Glossaries on manuscripts and bookmaking

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0100

Do you happen to know what the difference is between "recto" and "verso"? How is a "folio" different to a "page"? What exactly is a "codex" and how does it relate to a printed book?

Yes, you guessed it - I'm on about manuscripts this time. Here are a few links to glossaries on the Web and in print that I've found useful in my own editing and translation work about codicology:

A general glossary provided by the British Library, London: Glossary on Illuminated Manuscripts
A short glossary by the University of Nottingham: glossary on medieval books

Glossary of English terms concerned with medieval art and architecture (listed in sections from A to Z).
Harvard's METRO glossary (on Middle English texts such as Chaucer's works).
Glossary of Hebrew terms by the British Library, with illustrations.
A comprehensive glossary of German terms on medieval bookmaking and illustration by Heidelberg University ("Bibliotheca Palatina" project). This has illustrations as well as detailed explanations of terms.
Glossary of Lao manuscript terms (in English and Lao). These explanations relate to the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts ("DLLM"), which is a project to save the contents of Lao manuscripts by digitising the material.

I'll be adding more links as time goes on. Please let me know of any helpful ones you are familiar with so I can take a look at them and possibly share them here.

One printed work in German that is related and deserves a mention here is "Buchmalerei. Terminologie in der Kunstgeschichte" by Christine Jakobi-Mirwald, particularly Chap. 12, which is a 27-page mini-dictionary of German terms in English, French and Italian.

Another notable dictionary that is in English is Peter Beal's "A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450-2000", published by OUP. This printed work is pricey, but there's a Kindle version of it (an e-book) that's good value and handy when working on a computer or tablet. Beal's dictionary is a comprehensive one with clear definitions for all the entries.

For more links to glossaries and academic articles on manuscript terminology, check out Dagmar Riedel's blog post here.

Hope you find these tips helpful.

Regards

Carl

(A page of a 15th-century manuscript showing Vincent of Beauvais, the author, working on it.)
(Wikipedia Commons, public domain)

Tips 'n' Tools for Translators - glossaries

Glossaries on manuscripts and bookmaking