PV2A309 Seminar on Codicology

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lukáš Führer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Eduard Lazorík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lukáš Führer, Ph.D.
Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Olga Barová
Supplier department: Department of Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Archive Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
This subject requires some initial knowledge at the level of the course Book Culture and relevant paleographic and language skills (Latin, German).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to give the student the opportunity to acquire competence in creating inventories of manuscripts according to defined ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’. Introductory theoretical seminars will be followed by specialized practical classes focused on creating inventory items of medieval and modern manuscripts.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
- understand the origin and genesis of medieval and modern manuscripts;
- analyse the composition and structure of manuscripts;
- identify the content of manuscripts on the basis of internal and external characteristics and layout;
- apply knowledge of the origin and form of manuscripts with regard to specific manuscripts in practice;
- process a catalogue record in accordance with ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’.
Syllabus
  • Editions and inventories and their purpose, the users of them and their requirements. Library catalogues, bibliographies. Samples.
  • Book anatomy. Terminology, production, external and internal description.
  • Book decoration and illustration. Font, the development of printed and hand-written fonts.
  • Provenance and researching it, database of provenance. Characteristics of provenance, practical examples. (including filigrees and bindings).
  • ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’: the medieval part.
  • The medieval manuscript: typology (liturgical manuscripts, bibles, calendars, necrologies, sermons, university texts, literary manuscripts, etc.), basic external description, the identification of texts, fragments.
  • ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’: the modern part.
  • The modern manuscript: typology, relation to the printed book. The identification of texts.
  • Formats of description: libraries, archives, museums. Digital manuscript libraries, online databases.
Literature
  • Handschriften des Mittelalters : Grundwissen Kodikologie und Paläographie. Edited by Mathias Franc Kluge. 2. Auflage. Ostfildern: Thorbecke, 2015, 200 stran. ISBN 9783799505772. info
  • DE HAMEL, Christopher. Scribes and illuminators. London: British Museum Press, 1992, 72 stran. ISBN 0714120499. info
  • BROWN, Michelle P.: Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts. A Guide to Technical Terms. Malibu: Paul Getty Museum and London: British Library, 1994. ISBN 0-89236-217-0
  • STAMMBERGER, Ralf M. W. Scriptor und Scriptorium : das Buch im Spiegel mittelalterlicher Handschriften. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 2003, 134 s. ISBN 3201017973. info
  • PRAŽÁK, Jiří – HOFFMANN, František – KEJŘ, Jiří – ZACHOVÁ, Irena. Zásady popisu rukopisů. Sborník Národního muzea – C XXVIII, Praha 1983, s. 49–95.
  • PRAŽÁK, Jiří. Kodikologie, její postavení, metoda a úkoly. Studie o rukopisech XIII, 1974, s. 3–17
  • HLAVÁČEK, Ivan. Knihy a knihovny v českém středověku. 2005. ISBN 80-246-0917-7. info
  • HLAVÁČEK, Ivan. Úvod do latinské kodikologie. 2. dopl. vyd. Praha: Karolinum, 1994, 96 s. ISBN 80-7066-883-0. info
  • OLEXÁK, Peter. Kodikológia. Ružomberok: Katolícka univerzita v Ružomberku, Filozofická fakulta, 2007, 130 s. ISBN 9788080842413. info
Teaching methods
Initially, in the introductory classes, students will acquire theoretical knowledge on the origin, composition, structure, decoration and content of medieval and early modern manuscripts. This knowledge will then be applied to original manuscripts and fragments, whereby they will learn further the methods and ways of processing manuscripts in accordance with defined ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’ under the guidance of teachers. Classes will take place on the premises of the Moravian Regional Library in Brno using manuscripts stored in its collections.
Assessment methods
The conditions for awarding credit for the course are active participation in the seminar, a presentation of the results of manuscript research to colleagues, and the subsequent submission of the relevant inventory items in accordance with ‘Principles for the Description of Manuscripts’.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: Předmět bude vypsán na jaře 2025.
The course is taught: every week.
General note: Výuka probíhá v Moravské zemské knihovně, 4.p., videokonferenční místnost.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/PV2A309