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- This article is about medieval books. For other uses, see Codex (disambiguation).
First page of the
Codex Argenteus
A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. The scholarly study of manuscripts from the point of view of the bookmaking craft is called codicology. The study of ancient documents in general is called paleography.
New World codices were written as late as the sixteenth century (see Maya codices and Aztec codices).
The codex was an improvement upon the scroll, which it gradually replaced as the written medium. The codex in turn was replaced by the printed book.
[edit] History
The Romans used similar precursors made of reusable wax-covered tablets of wood for taking notes and other informal writings. The first recorded use of the codex for literary works dates from the late first century AD, when Martial experimented with the format. At that time the scroll was the dominant medium for literary works and would remain dominant for secular works until the fourth century. Julius Caesar, traveling in Gaul, found it useful to fold his scrolls accordion-fashion for quicker reference.[citation needed] As far back as the early 2nd century, there is evidence that the codex—usually of papyrus—was the preferred format among Christians: in the library of the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum (buried in AD 79), all the texts (Greek literature) are scrolls; in the Nag Hammadi "library", secreted about AD 390, all the texts (Gnostic Christian) are codices.
In Western culture the codex gradually replaced the scroll. From the fourth century, when the codex gained wide acceptance, to the Carolingian Renaissance in the eighth century, many works that were not converted from scroll to codex were lost to posterity. The codex was an improvement over the scroll in several ways. It could be opened flat at any page, allowing easier reading; the pages could be written on both recto and verso; and the codex, protected within its durable covers, was more compact and easier to transport.
Aztec warriors as shown in the
Florentine Codex.
The codex also made it easier to organize documents in a library because it had a stable spine on which the title of the book could be written. The spine could be used for the incipit, before the concept of a proper title was developed, during medieval times.
Although most early codices were made of papyrus, papyrus was fragile and supplies from Egypt, the only place where papyrus grew, became scanty; the more durable parchment and vellum gained favor, despite the cost.
The codices of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica had the same form as the European codex, but were instead made with long folded strips of either fig bark (amatl) or plant fibers, often with a layer of whitewash applied before writing.
[edit] Some codices
Codices are usually named for their most famous resting-place, whether a city or a private library.
The
Chi Rho Monogram from the Book of Kells
- Codex Abrogans
- Codex Alexandrinus
- Aleppo Codex
- Codex Amiatinus
- Codex Argenteus
- Codex Astensis
- Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram
- Codex Aureus of Lorsch
- Codex Berolinensis
- Codex Bezae
- Burana Codex
- Codex Claromontanus
- Codex Cumanicus
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
- Codex Exoniensis
- Codex Flatoiensis
- Codex Gigas
- Codex Grandior
- Codex Hierosolymitanus
- Codex Koridethi
- Codex Leicester
- Leningrad Codex
- Madrid Codex
- Codex Manesse
- Codex Mendoza
- Codex ms. 3227a
- Nowell Codex
- Codex Pisanus
- Codex Regius
- Rohonczi Codex
- Codex Runicus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Tchacos
- Codex Usserianus Primus
- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Wallerstein
- Codex Zamoscianus
- Codex Zouche-Nuttall
- Nag Hammadi library, a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts in codex form discovered in the town of Nag Hammadi.
- Book of Kells, a collection of Christian gospels from the 8th or 9th century.
