Current Epigraphy

The Archiv für Epigraphik, online-journal for the study of pre-modern inscriptions, is planning a special issue on “Inscriptions on Paper. Printed and Manuscript Collections of Inscriptions in Europe from the 15th to the 20th Century” (see below)

Proposals for topics are requested by 31 August 2025, contributions by 30 April 2026. Interested researchers are invited to contact Dr. Thomas Rastig.

Inscriptions on Paper. Printed and Manuscript Collections of Inscriptions in Europe from the 15th to the 20th Century

INSCRIPTIONS ARE WORTHY OF PRESERVATION.

This seemingly self-evident truth is by no means a product of modern scholarship. Major epigraphic projects such as the „Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum“ and „Die Deutschen Inschriften des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit“ have systematised and shaped the collection and academic treatment of such texts. However, the origins of this practice can be traced back several centuries earlier. Already in the late Middle Ages, people began to attribute significance to inscribed texts, collect them, and make them available to posterity through often extensive printed editions. Humanist scholars of the 16th century played a key role in this process. Work on the volumes of „Die Deutschen Inschriften“ has shown, that such collections did not originate solely within the circles of humanist scholars. Over the course of the Early Modern period, an increasingly broad range of individuals – including clergy, townspeople, and members of municipal councils – began to move attentively through their cities, churches, and rural areas, copying inscribed texts from tombstones, house façades, and entrance portals. The transmission of these texts is extraordinarily diverse and has yet to be comprehensively represented.

The planned edited volume aims to provide a comprehensive examination of printed and manuscript collections of inscriptions from the 15th/16th century onwards. The objective of the project is to offer an overview of the origins, contexts, and significance of these collections, as well as of the individuals who compiled them. The volume is intended to serve as a starting point for in-depth research into this subject. Publication is planned as a thematic issue of „Archiv für Epigraphik“ (2026 volume), to be published in an online format. This call invites the submission of suitable contributions. The project explicitly adopts a trans-epochal approach: no distinction or separation is to be made between ancient, medieval, and early modern inscriptions.

The following guiding questions are proposed: When did such collections emerge, and in what contexts? Are there regional or chronological variations? Who were the collectors, and what were their biographical backgrounds? What types of texts were recorded (in terms of content and language)? What was the scope of the collections? Was the focus primarily on prestigious objects, or was the transmission documented in a more comprehensive manner? Were independent collections compiled, or were inscriptions integrated into other genres, such as chronicles? How were the texts transcribed – as simple reproductions of content, or with attempts to capture the form and design of the inscriptions and their material supports (e.g. imitation of script styles; drawings or tracings of the inscribed objects)? How credible or reliable were the copyists? Did they examine the objects directly, or were their copies based on other sources? Were the resulting collections intended for publication, or are they archival manuscripts preserved in private or institutional holdings? What is the significance of these copyists for our current understanding of epigraphic transmission in a given region or locality, and in what ways did they shape or influence that transmission?

Proposals for contributions are requested by 31 August 2025, with final submissions of written articles due by 30 April 2026. Contributions may address material from across the European area. Articles may be submitted in either German or English.