A Classification of Manuscripts Based on A New Quantitative Method. The Old Latin Witnesses of John's Gospel as Text Case

Abstract

A new method for grouping manuscripts in clusters is presented with the calculation of distances between readings, then between witnesses. A classification algorithm (" Hierarchical Ascendant Clustering "), achieved through computer-aided processing, enables the construction of trees illustrating the textual taxonomy obtained. This method is applied to the Old Latin witnesses of the Gospel of John, and, in order to provide a study of a reasonable size, to a chapter as a whole (chapter 14). The result basically confirms the text-types identified by Bonatius Fischer, founder of the Vetus Latina Institute, while it invalidates the classification adopted by the current edition of the Vetus Latina of the Gospel of John.

Keywords

• manuscripts
• gospel of john
• latin witnesses
• [shs.stat] humanities and social sciences/methods and statistics
• [shs.relig] humanities and social sciences/religions