Età comnena e cultura scritta. Materiali e considerazioni alle origini di una ricerca

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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate written culture under the Comnenoi, with particular attention to book production and the various scripts employed. These can be divided into two general types: a formal one used for religious books, which were normally produced with care for aesthetics, and an informal one, reserved for books with secular or classical content. With regard to the first type, the paper offers a reassessment of the so-called Perlschrift (Pearlscript), the well-known Stilrichtung defined by Herbert Hunger some fifty years ago. Similarly, identification of the main characteristics of the informal hands justifies the re-dating to the Comnenian period of such manuscripts as the Laur. Plut. 75.40 of Psellos. This manuscript, usually ascribed to the beginning of the fifteenth century, can now be dated to the end of the eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century, thus just after Psellos’ death.

In September 2008, the seventh edition of the International Colloquium of Greek Palaeography (Madrid-Salamanca, 15-20 September 2008) celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Palaeographia Graeca, the pioneer work of the Benedictine Bernard de Montfaucon that established the fundamentals of the discipline. Papers by renowned specialists in the field contributed to the methodology of study and to our knowledge of Greek manuscripts, and opened new perspectives for the study of the Greek manuscripts preserved mostly in European libraries, taking into account new methodological approaches, the possibilities of online resources and the results of ongoing research projects.

The Proceedings published here include contributions by specialists from over ten different countries, dealing with palaeographical issues such as ancient capital and lower-case lettering, writing and books in the Macedonian, Comnenian and Palaeologan periods, and Greek scribes and ateliers in the Renaissance (especially in manuscripts from the Iberian Peninsula). Many contributors also take a codicological approach and consider the material aspects of the codex, as well as other new research techniques. Finally, some papers deal with the book as object and how this relates to its content, as well as with the history of texts.

The International Colloquia of Greek Palaeography are organized by the International Committee of Greek Palaeography, presided by Prof. Dieter Harlfinger. The seventh edition payed tribute to the memory of the late Jean Irigoin, who died in 2006.