Chapter XX: Monasteries and the Monastic Institution

The roots of the great monastic movement which continued for nearly the whole of the Middle Ages run well back into the early Christian centuries. While the beginnings of Monasticism are involved in uncertainty they probably sprang from exaggerated tendencies on the part of individuals, toward lives of privation, hardship, and exposure, of which there were early numerous examples and conspicuous manifestations. These travesties upon devout character and mere abnormalities of religious devotion were not true products of Christian sentiment and ideals but glaring manifestations of morbid self-assertion. This movement was not conterminous nor contemporaneous with the development of Christianity; it existed apart from and prior to Christianity. There were tendencies and examples in the direction here indicated among the Jewish teachers; and it had a large embodiment in the ancient Buddhist as in the modern Indian systems. The central idea of the early ascetics, ever, was that the body is a clog and hindrance to the spirit of man, and hence the assumption of merit in and through the practice of severe austerities and rigid self-abnegation. There were many gross, horrible, and idiotic applications of this practice in the early stages of Christian history as there are in India to-day. The period of its chief ascendency was in the third and fourth centuries.

The monastic movement spread in the fourth century into the extreme West. "Many of the islands around Ireland and Scotland," says Professor Thatcher, "were occupied by the monks, a large number of whom were hermits. Many monasteries were established. The movement became immensely popular, and within a hundred and fifty years there were hundreds of monasteries in the West and thousands of monks in them."[72] The order of Benedictines (founded by Benedict of Nursia at the beginning of the sixth century) ran its course and flourished for centuries. The order of Benedictines was followed (not superseded) by a succession of orders modeled somewhat after their earlier precurser. This movement extended its existence and its influence also far into the East as well as to the westward. Syria, Palestine, and Arabia--especially in the region of Mt. Sinai--were thickly studded with monasteries and "literally swarmed with recluses." Jerome, who lived well into the first quarter of the fifth century (died 420 A. D.), wrote at Bethlehem, Palestine, "We daily receive monks from India, and Persia, and Ethiopia."

The monasteries, so widely established during the period we are considering, became the schools and training-houses for the clergy--the only schools for a long period of time. And we are told that the rulers in the West encouraged the monasteries to open schools for boys in connection with their houses. The schools of this period, to be sure, would not compare with those of modern times, but they were the best available--in fact, the only schools; and they were not circumscribed to religious instruction. The testimony of Professor Dobschütz is that, "All the great fathers of the church insisted upon classical training; so did Jerome himself and Saint Augustine, not to speak of the great classical scholars in Christian bishoprics in the East. And even in the later centuries, when classical civilisation had gone and was only kept up artificially by assiduous reading, it was the church which maintained the right and the necessity of a classical training for the clergy.... There was a time when there was no reading at all outside the clergy and the monasteries, but this reading was a combination of classical and Biblical. That is the great merit of the medieval church."[73]

The value and the extent of the instruction given in these schools was, for the most part, exceedingly limited, in both range and research. The monasteries were--and continued to be, for long--of far greater significance and service, no doubt, in their relation to literature--to its preservation and also its dissemination--than they were as seats and sources of learning. "If there had not been great abbeys where schools of grammar were established, and where as many books as possible were jealously preserved, perhaps not one Latin writer would have come down to us."[74] Most of the monasteries, especially the larger ones, were provided with a "scriptorium" or a writing-room, where the monks with an inclination to literature and those also who were skillful with the pen were required, in the custom of most monasteries, to devote a proportion of every day to the employment of copying books. The large majority of all the scribes, throughout this entire period of a thousand years, were connected with the churches or the monasteries. By their employment in the writing-room worn-out manuscripts were replaced; borrowed books, transcribed, the copies made therefrom being retained at the return of the borrowed book; and thus in these and in other ways, gradually an increasing number of books found a home in the monasteries.

