paleografía y diplomática de España y América en los siglos XVI y XVII. Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispánica, 1986. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Wing folio Z115 .S7 C67.

Millares Carlo, Augustin. Tratado de paleografía española. 3rd ed. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S.A., 1983. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: folio Z115 .S7 M64 1983.

Revue d’histoire des textes. Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Articles in English or French. Library holdings include intermittent volumes, 1971-2018. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: F 39 .0071.

Scriptorium. Gand: E. Story-Scientia. Articles in English, French, German, or Italian. Includes indices. Library holdings include intermittent volumes, 1946-2016. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z 1 .008.

Codices manuscripti & impressi. Articles in German and English. Library holdings include intermittent volumes, 2013-2015. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z6602 .C63.

Archivio Paleografico Italiano. Bullettino dell’Archivio paleografico italiano. Library holdings include intermittent volumes, 1908-1964. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z 1 .0036.

Litterae caelestes: rivista annuale internazionale di paleografia, codicologia, diplomatica e storia delle testimonianze scritte. Most articles are in Italian; some are in English and French. Library holdings include 2005-2017. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z108 .L58.