To Err is Human: Scribal Mistakes in Western MS 097
Humans have never been perfect. No matter how carefully one has been trained, he or she is bound to make mistakes in the execution of any given task--mistakes which are often plainly visible to an observer of their work. The writers and illuminators of medieval manuscripts are no exception to this rule. Either due to carelessness, a lack of thorough knowledge of Latin, or a faulty source text, even the best of scribes made blunders, be these large or small. And even with systems of revision and correction in place, such inaccuracies have remained on the pages of these manuscripts for hundreds of years as testament to the very human nature of those who produced them.
This exhibit explores the scribal errors found in the thirteenth-century Dominican gradual Western MS 097, located in Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library. More specifically, it looks at the different kinds of errors that occur in the textual content of the manuscript, as opposed to the musical content, in order to consider what these mistakes can tell us about how it was made, and by whom.
To examine these questions more closely, I have categorized the manuscript's errors into the following types:
- Orthographic errors, in which the scribe has employed improper spelling or grammar;
- Letter form errors, in which the scribe has made a mistake (or begun to make one) in the execution of his or her pen strokes;
- Omissions in the decorative initials that precede each chant or verse.
This exhibit also discusses the different kinds of corrections employed in the manuscript, as well as the (sometimes tenuous) difference between a mistake and a textual variant.
To navigate the exhibit, click on the page title in the sidebar, or on the red page titles in the summary above.