In the business of transcribing books, as often extensively carried on in many monasteries, several monks would sometimes copy manuscripts at the dictation of a reader and thus a number of copies would be produced at the same time. Each copy thus produced, however, was an "individual" and not a "manifold" or duplicate of the others, as in carbon copies or as printed from a type-plate. Writing at the dictation of another was an ancient custom. It may have been practiced in the transcription of the cuneiform tablets. It is affirmed that Jeremiah, the prophet, thus dictated the writing to his faithful scribe, "And they asked Baruch, saying, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth? Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book." (Jeremiah 36:17, 18.) It is possible, or perhaps probable, that the fifty copies of the Scriptures which Constantine is said to have ordered to be made for the churches in and about Constantinople, may all have been produced at the dictation of a single reader. In that event, each respective copy, while collectively made by individual monks in the _scriptorium_, would bear its own distinct individuality. The copies thus made at dictation would not be facsimiles of one another or a proof copy of the original, but each copy _would_ preserve a special kinship to all the other copies made under the same general conditions. And this is an important consideration in textual criticism--especially in tracing "family" likeness of certain manuscripts. And so, no doubt, from the _scriptoria_ of the monasteries came the books, or many of them, with which the provincial mansions of the nobility and the private and public libraries were supplied. These manuscripts, made by the monks, were afterwards collected (or many of them were) in the libraries of Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and elsewhere, as well as those treasured in abbeys and churches.

The monks, who were the principal copyists of the times, fostered distinct traditions of penmanship that led to distinguishing "hands" (page 115). They cultivated, also, not only the science and art of penmanship but the higher art of embellishment and illumination of manuscripts. For this they had both the time and the inspiring motive. From the monasteries of this period issued some of the finest specimens of the book-making industry and art extant in the world. In speaking of the illuminated books of the thirteenth century, Dr. Walsh says that, "Considering the number of them that are still in existence to this day, in spite of the accidents of fire, and water, and war, and neglect, and carelessness, and ignorance, there must have been an immense number of very handsome books made by the generations of the thirteenth century." And, quoting from another author concerning a special manuscript of this period, he says, "Every page is sufficient to make the fortune of the modern decorator by the quaint and unexpected novelties of invention which it displays at every turn of its intricate design."[75]

Allowing as we must--from the evidence--that monasticism possessed many inherent weaknesses and deficiencies, such as these: It withdrew many useful forces from society; it developed indifference for the family and the family life; it isolated religion from relation to and contact with the world; it nourished and incited materialistic aims and ideals under the garb of superior sanctity; it prompted and promoted fanatical zeal for part truths and whole errors; and other and kindred weaknesses and excesses--and yet, with due recognition of its limitations and perversions, its crudities and idiosyncrasies, it remains true, nevertheless, that monasticism, as a system, made many and important contributions, in various directions and for centuries, to the good of mankind, and furnished the most important link in the chain of events which perpetuated learning and literature in an age when, except for so extraordinary provision and guarantees, they must inevitably have perished. The monastic institution supplied, in a special and adequate manner, through the abbeys and monastic houses in which, so to speak, it was domiciled, a safe asylum and depository for the word of God. The common isolation of these establishments, together with the reputed sanctity of their occupants, were double security against the hand of violence and, therefore, a double means of preservation for the literary treasures--including both the Bible and classic literature--made and treasured therein.

