Manuscriptology


Manuscriptology is another word for codicology, namely the study of history and literature through the use of hand-written documents.
The term is in use particularly among scholars of South Asian cultural history because many South Asian manuscripts are not codices in the strict sense of the word. That is to say, South Asian manuscripts are typically written on unbound sheets of paper or palm leaves, in a landscape format. Vellum or parchment - typical writing supports used in the European codex - are unknown in South Asia.
There are exceptions. The codex format is used for , where the concept of the manuscript book was influenced from European models transmitted by Islamic culture.