Manuscript, Palaeography, Codicology Terminology
[to be expanded]


Codicological:

folio - a 'page' of a manuscript; abbrev. as fol. or f., e.g. f.180 = folio 180

recto - the face of a manuscript page; in an (open) codex, the top side of the right-hand page; abbrev. as r, e.g. f.179r = the recto of folio 179
verso - the back of a manuscript page; in an (open) codex, the top side of the left-hand page; abbrev. as v, e.g. f.179v = the verso of folio 179


Dating Conventions:

The dating of manuscripts is often indicated in a compressed form using roman numerals, as thus:

's. x' indicates a 10th-century manuscript, 's. ix' indicates a 9th-century manuscript, &c., &c.

's.' stands for Latin saeculo.

6th-century=501-600AD, 7th-century=601-700AD, 8th-century=701-800AD, 10th-century=901-1000AD, 11th-century=1001-1100AD, &c., &c.

Futher conventions include:
Suprascript '1' for first half of a century: s. x1 for 900-950AD
Suprascript '2' for second half of a century:  s. x2 for 950-1000AD
Suprascript 'in' for first quarter of a century:  s. xin for 900-925AD
Suprascript 'ex' for final quarter of a century:  s. xex for 975-1000AD
Suprascript 'med' for two middle quarters of a century:  s. xmed for 925-975AD

Turn of a century may be indicated by s. ixex-s. xin (for 875-925AD) or by c. 900

For more specific range of dates or for a more specific approximate date 'c.' for circa may be used.

Dates given in arabic numerals, unaccompanied by 'c.', are precise dates, e.g., 687x702 specifies the period between 687-702AD.

notes of the form [Gneuss 399] refer to the list number assigned to a manuscript in H. Gneuss's handlist of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts
*

[above notes taken largely from: Brown, Michelle P. (1990). A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600. London & Toronto: The British Library & University of Toronto Press, pp. 2-3.]

(* = Gneuss, Helmut. Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: a list of manuscripts and manuscript fragments written or owned in England up to 1100. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001.)

see also:
   Digital Scriptorium - Data Dictionary (C. W. Dutschke)