“Done. Pour the wine.” Language Experiments in Medieval Scribal Additions and Colophons
The project fills in a significant gap in research of medieval textual transmission and manuscript culture: the study of colophons and scribal additions at the ends of copied texts. The importance of colophons has been recognized since they provide information on the circumstances of the origin of a particular copy but they are scattered in manuscript catalogues and have not been studied in a comparative perspective. Other scribal additions, often playful, vulgar, or nonsensical, combining Latin and vernacular, are usually omitted from the catalogues altogether. The material is vast and mostly unedited. This project focuses on the language innovation and literary character of scribal additions and colophons originating from medieval Czech lands, i.e., primarily in Latin and Czech. As a tool for the analysis, a complex database will be created. The results will bring new information not only on Old Czech, medieval codeswitching and language experimenting, but also on scribal culture and everyday life history.
project identification: 24-10628S
scheme: standard grant (Czech Science Foundation)
duration: 01/2024-12/2026
PIs: Lucie Doležalová and Andrea Svobodová
A new Czech-language volume, Za posledním řádkem. Kolofony ve středověkých rukopisech z českých zemí (Beyond the Final Line: Colophons in Medieval Manuscripts from the Czech Lands), edited by Lucie Doležalová, Andrea Hlaváčová Svobodová, and Michal Dragoun, has been published by Scriptorium Publishing House. The book explores colophons—notes added by medieval scribes at the end of…
You are cordially invited to the exhibition on medieval scribes and their colophons. The exhibition is accompanied by the publication of the Czech collective monograph Za posledním řádkem: Kolofony ve středověkých rukopisech z českých zemí. When? 26 May – 5 July 2026, Tue–Fri, 10:00–16:00 Where? Gallery Klementinum, National Library (Národní knihovna), Mariánské náměstí 5, Prague…
You are invited to our methodological seminar on 10th and 11th December in Prague:
