The practice of “occasionally writing in already written books”1 (on guard leaves and in margins, or on portions of pages which were originally left partially or entirely blank) occurred widely and extensively in medieval book production, particularly in the Latin West. On account of the various forms it has taken and the different ways and contexts in which it has been employed, the Bible as a codex is, without doubt, the book in which the use and re-use of spaces not occupied by the sacred text―entirely transcribed as a single volume, or far more often in the form of individual books or series of books―occurs with the greatest frequency and in the widest variety. An analysis of manuscripts belonging to a specific category of Bible―the so-called “Giant Bibles” or “Atlantic Bibles”―therefore enables the author to examine the full range of traces left on them by artisans, copyists, coeval or successive readers, owners, librarians and various other users of the book, not just as a support of a text, but also (or sometimes solely) as a custodial “receptacle” of entries or recorded memories to be conserved and transmitted to future generations.
Written Evidence in the Italian Giant Bibles: Around and beyond the Sacred Text
Maniaci Marilena
2018-01-01
Abstract
The practice of “occasionally writing in already written books”1 (on guard leaves and in margins, or on portions of pages which were originally left partially or entirely blank) occurred widely and extensively in medieval book production, particularly in the Latin West. On account of the various forms it has taken and the different ways and contexts in which it has been employed, the Bible as a codex is, without doubt, the book in which the use and re-use of spaces not occupied by the sacred text―entirely transcribed as a single volume, or far more often in the form of individual books or series of books―occurs with the greatest frequency and in the widest variety. An analysis of manuscripts belonging to a specific category of Bible―the so-called “Giant Bibles” or “Atlantic Bibles”―therefore enables the author to examine the full range of traces left on them by artisans, copyists, coeval or successive readers, owners, librarians and various other users of the book, not just as a support of a text, but also (or sometimes solely) as a custodial “receptacle” of entries or recorded memories to be conserved and transmitted to future generations.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
