Codicology

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Codicology is the study of a codex, an older handwritten book. It is closely related to palaeography, the study of handwriting in older manuscripts, and to philology, the study of language and culture in older texts. All three originated in Classical Latin and Greek studies, but later extended to the Medieval studies, and then to manuscripts and books from other pre-modern cultures and time periods.

Codicology concerns itself chiefly with the book as a physical object, and has therefore been referred to as 'the archaeology of the book'. The various methods in which a book is put together, and the skills needed at each stage of this process, are the most obvious provinces of codicology: but the study of the book also involves the materials used to make the book: papyrus, membrane (also sometimes called parchment or vellum), paper and so on, as well as the technology of the quill pen and of ink. Marginalia and glosses, including ownership inscriptions, can be informative. The decoration inside the book (illuminated initials, miniatures, carpet pages) as well as the binding and the decoration of the cover are integral to codicological study.

Apart from the ways in which it can aid palaeographers, codicology is usually seen as a branch of cultural history. By a close examination of the physical attributes of a book, it is possible to establish the history and provenance of a book. By extension, codicologists also study the history of libraries and of book-cataloguing.