A TEXTUAL AND CODICOLOGICAL STUDY OF MEDIEVAL ENGLISH MANUSCRIPTS

Medieval English manuscripts are significant sources for understanding the literary, linguistic, religious, social, and cultural history of medieval England. This study examines Medieval English manuscripts through an integrated textual and codicological approach. It focuses on textual transmission, scribal practices, authorship, textual variations, and manuscript relationships, while also analysing physical features such as writing materials, quire structure, layout, script, illumination, marginalia, ownership marks, and evidence of repair or reuse. The study highlights how scribal additions, omissions, corrections, glosses, and dialectal variations contributed to the development and transmission of medieval texts. By connecting textual evidence with material characteristics, the research provides insights into manuscript production, circulation, patronage, readership, literacy, and language development. The study argues that Medieval English manuscripts should be understood not merely as repositories of texts but as complex historical artefacts reflecting the intellectual, artistic, technological, and socio-cultural practices of medieval England. The findings contribute to manuscript studies, medieval literature, book history, cultural heritage, digital humanities, and manuscript preservation.

Keywords

medieval english manuscripts, textual criticism, codicology, palaeography, manuscript studies, medieval literature, scribes, book history, philology, cultural heritage.

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To cite this article

KrishnaKumar, R. (2026). A Textual and Codicological Study of Medieval English Manuscripts. Sparkling International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Studies, 9(2), 96-112.