But these affirmations are not to be maintained by reasoning however cogent nor by logic however convincing but by evidence;--by the testimony of the historians for the period in question. The witness of competent historians is summoned in their corroboration. Mr. Lecky declares: "It is undoubted truth that, for a considerable period, almost all the knowledge of Europe was included in the monasteries, and from this it is continually inferred that, had these institutions not existed, knowledge would have been absolutely extinguished.... The monasteries, as corporations of peaceful men protected from the incursions of the barbarians, became very naturally the reservoirs to which the streams of literature flowed; but much of what they are represented as creating, they had in reality only attracted. The inviolable sanctity which they secured rendered them invaluable receptacles of ancient learning in a period of anarchy and perpetual war, and the industry of the monks in transcribing, probably more than counterbalanced their industry in effacing the classical writings."[76] "It is certain," say Munro and Sellery, "that we are indebted for the preservation of classical literature as far as it has been preserved, to the monks above all others. For hundreds of years they truly sheltered and preserved the treasures heaped up by those gone before, and also multiplied them through copying.... If the rules of some monastic orders forbade the reading of the pagan authors, the rules of other orders not only permitted it, but made it an express obligation to copy manuscripts. In this way the monks of the tenth, the eleventh, and the twelfth centuries rendered services to civilization which will never be forgotten.... With the foundation of the monasteries by the missionaries, learning and poetry made their entrance into Germany. Many of the writings of this early time are, of course, lost forever; but enough survives to enable us to declare, with certainty, that virtually all who studied and wrote did so in the quiet of the monastic cells."[77] Hallam testifies: "The monasteries were subjected to strict rules of discipline, and held out, at the worst, more opportunities for study than the secular clergy possessed, and fewer for worldly dissipations. But their most important service was in the fact that they were the secure repositories for books. All our manuscripts have been preserved in this manner, and they could have hardly descended to us by any other channel; at least there were intervals when I do not conceive that any royal or private libraries existed."[78] "The monks were also the civilizers," say Thatcher and Schwill. "Every monastery founded by them became a center of life and learning, and hence a light to the surrounding country. They cleared the lands and brought them under cultivation. They were farmers and taught by their example the dignity of labor in an age when the soldier was the world's hero. They preserved and transmitted much of the civilization of Rome to the barbarians. They were the teachers of the West. Literature and learning found a refuge with them in times of violence."[79] "The monks became missionaries," declares Myers, "and it was largely to their zeal and devotion that the Church owed her speedy and signal victory over the barbarians; they also became teachers, and under the shelter of the monasteries established schools which were the nurseries of learning during the Middle Ages; they became copyists, and with great care and industry gathered and multiplied ancient manuscripts, and thus preserved and transmitted to the modern world much classical learning and literature that would otherwise have been lost.... In a word, these retreats were the inns, the asylums, and the hospitals, as well as the schools of learning and the nurseries of religion of medieval Europe."[80] Speaking of the monks' contribution to civilization, Professor Emerton gives this estimate: "They opened up vast tracts of land to civilized culture; they helped by their lives of self-denial to keep in the minds of men a standard of morals somewhat higher than their own; they furnished a safe retreat where the spark of learning, beaten out by the violence of the time, might find a quiet corner in which to smoulder at first, and then to flicker up slowly and feebly, yet steadily into a brilliant flame."[81] Similar is the witness of Professor Harding: "Each monastery was a settlement complete in itself, surrounded by a wall; and the monks were not allowed to wander at will. New monasteries were often located on waste ground, in swamps, and in dense forests; and by reclaiming such lands and teaching better methods of agriculture the monks rendered a great service to society. Schools were also maintained in connection with the monasteries.... The monks were encouraged to copy and read books."[82] Professor Duruy claims that "the Benedictines added agriculture to preaching, and copying manuscripts to prayer. Schools were usually annexed to their convents, and contributed toward the saving of letters from complete ruin."[83] Says another: "Only with the revival of learning did literature and art issue out to the world in general; and then the end of the reign of the manuscript was at hand. So, before the decline of monasticism was accomplished, its special work as the exclusive guardian of literature was done; and the secular world was ready to take into its own keeping the heritage of learning which the monks had been so largely instrumental in handing down to it."[84] And says Mr. Putnam: "The fall of Constantinople in 1453," (at the very time when Gutenberg was engaged in printing the first book) "and the introduction into Europe of the Turks, was unquestionably a great injury to Europe and to civilization, and the destruction of the collections of manuscripts existing in the capital itself and in the monasteries and libraries in other cities of the Empire, was an irreparable loss for literature. For the educational interests and the literary development of Europe there were, however, considerations to offset this serious disaster. Great as was the destruction of manuscripts, a number were preserved by individual scholars and in the hidden recesses of certain convents and monasteries. Many of these were at once taken to Italy, Germany, and France by the scholars flying from the barbarous conquerors of their land, and the works were thus brought to the knowledge and made available for the use of European students. Others were secured from their hiding places years after the capture of the City, by Greek scholars sent back for the purpose on behalf of the publishers of Italy and France, or of the universities of Bologna, Padua, and Paris, while some few valuable parchments were hidden so safely that they have been forgotten for centuries and are only to-day being brought to light from the vaults and attics of old monasteries, so as again to be included in literature accessible for the world."[85]

