Codex 5691 225380370 2008-07-13T11:12:16Z 83.191.224.53 /* Notable codices */ {{otheruses4|medieval books}} [[Image:Codex Argenteus.jpg|thumb|240px|right|First page of the [[Codex Argenteus]]]] A '''codex''' ([[Latin]] for ''block of wood'', ''[[book]]''; plural ''codices'') is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. It was a Roman invention that replaced the [[scroll]], which was the first form of book in all [[Eurasian]] cultures. Although technically any modern [[paperback]] is a codex, the term is used only for [[manuscript]] (hand-written) books, produced from [[Late Antiquity]] through the [[Middle Ages]]. The scholarly study of [[manuscript]]s 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 16th century (see [[Maya codices]] and [[Aztec codices]]). Those written before the Spanish conquests seem all to have been single long sheets folded [[concertina]]-style, sometimes written on both sides of the local [[amatl]] paper. So, strictly speaking they are not in codex format, but they more consistently have "Codex" in their usual names than do other types of manuscript. The codex was an improvement upon the [[scroll]], which it gradually replaced, first in the West, and much later in Asia. The codex in turn became the [[printing|printed]] [[book]], for which the term is not used. In [[China]] books were already printed but only on one side of the paper, and there were [[woodblock printing|intermediate]] stages, such as scrolls folded [[concertina]]-style and pasted together at the back.<ref>[http://idp.bl.uk/education/bookbinding/bookbinding.a4d International Dunhuang Project - Several intermediate Chinese bookbinding forms from the C10th].</ref> <timeline> # définition de la taille de la frise ImageSize = width:550 height:150 # taille totale de l'image : largeur, hauteur PlotArea = width:450 height:95 left:50 bottom:40 # taille réelle de la frise au sein de l'image DateFormat = yyyy # format des dates utilisées Period = from:-200 till:2007 # laps de temps (de ... à ...) TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal # orientation de la frise (verticale ou horizontale) ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:200 start:0 # incrément temporel (majeur) # définition des données de la frise PlotData= # définition de la première barre: 45 pixels de large, etc. bar:book color:yellow width:45 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:M from: start till:2007 shift:(-15,30) at:0 mark:(line, black) shift:(0,30) textcolor:black fontsize:8 text:[[Parchment]] at:1300 mark:(line, black) shift:(-15,30) textcolor:black fontsize:8 text:[[Papier]] at:1440 mark:(line, black) shift:(0,30) textcolor:black fontsize:8 text:Inventions in typography bar:Evolution color: blue width:45 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:M bar:Evolution color:blue from: start till: 0 shift:(-30,-60) textcolor:blue text:[[Papyrus]] bar:Evolution color:red from: 0 till: 1440 shift:(-15,-60) textcolor:red text:[[Codex]] bar:Evolution color:green from: 1440 till: 1500 shift:(-15,-60) textcolor:green text:[[Incunabul]] bar:Evolution color:orange from: 1500 till: 2007 shift:(-30,0)text:Codex actual </timeline> ==History== The basic form of the codex was invented in [[Pergamon]] in the 3rd Century BCE. Rivalry between the Pergamene and Alexandrian libraries had resulted in the suspension of papyrus exports from Egypt. In response the Pergamenes developed [[parchment]] from sheepskin; because of the much greater expense it was necessary to write on both sides of the page. The Romans used similar precursors made of reusable wax-covered tablets of wood for taking notes and other informal writings. The first recorded Roman 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 (parchment)|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 [[concertina]]-style for quicker reference{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, as the Chinese also later did. As far back as the early [[2nd century]], there is evidence that the codex&mdash;usually of [[papyrus]]&mdash;was the preferred format among [[Christianity|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. The earliest surviving fragments from codices come from Egypt and are variously dated (always tentatively) towards the end of the 1st century or in the first half of the 2nd. This group includes the [[Rylands Library Papyrus P52]], containing part of St John's Gospel, and perhaps dating from between 125 and 160.<ref>Turner ''The Typology of the Early Codex'', U Penn 1977, and Roberts & Skeat ''The Birth of the Codex'' (Oxford University 1983). From Robert A Kraft (see link): "A fragment of a Latin parchment codex of an otherwise unknown historical text dating to about 100 CE was also found at Oxyrhynchus (POx 30; see Roberts & Skeat 28). Papyrus fragments of a "Treatise of the Empirical School" dated by its editor to the centuries 1-2 CE is also attested in the Berlin collection (inv. # 9015, Pack\2 # 2355) - Turner, Typology # 389, and Roberts & Skeat 71, call it a "medical manual.""