paleography

Paleography is the study of historical handwriting. It concerns the decipherment, reading, dating, and interpretation of manuscripts and inscriptions, and is essential for understanding the material and textual history of written culture. Paleographers analyze letter forms, ligatures, abbreviations, punctuation, spacing, and layout to identify script types and place documents within a chronological and geographical framework. The discipline covers scripts used across civilizations, from inscriptions on stone to manuscripts on papyrus, parchment, and paper, spanning antiquity through the early modern period.

Core methods include analysis of script types—majuscule, minuscule, documentary hands, and chancery scripts—palaeographic features, and the relation of writing materials and tools. Methods draw on codicology (the physical study of books), diplomatics (documentary practice), and textual criticism. Dating relies on comparing forms with securely dated exemplars, knowledge of regional scribal practices, and marginalia, glosses, and corrections. Because handwriting evolves, paleography often yields relative dates within a broad timeframe.

Materials and sources include manuscripts, inscriptions, papyrus, parchment, and early printed books that preserve pre-modern hands. Paleographers assess scribal practices such as copying errors, annotations, marginal notes, and glosses, all of which illuminate textual transmission, provenance, and usage.

Applications and significance include establishing the age and origin of documents, verifying authenticity, reconstructing lost texts, and tracing the transmission history of literature and administrative records. Paleography informs textual criticism, codicology, archaeology, and the study of literacy in past societies. The field also intersects with digital humanities through imaging techniques and computational analysis.

History and development: Paleography as an organized discipline emerged in early modern Europe with scholars such as Jean Mabillon and Bernard de Montfaucon. It has broadened to include diverse writing systems, interdisciplinary data, and digital methods that enable reading damaged or illegible hands.