Early Medieval Palimpsests
Edited by G Declercq
Palimpsests are texts from which the primary text has been effaced to make room for fresh writing. The practice was particularly important in the early Middle Ages, when numerous, often precious, books were subjected to this treatment. As a result, many ancient texts lay hidden in European libraries for centuries. Ever since the first palimpsests were discovered in the seventeenth century, scholars have been fascinated by the possibility of discovering hitherto unknown texts. For a long time, the lower script of palimpsests could only be brought back to the light of day through the use of chemical reagents that proved very detrimental to the manuscripts. The great advance away from these destructive techniques came at the beginning of the twentieth century with the application of ultra-violet photography. Today, striking advances in this field are again being made with the development of digital imaging. The contributions in this volume focus mainly on the cultural evidence offered by palimpsests from the early Middle Ages. Some contributors have examined particular manuscripts in great detail (the London palimpsest of Jerome’s Chronicle or the Munich palimpsest codex from Benediktbeuern); others have looked at specific types of texts that have suffered deletion in this way (liturgical palimpsests, Carolingian letters). The volume also contains a handlist of all known palimpsested manuscripts in Beneventan script.
- Edited by G Declercq
Other Titles in this Series
‘Psychomachia’ Codex from St. Lawrence (Bruxellensis 10066-77) and the Schools of Liege in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
Volume 42
Medieval Autograph Manuscripts
Proceedings of the XVIIth Colloquium of the Comite International de Paleographie Latine, held in Ljubljana, 7-10 September 2010
Volume 36
Strasbourg, ville de l’imprimerie
L'edition princeps aux XVe et XVIe siecles (textes et images)
Volume 44
Late Medieval and Early Modern Libraries
Knowledge Repositories, Guardians of Tradition and Catalysts of Change
Volume 68
Legacy of Bernard de Montfaucon
Three Hundred Years of Study on Greek Handwriting: Proceedings of the Seventh International Colloquium of Greek Palaeography (Madrid-Salamanca, 15-20 September 2008)
Volume 31
Jewish Book – Christian Book
Hebrew Manuscripts in Transition between Jews and Christians in the Context of German Humanism
Volume 58
Sciences du quadrivium au Mont-Cassin
Regards croises sur le manuscrit Montecassino, Archivio dell'Abbazia 318
Volume 51
‘Change’ in Medieval and Renaissance Scripts and Manuscripts
Proceedings of the 19th Colloquium of the Comite international de paleographie latine (Berlin, 16-18 September, 2015)
Volume 50
Antiquarian Book-trade in Switzerland
Sir Thomas Phillipps's Acquisitions in the 1820s and their Later Dispersal
Volume 69
Uses and Reuses of Medieval Manuscript Books / Usi e riusi del libro manoscritto nel Medio
Southern Italy. Latin Manuscripts / Italia meridionale. Manoscritti latini
Volume 71
The Rise of Vernacular Writing. The Palaeographical Perspective
Proceedings of the 21st Colloquium of the Comité international de paléographie latine. Firenze (1921 February 2020)
Volume 70
Scribes and the Presentation of Texts (from Antiquity to c. 1550)
Proceedings of the 20th Colloquium of the Comite international de paleographie latine
Volume 65
Similar Books
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Studies from Western Europe and North Africa
Volume 44
Los oficios de los diplomas latinos de la Cataluna altomedieval
Estudio de las innovaciones lexicas: XI Premio Internacional de Tesis Doctorales Fundacion Ana Maria Aldama Roy de Estudios Latinos
Volume 106
A Communication Ethic of Dialogic Reformation
Nicholas of Cusa on Care for Communities in Crisis
Volume 106
Ambiguum 10 of Maximus the Confessor in Modern Study
Papers collected on the Occasion of the Budapest Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3-4 February 2021
Volume 97
Building the Presence of the Prince
The Institutions Responsible for the Construction and Management of the Buildings of European Courts (14th-17th centuries)
Volume 14
Byzantine Historiographical Prefaces (4th-15th Centuries)
A Study on Praxis and Culture of Writing History in Byzantium
Volume 23
Ceramics in Plain Sight: The Bacini of the Churches of Crete. “Reflections” of the Late Medieval and the Early Modern Material Culture of the Island
Volume II: The Regional Unit of Lasithi
Volume 13
Christian Settlements and Monasteries in the Northern Judaean Shephelah and the Western Samaria Hills during the Byzantine Period
Communicating the Passion
The Socio-Religious Function of an Emotional Narrative (1250-1530)
Volume 21