</ref> In [[Western culture#Foundations|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. [[Image:Florentine Codex IX Aztec Warriors.jpg|left|300px|thumb|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. In Asia, the scroll remained standard for far longer than in the West. The [[Jewish]] religion still retains the [[Torah]] scroll, at least for ceremonial use. {{-}} ==Notable codices== Codices are usually named for their most famous resting-place, whether a city or a private library. N.B.: this is mostly a list of notable books that happen to have ''Codex'' in their usual name, as opposed to e.g. ''Gospels'', ''Bible'' etc. Most of the books in the [[List of manuscripts]] and [[List of illuminated manuscripts]] are also codices. [[Image:KellsFol034rChiRhoMonogram.jpg|right|240px|thumb|The [[Labarum|Chi Rho]] Monogram from the [[Book of Kells]]]] [[Image:Kodeks IV NagHammadi.jpg|thumb|240px|right|The [[Nag Hammadi library]] is a collection of [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] [[Gnostic]] texts discovered near the [[Egypt]]ian town of [[Nag Hammadi]] in 1945.]] [[Image:Codex sinaticus.jpg|thumb|A portion of the ''[[Codex Sinaiticus]]'', containing [[Book of Esther|Esther]] 2:3-8.]] *[[Codex Abrogans]] [[Latin]], [[Old High German]] 8th c. 765–775 *[[Codex Alexandrinus]] *[[Aleppo Codex]] *[[Codex Ambrosianus]]: A, B, C, D, E, *[[Codex Amiatinus]] *[[Codex Argenteus]] *[[Arnamagnæan Codex]] *[[Codex Astensis]] *[[Auraicept na n-Éces]] *[[Codex Aureus of Echternach]] *[[Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram]] *[[Codex Aureus of Lorsch]] *[[Codex Berolinensis]] *[[Codex Bezae]] *[[Codex Borbonicus]] *[[Codex Boturini]] [http://www.thing.net/~grist/ld/bot/boturini.htm] *[[Codex Bruchsal]] *[[Carmina Burana|Burana Codex]] *[[Codex Cairensis]] also: Codex Prophetarum Cairensis, Cairo Codex of the Prophets *[[Codex Claromontanus]] *[[Cortesianus Codex]] *[[Codex Cumanicus]] *[[De arte venandi cum avibus]] *[[Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]] *[[Codex Exoniensis]] *[[Codex Flatoiensis]] *[[Codex Gigas]] *[[Codex Grandior]] *[[Codex Hierosolymitanus]] *[[Hypatian Codex]] 15ct [[Old Church Slavonic|OCS]] *[[In Lebor Ogaim]] *[[Codex Koridethi]] *[[Book of Ballymote|Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta]] 1390 or 1391 *[[Lebor Gabála Érenn]] 11th c *[[Lebor na gCeart]] before 1418 *[[Codex Leicester]] *[[Leningrad Codex]] *[[Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis]] *[[Maya codices#Madrid Codex|Madrid Codex]] *[[Codex Manesse]] *[[Codex Mecelle]] *[[Codex Mendoza]] *[[Codex Montepessulanus H54 (M)]] 11th c [http://www.tertullian.org/manuscripts/montepessulanus.htm] *[[Morgan Bible]] 1240 *[[Codex ms. 3227a]] *[[MS No. 7117]] from the [[Erevan]] [[Matenadaran]] *[[Novgorod Codex]] *[[Nowell Codex]] *[[Paris Codex]] *[[Peterborough Chronicle]] *[[Pirata Codex]] *[[Codex Pisanus]] *[[Codex Rehdigerianus]] *[[Codex Regius]] *[[Rohonc Codex]], a.k.a. Rohonci-kódex, or Rohonczi Codex *[[Codex Runicus]] 1300 *[[Codex Sangallensis 878]] *[[Codex Sinaiticus]] *[[Codex of Supraśl|Codex Suprasliensis]] *[[Codex Tchacos]] *[[Troano Codex]] *[[Codex Usserianus Primus]] *[[Codex Vaticanus]] *[[Codex Vigilanus]] written in Spain in the year of 976 *[[Codex Vindobonensis 795]] *[[Codex Vindobonensis B 11093]] *[[Codex Vindobonensis 3256]] [http://www.tertullian.org/manuscripts/vindobonensis_3256.htm] *[[Codex Vindobonensis Mexicanus 1]] [http://www.finns-books.com/vindo.htm] *[[Codex Wallerstein]] *[[Codex Zamoscianus]] *[[Codex Zouche-Nuttall]] *[[Nag Hammadi library]], a collection of [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] [[Gnostic]] texts in codex form discovered in the town of [[Nag Hammadi]]. *[[Book of Kells]], a set of [[Gospel]]s from the 8th or 9th century. * [[Hildegard of Bingen#Works|Lucca Codex]], 1220s, Biblioteca Statale, Lucca, Italy) *[[Codex Augiensis]] (F 010) [http://flaez.ch/hermannus/chronicon.html#augiensis] *[[Codex Boernerianus]] (G 012) *[[Codex Carolinus]] *[[Codex Gissensis]] *[[Codex Parisinus]] *[[Peresianus Codex]] *[[Codex Suprasliensis]] *[[Codex Taurinensis]] *[[Grolier Codex]] *[[Codex Constitutionum]] *[http://www.ambrosiana.it/ita/ca_sfoglia.asp Codicula Atlantico] by Leonardo 1478 to 1519. ==Notes== <references/> ==See also== *[[Aztec codices]] *[[Codex Alimentarius]] The international food code *[[Codex Seraphinianus]] *[[Inscription]] *[[List of New Testament papyri]] *[[List of New Testament uncials]] *[[Manuscript culture]] *[[Maya codices]] *[[Papyri (chronology)]] *[[Philology]] *[[Traditional Chinese bookbinding]] ==References== *[http://www.kchanson.com/papyri.html K.C. Hanson, ''Catalogue of New Testament Papyri & Codices 2nd—10th Centuries''] The Alchemyst book ==External links== *[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/other/journals/kraftpub/Christianity/Canon The Codex and Canon Consciousness - Draft paper by Robert Kraft on the change from scroll to codex] * [http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~tobin/maya/ The Construction of the Codex In Classic- and Postclassic-Period Maya Civilization] Maya Codex and Paper Making *[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/scroll/scrollcodex.html Encyclopaedia Romana: "Scroll and codex"] == For further readings == * David Diringer, The Book Before Printing: Ancient, Medieval and Oriental, Courier Dover Publications, New York 1982, ISBN 0486242439 * C.H. Roberts – T.C. Skeat, The Birth of the Codex, Oxford University Press, New York – Cambridge 1983. * L.W. Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins, Cambridge 2006. 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