Correcting Icelandic Manuscripts in the Second Half of the Fourteenth Century

Abstract

Writing is a task prone to errors and mistakes. While modern devices allow for invisible corrections, medieval scribes often had to use methods that would remain visible to a manuscript’s future users. Previous studies on Western European manu­scripts indicate that these methods can be indicative of the people responsible as well as the time of correction, thus revealing important information about the book produc­tion process. Yet, corrections in Icelandic manuscripts have hitherto not found much scholarly attention. This article focuses on correction techniques used in Icelandic book production in the second half of the fourteenth century in the context of Western European con­ven­tions. It discusses the used methods in their context of the possible time of correction and the people responsible for correcting, embedding the correction process in the overall sequencing of book production. It is argued that Icelandic scribes were largely responsible for going over and correcting their own material. It appears as if they used a simpler set of symbols when correcting than elsewhere in con­tem­porary Western European manuscripts. The main correction process highly likely occurred after the copying of a main text was finished and before it went on to the rubrication and decoration.

Keywords

• corrections
• errors
• book production
• Icelandic manuscripts
• codicology
• vernacular book culture