Gazette 68

This study investigates the inclination axis of two musical notations, East Frankish and West Frankish notations, to identify general trends characteristic of each notation type. By utilizing the Graphoskop plug-in, the analysis reveals that specific ranges of values are typical of one notation over another and confirms that the writing axis is a distinctive feature of musical notation, regardless of the inclination of the textual writing.

In mathematical works, diagrams are as instrumental as the text in conveying the content of propositions and demonstrations. Nevertheless, scholars usually give priority to the text, leaving the diagrams unstudied. But the tide is turning. Thanks to the work of pioneers, diagrams are finally beginning to receive the attention they deserve, and a new approach based on systematic and rigorous investigation is gradually gaining ground. Awareness of the centrality of diagrams has developed more rapidly and vigorously in the field of ancient mathematics, whose experts have already provided important contributions. As far as the Arabic tradition is concerned, the process has only just begun; the field still needs to be properly defined in terms of content and methodology. Within this general framework, the present paper, aims to provide new insights into the diagram phenomenon in the tradition of Arabic scientific texts. To this end, I have chosen the second chapter of the Kitāb nūr al-ʿuyūn wa-ǧāmiʿ al-funūn as a case study, analysing its diagrams on Euclidean geometrical optics by means of a codicological and palaeographical methodology. In an attempt to identify significant and problematical features, my main goal has been to study the diagrams in their individuality, and to find out what they can tell us about the process of copying an Arabic scientific manuscript. In entering this moving field, I will try to show that codicology and palaeography can contribute intriguing evidence worthy of further investigation.

In this second part of the study of methods for measuring medieval cultural production, we offer a quantitative analysis of a homogeneous corpus of 15th century editions: the collections of sermons. A comparison with a partial census of manuscript production shows that the first printers did not necessarily choose the most successful authors, but rather new “rising stars” whose manuscripts did not fill the armaria of libraries. Moreover, the panorama of production that can be drawn from the number of editions differs significantly from that revealed by the census of surviving copies: in particular, French editions show a systematic deficit, the cause – or rather causes – of which are difficult to pinpoint. Lastly, the current geographical distribution of surviving copies is invaluable in determining market trends and highlighting situations of competition or, on the contrary, avoidance.

This article focuses on the modalities of handwritten scripts characterisation. Through a historiographical overview, it sheds light on the common thread running through palaeographical debates from the 1950s onwards and reveals a transition between two phases: from an initial period in which researchers devoted themselves to identifying the evolutionary dynamics of medieval scripts, to a second period marked by the development of observation protocols for the in-depth analysis of individual manuscript.