A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600

by Michelle P. Brown

Book Overview

For readers who wish to trace the evolution of scripts in the West from antiquity to the early modern period, and who want to read the work of their scribes, this volume provides a wide-ranging... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0712303073
• ISBN13: 9780712303071
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: British Library
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good reference tool

Michelle Brown's book is a must-have for the beginning student of paleography or codicology. It includes full-page (generally readable) photos of manuscripts which demonstrate characteristics of certain medieval scripts by country, region, and date - with facing page transcriptions and explanations. There are a few minor mistakes and questionable areas, such as her p. 26 transcription of the half-uncial (probably a typo), and p. 130 transcription of the humanistic book script (also probably a typo). The book is best utilized in conjunction with a course in either paleography, codicology, or both, and then mainly as a preliminary reference tool for rough-dating or localization. Pay attention to the details, for similar scripts (like the various gothics) can get tricky.