Manuscript

A manuscript is a document created by hand or by a typewriter. The term comes from Latin roots meaning "hand" and "to write."

Traditionally, the word described any document written by hand rather than being mechanically printed. In recent times, it has expanded to include typed or word-processed copies of an author's work. This distinguishes them from the final printed versions of those same works. Before the invention of printing, every book and document in existence was a manuscript. These works are not defined solely by text. They can combine writing with mathematical calculations, maps, music notation, or detailed illustrations.

Creating a manuscript involves specific physical formats and materials. A manuscript might take the form of a scroll, known in Latin as a volumen. Most pre-modern manuscripts use the codex format, which is a volume bound like a modern book.

Scribes used various surfaces depending on their location and available resources. In the West, they often used papyrus or parchment, which is animal skin. The highest quality parchment is called vellum. In the Islamic world, paper became widely used after the 8th century. In Southeast Asia, people used long, rectangular palm leaf manuscripts.

In China, writers used bamboo or wooden slips before paper was introduced. Some cultures even used metal, such as copperplate or gold plates, for important inscriptions.

Writing styles, or scripts, vary significantly across different eras and regions. Early Greek and Latin manuscripts often used scriptio continua, a method where no spaces are left between words.

This style can be difficult for modern readers to interpret. There are also distinctions in how capital letters are used. Majuscule scripts use large capital letters and are often written with great care. Scribes would lift their pens between strokes to create a formal, regular look. Conversely, minuscule scripts use smaller letters and may appear cursive. Cursive writing involves using little or no pen-lift during the process.

Experts who study these historical handwriting styles are called palaeographers.

Manuscripts are often enriched through decoration and illumination. An illuminated manuscript features bright pictures, border decorations, or full-page illustrations.

They may also include elaborately embossed initial letters. These large, decorated letters often start a new section of text. Some manuscripts also include a colophon, which provides publication information. Other parts include the incipit, which are the first few words of a text. Scribes often used ruled lines as baselines to keep their writing straight. They might also use red ink for specific text, a process known as rubrication.

History shows how manuscript production changed with new technologies. In China, woodblock printing was used starting around the 7th century. The Diamond Sutra from 868 is a famous early example of this. In Europe, movable type printing arrived around 1450. Even after printing became available, manuscript copying continued for at least a century because printing was expensive. Private and government documents remained handwritten until the typewriter was invented in the late 19th century.

The transition from parchment to paper in Europe was largely complete by the late 15th century.

The survival of ancient manuscripts often depends on environmental conditions. Many of the oldest written works survived because they were kept in extremely dry places. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in dry caves, and the Nag Hammadi library was secreted in jars.

In Egypt, some manuscripts were preserved in tombs or even used as mummy-wrappings. Volcanic ash also helped preserve the Roman library at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. However, papyrus is fragile and usually lasts only a century or two in humid conditions. Many manuscripts from antiquity were lost despite being carefully stored in libraries.

Manuscripts serve as vital links to cultural history and human struggle. In Timbuktu, Mali, a conflict between 2012 and 2013 led to the loss of many documents. However, a local organization helped save 90% of 4,203 manuscripts that were at risk. Around 350,000 manuscripts were moved to safety, with 300,000 still in Bamako as of 2022.

Today, we study manuscripts to understand the relationship between different versions of a text. Because errors can occur during manual copying, scholars must trace the history of these variations. We can now view these ancient treasures through digital scans or high-resolution images. We can also study facsimiles, which are mechanical reproductions of the original works.