Course teached as: B004094 - PALEOGRAFIA LATINA Second Cycle Degree in ANCIENT PHILOLOGY, LITERATURES AND HISTORY Curriculum FILOLOGICO – LETTERARIO
Teaching Language
Italian
Course Content
The course will introduce to the history and development of Latin handwriting, through the presentation of books, charters and epigraphs from the Classical age to the Renaissance in Latin West. Students will gain the ability to work with primary sources in their original form; they will gain familiarity with the tecnniques and principles of the palaeographical analysis.
Mandatory readings to be completed during the first two weeks of the course:
B. Bischoff, Paleografia latina, Padova, Antenore 1992, pp. 7-52 (Materiali e strumenti scrittori)
T. De Robertis, Questioni preliminari e generali, «Medioevo e Rinascimento», 7 (1993), pp. 161-193 (in particolare 167-174)(available on the site Moodle: https://e-l.unifi.it/).
Mandatory readings to be completed during the first two weeks of the course:
- B. Bischoff, Paleografia latina, Padova, Antenore 1992, pp. 7-52 (Materiali e strumenti scrittori).
- T. De Robertis, Questioni preliminari e generali, «Medioevo e Rinascimento», 7 (1993), pp. 161-93 (in particolare 167-74).
- A. Petrucci, Breve storia della scrittura latina, Roma, Bagatto, prima ed. 1989, pp. 106-40, 143-69.
- S. Zamponi, Paleografia latina, in M. Guerrini, Biblioteconomia. Guida classificata, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2007, pp. 869-872
Readings related to the second part of the course (the origin of humanistic script)
- E. Casamassima, Per una storia delle dottrine paleografiche dall’Umanesimo a Jean Mabillon, «Studi medievali», 5 (1964), pp. 525-78
- T. De Robertis, Humanistic script. Origin, in R. G. Babcock and F. Coulson (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Latin Palaeography, Oxford University Press (in c.d.s.)
- T. De Robertis, Humanistic script. Italy, in R. G. Babcock and F. Coulson (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Latin Palaeography, Oxford University Press. (in c.d.s.).
- S. Zamponi, Andrea Mantegna e la maiuscola antiquaria, in Mantegna e Padova 1445-1460, a cura di D. Banzato, A. De Nicolò Salmazo, A. M. Spiazzi, Milano, Skira, 2006, pp. 73-79,
Learning Objectives
The course will introduce to the principal stages of the development of Latin script, from the Ist to the XVth century. Students will gain the ability to work with primary sources in their original form; they will gain familiarity with the tecnniques and principles of the palaeographical analysis. Special attention will be paid to the study of writing materials and tools, to the physical features of books and documents, to the abbreviation system. In the second part of the course a particular case-study will be discussed (in 2022-23 : imitation in the history of writing).
Prerequisites
The precondition of participating in the course is the knowlegde of Latin at least on mid level. As for Erasmus students: good skills in reading and speaking italian.
Teaching Methods
72 hours course (lessons and workshop). The main part of the course will consist in practical work sessions (analysis of the handwriting, oral reading and transcription). Photocopies/digital images of charters to be discussed in class will be made available in advance on the Moodle platform (http://e-l.unifi.it/) and students are expected to prepare for each class. There will be assignments to be prepared for common work in class. The completion of all the exercises assigned during the course is mandatory for access to the final exam. Since the course puts a strong emphasis on practical skills, regular attendance and preparation is required.
Type of Assessment
Written and oral examination.
The written part will consist in
a) transcribing a text (a page of a manuscript or a document) to be completed in class at the end of the course, as agreed.
b) written paleographic analysis ( to be delivered at least one week before the exam date) of one or more manuscripts of humanistic age examined in the second part of the course.
The two writings are indispensable for access to the oral exam.
The oral part of the examination will consist in
a) reading and commenting some of the plates illustrated during the (the list will be provided at the end of the course);
b) discussing topics dealt with in the first part of the course (conceptual tools of palaeographic analysis, fundamental stages of the evolution of Latin writing).
c) discussing of the bibliography relating to the case-study (The script of Humanism).
Please note that all material distributed during the lessons(available on the moodle platform) is an integral part of the exam and will be discussed during the test.
The completion of all the exercises assigned during the course is mandatory for access to the final exam.
Grading will be based on a combination of class work and final exam:
class work (6/30)
written exam (6/30)
reading test (6/30)
discussion of topics dealt with in the first part of the course (6/30)
discussion of the bibliography (6/30).
Course program
Definition and historical ground of Palaeography (research field, method
and purpose).
Methods and principles of palaographical analysis: writing as a system of signs; relationship between ductus and letter forms; writing angle; size and weight.
Writing techiniques: formal hand (to write stroke after stroke), cursive hand (currenti calamo scribere); different forms of letter; ligatures; majuscule and minuscule scripts; style.
Writing objects: materials, shape and use; writing tools. Scribal practices.
Short history of mediaeval manuscript production.
Introduction to mediaeval handwriting in the Latin West from the Roman Age to the dawn of print.
Main mediaeval systems of abbreviation.
Principles of transcription.
Exercises in identifying, dating, and transcribing various scripts.
In-depth program: The origin of the humanistic script