The monasteries, as the tangible and permanent accretion of monasticism, then, may be justly regarded as the centers of learning and sources for the making of books--and by the slow and laborious process of hand-writing. And it was a slow and laborious process even though many copies were made at the same time from the dictation of a single reader. The monasteries became also the depositories wherein the Scriptures, together with other literature, including often the classical writings, were preserved from destruction which the vandal hordes that often devastated large sections of Europe occasioned. The larger ancient libraries, except that at Constantinople, were destroyed through the fanaticism and ruthlessness of Saracen and savage, as these forces swept across northern Africa, overran Europe, and dominated all Bible lands. But in consequence of the previous wide diffusion of books into the monasteries and religious houses of the Roman Empire and beyond--in fact, into all parts of Europe and western Asia--the destruction by vandal, savage, and Saracen was far less sweeping, undoubtedly, than these successive invasions and revolutions--these changes and upheavals in society and government--would otherwise have occasioned. While cities were sacked and burned, castles, palaces, strongholds, and many churches were pillaged and overthrown, and whole countries were laid waste, a measure of immunity from attack was accorded to these religious houses--the homes of the monks and the Orders.

This immunity from attack, secured by the monasteries, was due often, and perhaps chiefly, to the fact of their secluded situations and to the strong defenses of resisting masonry which made subjection and pillage difficult and profitless. The convent of St. Catharine, where Dr. Tischendorf discovered the peerless Sinaitic Manuscript of the Bible in 1859, is an example and illustration. This monastery was perched, as it were, on the precipitous slopes of Mt. Sinai at an altitude of full 5,000 feet above the level of the sea; and, until recently, the only manner of access beyond its solid, massive, and centuries-old masonry, was by means of a crude and primitive "lift" consisting of a chair and rope, controlled by the inmates and operated by a windlass and drum within and above. By this appliance all visitors were "elevated" some twenty or twenty-five feet from its base to the main entrance of the monastery. This arrangement safeguarded the occupants and the contents of this religious stronghold from risk of robbery and violence. These religious houses furnished even greater security by their position and isolation and were generally respected by the fiercest invaders.

The safety of the monks--of peaceful occupation and mien--and of their possessions--almost wholly literary, even in the periods of disorder and violence--was often due to the supposed sacredness of the roofs under which they were sheltered. And even when these asylums were not respected but seized and plundered, the books which they treasured had little or no value in the eyes of the ignorant and hostile invaders, or were hidden away in recesses of the monasteries beyond the reach of prying eyes. And even when the manuscripts of a single monastery, or the monasteries of a given region, were all destroyed, untold numbers of copies--and largely duplicate copies--by reason of their previous extensive dispersion throughout wide areas and secluded regions, were preserved elsewhere to be again brought to light in more favored times, and, finally, at the revival of learning, which awaited the coming of the printing-press.

The thirteenth century has been called "the greatest of centuries," and, mainly, because it was the beginning period of emergence from the 'Dark Ages' and because the hearts of men were beginning to be thrilled with the anticipatory birth-throes of the coming revival of letters. "There is," says Goldwin Smith, "no more romantic period in the history of the human intellect than the thirteenth century." The Italian renaissance in the fourteenth century brought a deepening interest for the old Latin writings, and this, in turn, revived attention to the Greek classics--the fountain-head of the world's pagan literature. The awakening concern for classic literature led the Humanists in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to ransack the libraries of the monasteries and religious houses in even out-of-the-way places of Europe for all kinds of old manuscripts. Statesmen as well as students gave themselves up to the recovering of the literary and art treasures of Greece and Rome. The Greek empire, the Levant, and all western Europe were ransacked in every nook and corner; and the treasures of the Indies and the libraries of the Levant were bought, says one, "with impartial interest and equal delight."

This was a new and more fruitful kind of crusade, of which Symonds declares, "As the Franks deemed themselves thrice blessed if they returned with relics from Jerusalem, so these new Knights of the Holy Ghost, seeking not the sepulchre of a risen Lord, but the tomb wherein the genius of the ancient world awaited resurrection, felt holy transport when a brown, begrimed and crabbed scrap of some Greek or Latin author rewarded their patient search." And of Petrarch, one of the most enthusiastic searchers for these ancient writings, Myers says: "He made many a long and wearisome journey, with the object of collecting manuscripts. The precious documents were found covered with mold in damp cellars, or loaded with dust in the attics of monasteries. This late search for these remains of classical authors saved to the world hundreds of valuable manuscripts which, a little longer neglected, would have been lost forever." And he says, further, "Libraries were founded where the new treasures might be stored, and copies of the manuscripts were made and distributed among all who could appreciate them."[86] For it was a specific outgrowth of these new intellectual and literary impulses which heralded the passing of the "Dark Ages" that came the beginnings of the Vatican Library at Rome. This renowned library was established by Pope Nicholas V. at about the same date as the invention of printing and concurred with that invention to make effective for all time to come the revival of learning and of letters.

We have come back from our far-journeying to our starting point, the invention of printing, and perhaps cannot more fitly conclude this discussion than in the words of Lord Macaulay in his tribute to that great patron of learning after the "Dark Ages," Pope Nicholas V.: "By him was founded the Vatican Library, then and long after, the most precious and the most extensive collection of books in the world. By him, were carefully preserved the most valuable treasures which had been snatched from the ruins of the Byzantine Empire. His agents were to be found everywhere--in the bazaars of the farthest East, in the monasteries of the farthest West--purchasing or copying worm-eaten parchments, on which were traced words worthy of immortality."

INDEX

Abbeys--centers of monasticism, 128, 155-157, 167. (See Monasticism.)

Accadians--writing and literature of, 99, 100;
language of, 92, 136.

"Accents"--absent in early Greek literature, 124.

Achievements--two conspicuous, of last century, 94, 98-104.

Alphabetic writing--origin of, 91, 92, 104, 105, 110, 111;
occasion for, 104-106;
earliest document in, 110;
Phœnician development, 105-107;
the undeciphered Cretan, 100, 105, 106-108;
cosmopolitan, 116.

Alexandrian--manuscript ("A"), 64, 65;
number of columns to page, 64, 65;
depository of, 64;
Library and Museum, 127, 137-141.

Alexandria--strategic location, 115, 137;
literary activity of, 123, 127, 133, 145.

Antony--gift of, 137.

Arabia--paper first made and used in, 73;
monasteries of, 149, 155;
schools and literature of, 152, 153, 155.

Arabs--brought paper-making into Spain, 73;
originated modern system of notation, 126.

Architecture--characteristic of an age, 118.

Asceticism--origin and development of, 154.

Assur-bani-pal--ancient king of Assyria, 135;
fostered literature and learning, 135, 136;
library of, 135, 136;
discoveries by Layard on library site, 136.

