Short Description
The subject of the course is the management of old and rare book material, manuscript and printed, kept in special collections of public, ecclesiastical, monastic and private archives, libraries, institutions and museums. The course is divided into two main sections referring to the manuscript and printed book (although other entities of old and rare material, such as scrolls, loose documents, manuscript fragments, maps, etc., are also examined on a sample basis and global and national printed and electronic collections of them are presented).
In particular, the process of production and circulation of the manuscript and printed book is initially presented, the structure of the codex as the pre-eminent form of the book, the conditions of circulation and the environment of reading the manuscript and then the printed book during Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Early Modern World. The legal framework governing collections of rare material as well as the current practices of managing old and rare book material are also examined, and their problems and weaknesses are identified.
Furthermore, the policies for the promotion of the manuscript and printed book, its management, display and preservation, as well as the needs that arise in the modern digital age, are explored. Finally, an attempt is made to present other parchment and paper material (scrolls, loose documents, fragments, etc.) kept in archives, libraries and museums, and their management and preservation are discussed.
Objectives - Intended Learning Outcomes:
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the collections of old and rare book material kept in archives, libraries and museums and their management, which concerns their promotion, management, display and preservation in the modern era.
After completing the course, students will be able to:
The course content is as follows:
Week 1: Introduction to the concepts of "old" and "rare" material, as defined in cultural information management environments and their information services. Identification, collections and preservation of old and rare books, current legal framework and description of the current situation.
Week 2: Historical review: place, time and conditions of book production and the establishment of libraries and book collections during Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Professional and private copyists of manuscripts and codices, reading activity and practice.
Week 3: The manuscript book. Structure and composition of the code, writing materials, techniques for its creation.
Week 4: Printed and electronic catalogs of manuscripts, cataloging principles, modern practices, data and requirements.
Week 5: Access to manuscript collections: physical access, risks and limitations – electronic access, digitization of material. Global and national databases of manuscript books. Problems of disposal and preservation of manuscripts.
Week 6: Policies for the promotion, distribution and access of manuscript collections in the electronic age. Exhibitions and talks, exhibition catalogues, ways of making digital collections available, protection and conservation of physical objects.
Week 7: Other collections of parchment and paper material: scrolls, loose documents, fragments, maps in Greek libraries. Promotion, distribution and display of the material, conservation and preservation.
Week 8: Issues of security, conservation and preservation of manuscript books. Digitization of material, subject of digital palaeography and codicology.
Week 9: The printed book: terminology issues of old and rare material (archetypes, old prints, single-page, double-page, etc.). Reading activity and practice after Printing (reading societies, reading clubs, material circulation), library formation.
Week 10: Forms of cataloging, policies for highlighting and promoting old and rare printed books.
Week 11-12: Presentations of papers, discussion, feedback.
Week 13: Elective course: After the critical presentation of the papers, the difficulties in managing old and rare material are discussed, solutions to the problems that were formulated are proposed and policies for the promotion of these collections are promoted.
Recommended Bibliography
M.-L. Agati, «Κωδικολογία: σύγχρονες κατευθύνσεις και νέα όρια», Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα 21.1 (2011), 195-216
P.Andrist, P.Canart, M. Maniaci (eds), La syntaxe du codex. Essai de codicologie structurale, Turhout 2013
Binggeli, M. Cassin, M. Detoraki (eds), Bibliothèques grecques dans l’Empire ottoman, Turnhout 2020
Ciula, “Digital palaeography: What is digital about it?”, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities32.3 (2017), 89-105
Degni, P. Eleuteri, M. Maniaci (eds), Greek Manuscript Cataloguing: Past, Present, and Future, Turnhout 2018
Giannouli & E. Schiffer (eds.), From manuscripts to books / Vom Codex zur Edition. Proceedings of the international workshop on textual criticism and editorial practice for byzantine texts (Vienna, 10-11 December 2009), Wien 2011
N.Golob, J.Vodopivec Tomažič(eds), Theoretical Approaches and Practical Solutions, Turnhout 2017
McKitterick, The invention of Rare Books. Private Interest and Public Memory 1600-1840, Cambridge 2018
Shailor, C. Dutschke (eds), Scribes and the Presentation of Texts (from Antiquity to c. 1550). Proceedings of the 20th Colloquium of the Comitée international de paléographie latine. Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University (New Haven, September 6-8, 2017), Turnhout 2021
Related scientific journals
Βιβλιοαμφιάστης (2009 – )
Fragmentarium (2017 – )
Scripta. An International Journal of Codicology and Palaeography (2008 – )
Scriptorium (2000 – )
Teaching and learning methods:
Use of Information and Communication Technologies:
Assessment/Grading Methods:
