To show the organization of the course that includes this module, follow this link:  Course organization

Learning outcomes

The main goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic codicological and cultural tools needed to study and analyse different types of mediaeval manuscripts.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

1) Recognize the main types of manuscripts
2) Discuss about the differences between shapes and dimensions of books, especially in relation to their texts and to the evolution in book production
3) Recognise materials and manufacturing techniques employed in book production
4) Describe the making-up and decorative techniques used for the illumination of manuscripts
5) Understand the organization of a scriptorium and of a stationary
6) Recognize the economic and cultural context behind the creation of a manuscript
7) Understand the circulation of books before a library was created.

Program

During the course, the following topics will be covered:

a) Disciplines for the study of rare books, especially of mediaeval manuscripts
b) Mediaeval manuscripts: history, morphology, materials
c) Manufacturing methods and mise en page
d) From the artisan to the copyist: professions linked to book production
e) Book commerce and foundation of public and private libraries
f) Valorisation of manuscript collections; main description and cataloguing methods

The course will consist of:
a) Lectures;
b) Visits to the Archivio Diocesano Tridentino (Trento). These visits will provide a good opportunity to analyse some mediaeval manuscripts and to discuss about the topics already covered in class.
Students will be required not only to study, but also to put in practice what will be discussed during the lectures: during the course, each student will be given a manuscript to analyse. A detailed report of said manuscript will be a part of the final exam.

Bibliography:
M. Maniaci, Archeologia del manoscritto. Metodi, problemi, bibliografia recente, Roma, Viella, 2002.
A. Petrucci, La descrizione del manoscritto, Roma, Carocci, 20012
Marielisa Rossi, Provenienze, cataloghi, esemplari . Studi sulle raccolte librarie antiche, Manziana (Roma), Vecchiarelli, 2001, pp. 9-82
M.Maniaci, Per una nuova definizione e descrizione dei sistemi di rigatura, in A. Bravo Garcìa – I. Pérez Martín (ed. by), The Legacy of Bernard de Montfaucon: Three Hundred Years of Studies on Greek Handwriting. Proceedings of the Seventh International Colloquium of Greek Palaeography (Madrid – Salamanca, 15-20 September 2008), Turnhout 2010 (Bibliologia, 31A), 333-345

Additional books and articles will be proposed during the course.

Examination Methods

The exam will be oral and will consist of:

I) An exposition of the report on the assigned manuscript;
II) A discussion about the topics covered during the lectures.

The exam will not only evaluate the student general knowledge of the subject, but also the ability to use the specific technical language and, above all, the ability to use the topic discussed during the lectures in the final report.