Authorities quoted, cited, and referred to:
Americana, The, 74.
Appleton's New Practical, 72.
Author, an anonymous, 26.
Baikie, Mr. James, 100.
Bible, The, 22, 33, 34, 43, 61, 62, 80, 87, 109, 112, 121, 158.
Birt, 68.
Bishop, Wm. Frost, D.D., 91, 110.
Book Record, The, 32.
Bruce, Professor A. B., 41, 42.
Budge, Mr. Wallace, 85, 97.
Callimachus (Grammarian), 140.
Chambers' Encyclopedia, 72.
Champollion, Professor, 98.
Christ in the Gospels, 29.
Chrysostom, 141.
Clay, Professor Albert T., 100, 102.
Clodd, Professor Edward, 91.
Ctesias, 59.
D'Israeli, 26.
Dobschütz, Professor Ernest Von, 12, 25, 26, 38, 39, 53, 54, 62,
63, 120, 156.
Duruy, Professor Victor, 164.
Edwards, Miss Amelia B. (Egyptologist), 93.
Emerton, Professor, 163.
Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition), 12, 24, 75, 80, 84,
105, 106, 108, 113, 142, 153.
Eusebius (Ecclesiastical Historian), 52, 147, 148.
Euthalius, 124.
Evans, Dr. A. J. (Antiquarian), 106, 107, 108.
Gibbon (Historian), 37, 144.
Grammaticus, Joannes (Scholar), 143.
Grotefend, Dr., 103.
Guizot (Historian), 18.
Hallam (Historian), 16, 131, 162.
Harding, Professor S. B., 163.
Harper, Professor Robert F., 80.
Harkness, Mr. M. E., 93, 97.
Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 164.
Herodotus (Ancient Historian), 59, 139.
Hillis, Newell Dwight, D.D., 56.
Hilprecht, Professor Herman V., 134, 135.
Hugo (Cardinal), 122.
Huston, Professor C. W., 96.
Huxley, Professor, 90.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 17, 21, 22, 25, 27, 47,
48, 111.
Jerome, St. (Scholar), 124, 155.
Jewish Encyclopedia, 51, 59, 112.
Klein, Dr. (Traveler), 109.
Layard, Sir Henry, 104, 136.
Lecky, Mr. W. E. H., 161.
Macaulay, Lord, 150, 170.
Mahaffy, Professor J. P., 118, 119.
Milligan, Professor George, 66.
Munro and Sellery, Professors, 157, 161, 162.
Myers, Professor, 163, 169.
National Geographic Magazine, 100, 102, 108, 128.
Nelson's Encyclopedia, 105.
New York Daily, 54.
Nicholas V. (Pope), 169, 170.
North American Review, 144.
Petrarch (Biographer), 169.
Petrie, Professor, 79.
Plato, 23, 31.
Pliny, 69, 81.
Press dispatches, 57.
Prescott (Historian), 26, 78, 95.
Prideau, 50, 66, 67.
Putnam, Mr. George H., 11, 12, 13, 14, 24, 25, 30, 31, 68, 75, 78,
103, 104, 131, 140, 164, 165.
Rawlinson, Professor George, 136.
Richardson, Mr. E. C., 21, 22, 25, 27, 47, 48, 111.
Robertson, Rev. Frederick W., 40.
Roget, M. Emmanuel De, 92.
Sayce, Professor A. H., 27, 79, 101, 106, 109, 111, 136.
Smith, Mr. Goldwin, 168.
Stephens, Robert (Printer), 122.
Symonds, Professor, 169.
Taylor (Canon), 104.
Taylor, Dr. Isaac, 18, 71, 118, 148.
Tertullian (Church Father), 141.
Thalheimer (Historian), 74.
Thatcher and Schwill, Professors, 150, 155, 162.
Tischendorf, Professor, 64, 166.
Vincent, Dr. Marvin R., 38.
Walsh, Professor, 151, 152, 159.
World Almanac, 142.
Wright, Professor George F., 40, 41, 52, 53.
Wycliffe, John, 29, 30.
Young, Professor, 98, 99.

Babylonia--inscribed temple walls, 100;
clay tablets of, 79, 134, 135, 136;
ancient syllabary script of, 105.

Babylonian--expedition, 134;
explorations at Nippur, 134, 135;
"deluge" tablet, 134, 135.

Benedictines--founding of Order, 150, 155;
civilizing and beneficent influences of, 162, 164.

Bible--a divine-human book, 40-45;
for man, 18, 40;
collective volume, 140;
versions, 38, 39;
preëminent MSS of, 64, 65;
lost autographs, 44;
Septuagint Version, 141;
decorated and embellished copies, 52-54, 159;
cost of making, 29-32;
first printed ("Mazarin"), 14, 15;
Revised N. T., 28;
numerous manuscripts of, 37-39;
American Bible Society, 32;
permanency of, 18;
chapters and verses, 122, 125.

Book--definition of, 19, 20;
evolution, 20, 21;
form of ancient, 63;
change from "roll" to "leaf" form, 63-64, 69;
"diptych," "triptych," "polyptych," 82;
"Book of the Dead," 84, 85, 93;
size of roll-book, 68, 69, 139, 140.

Books--earliest, 21, 22, 59;
valuation of, 14, 29-32, 130;
making and commerce of, 127-132;
"reinforced" papyrus and paper, 69, 75;
embellishment of, 52-54;
cost of written and printed compared, 29-32;
enemies of, 48;
materials, 44 (see chapter XI);
rare, 52-54, 64, 65;
depositories of, 127, 128, 130-132, 148, 149;
repairing, 49, 69, 152;
new crusade for, 169.

