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| Paleography
Exercises |
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St
Augustine's De Civitate Dei, copy from before
1485 from Italy, probably Naples (British Library, add.ms. 15246, f.29). |
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This
highly decorative page has a most intricate and elaborate border, decorative
headings and a historiated
initial. The page shown in the first page of the main text of the
work. The decoration, the elegant humanistic
script and the choice of work exemplify a prestigious Renaissance
production. It's a pity we cannot see it in colour, but that's what happens
when you are stuck with getting your illustrations from out-of-copyright
journals. |
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The
work itself, written in Africa in the twilight of the Roman Empire, reflects
the uncertainties of life with the pagan barbarians kicking down the doors
of the earthly city of Rome, while pondering the eternity of the city
of God. It was a hardy perennial for manuscript
production throughout the middle ages. No doubt some scholar with a head
for numbers can tell us how many manuscript copies of the work survive.
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Click
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These exercises are designed to guide you through the text, not test you,
so you can cheat as much as you like. |
 Script sample for this example |
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Index
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Index
of Scripts |
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