Paleographical terms
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Autograph
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A text handwritten by its author.
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Hand
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The writing of an individual scribe, with individual characteristics.
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Script
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The type of writing a scribe is trying to emulate.
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Abbreviations
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Used by scribes to save time and space while writing, abbreviations often take the form of contractions, with missing letters indicated by a mark or symbol; sometimes symbols replace entire words.
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Book hands
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Clear and regular scripts used in book production.
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Documentary hands
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Scripts used for business and legal documents, letters, and other more ephemeral works; generally written rapidly and with less concern for clarity and regularity.
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Majuscule
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Upper case or capital letters, all the same height.
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Minuscule
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Lower case letters; they vary in their use of ascenders or descenders.
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Paleography
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The study of historical forms of writing.
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Strokes
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Single strokes of the pen; including the following:
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Arm
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A horizontal stroke that extends but does not cross the stem of letters such as E, F, and L.
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Ascender
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A stroke that ascends above the body of a minuscule letter.
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Bar
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A horizontal stroke that attaches two other strokes, in letters such as A and H.
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Biting
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A stroke that is shared by two adjoining contrary curves, such as a b followed by an o; common in Gothic and Humanistic scripts.
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Body
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The part of a minuscule letter form that does not include an ascender or descender.
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Bow (or lobe)
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A circle or partial circle attached to a stem, in letters such as p, b, q, and d.
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Descender
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A stroke that descends below the body of a minuscule letter.
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Ligature
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Two or more letters joined into a single glyph.
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Lobe
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See Bow
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Minim
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A simple vertical stroke with no ascender or descender.
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Otiose stroke
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A random stroke on the page, not intended as punctuation or an abbreviation indicator.
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Serif
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A small decorative line attached to the end of a stroke in some scripts.
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Shading
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Variation in the thickness of strokes of a script.
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Slant
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Variation of a stroke from complete vertical.
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Stem
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A minim with any ascender or descender that supports the rest of the letter.
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Manuscript terms
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Catchword
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A word (or phrase) written on the last page of a quire that matches the first word of the next quire, to assist the binder in assembling the quires in the correct order.
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Codex
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A book made of folded sheets of paper or parchment stacked together, usually bound on one edge and enclosed within covers.
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Colophon
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An inscription made by the scribe, usually at the end of a book, recording information about the scribe and/or about how the book was produced.
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Diplomatics
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Critical analysis of the conventions, protocols, and formulaic wording of types of historical documents.
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Foliation
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Numbering of folios within a manuscript.
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Folio
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A leaf of a codex.
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Gathering
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See Quire
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Gloss
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Commentary on or explanation of the main text, often written between the lines or in the margins.
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Illumination
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Color illustrations or decorations in a manuscript, sometimes including gold or silver.
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Line fillers
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Lines, symbols, or decoration used to complete a line of text not filled by script, essentially creating fully justified margins.
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Manuscript
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Literally “written by hand.” Abbreviated as MS (singular) or MSS (plural).
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Marginalia
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Decoration or writing in the margins of a manuscript, either part of the original program or added by a later reader.
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Miniature
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A stand-alone illustration in a manuscript.
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Mise-en-page
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The layout of text, columns, rubrication, decoration, images, and so forth on a page.
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Page
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One side of a folio within a codex.
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Pagination
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Numbering of pages within a manuscript.
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Paper
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A writing support usually made during the early modern period from chopped and soaked cotton or linen rags pressed in a frame.
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Parchment
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A writing support made from processed, stretched, and dried animal skins, usually sheep, calf, or goat; originally “vellum” was reserved for calfskin, but the word is now used interchangeably with “parchment.”
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Pen flourishes
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Decorative fine lines made with a pen, emanating from initial or other letters, often in colored ink.
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Quire
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The sets of folded paper or parchment of which a codex is formed; also called a “gathering.”
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Quire signature
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Identifying letters or numbers written within a quire, to assist the binder in assembling the folios in the correct order.
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Recto
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The front side of a folio within a codex.
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Roll
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A book made of sheets of paper pasted or sewn together to form one long sheet, then rolled up for storage.
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Rubric
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A heading or initial capitals written in a different color from the main text, in order to help distinguish the various textual components.
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Running title
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A line of text written at the top edge of a folio to identify a work’s title or a subsection of it.
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Scribe
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The individual who physically wrote a given document or book.
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Vellum
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See Parchment
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Verso
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The back side of a folio within a codex.
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