"Breathings"--of the Greek MSS, 124.

British Museum--depository, 59, 64, 136.

Champollion--and the Rosetta Stone, 98.

Charlemagne--referred to, 149;
patron of schools and learning, 149;
scarcity of books at his time, 149, 150;
meager intellectual attainments of, 149, 150.

Chinese--inventors of printing, 11, 12;
first paper-makers, 72;
ideographic writing of, 105, 117;
ancient library of, 81.

Churches--relation to learning, 131, 132, 156;
libraries in, 148.

Cleopatra--name on Rosetta Stone, 99;
Antony and, 137.

Code--Hammurabi, 80, 110.

"Colon"--punctuation mark, 124.

Columns--in roll-book, 50, 61, 63, 64,
and age of MSS, 64, 65.

"Comma"--punctuation mark, 121, 124.

Constantine--founder of Constantinople, 146;
patron of Christianity, 147;
furthered the Bible, 147, 148, 158.

Constantinople--secure and favored position, 146, 147;
center of literary and religious activity, 147-149, 164.

Copyists--professional, 69, 127, 132, 138, 140, 147, 149 (see monks);
women, 128;
other, 128-130, 138;
wage of, 29, 32, 54;
concern for their work, 49-52;
dictation to, 157, 158, 165;
rules governing, 49-51;
repairing MSS, 49, 69;
artistic accomplishments of, 52-54;
paraphernalia of, 86, 88.

Cnossos--Cretan palace of, 107;
"finds" in, 107, 108.

Crete--recent discoveries in ancient, 100, 107, 108.

Cuneiform--writing, 28, 99-104;
distinguished from hieroglyphic, 100;
made with stylus, 102;
hieroglyphic, origin of, 100;
great quantity of writing in, 102, 104, 134-136;
discoveries of Layard, 104, 136;
of Rawlinson, 136;
diminutive specimens, 136;
Dr. Grotefend's "guess," 103;
how read, 102;
incorruptible character of, 103, 104;
cylinders, 79;
"deluge" tablet, 134.

"Dark Ages"--extent, 127, 129;
decline of learning and literature therein, 33, 129-132, 149-151;
emergence from, 150-152, 168, 169.

"Demotic"--writing, distinguished from "hieratic," 70, 92, 98, 99;
on Rosetta Stone, 99.

"Diptych"--defined, 82.

Ephraem--monk, 63;
Manuscript ("C"), 63, 64, 65.

"Gait"--of handwriting, 55;
of mind, 57.

Greece--fountain source of literature, 138.

Grotefend (Dr.)--and cuneiform inscription, 103.

Gutenberg--place and time of birth, 12;
his invention and its significance, 12, 13;
first printed book, 14, 15;
first press, 13;
experimentations, 13, 14;
price paid for one copy, 14;
first edition printed, 30.

Hammurabi--code of, 80;
inscription and purpose of, 80, 110.

"Hand"--importance of, 47, 56, 57, 159;
changes in, 112-117;
provincial and national "hands," 115-117.

Handwriting--unwritten literature, 20, 27, 28;
the two great stages of the classic, 113, 114;
slow and laborious process of, 27-29, 47;
two chief desiderata of written MSS, 46, 47;
costly, 29-32.

Hebrew--language and literature, 109, 110, 122, 123.

Herodotus--testimony to Persian archives, 59;
books of, 139.

"Hieratic"--writing, defined, 92;
distinguished from "demotic," 70, 98.

Hieroglyphic--writing, earliest mode of recording ideas, 20, 21, 28,
70, 91-99;
universal, 92, 107;
one of the tri-lingual inscriptions, 98;
two classes of, 94-97;
number of, 97.

Homer--writings of long un-recorded, 24;
"books" of, 139, 140.

"Ideographic"--writing, defined, 94, 95;
clumsy and imperfect, 97, 98;
limitations of, illustrated, 97, 98;
key to decipherment, 98, 99;
Cretan undeciphered, 107, 108.

"India"--paper, quality, 76, 77;
tests of strength and durability, 77;
remarkable productions on, 76, 77;
ink, 86.

Inks--importance and necessity of good, 47, 57, 83;
composition of ancient, 83, 84;
lost art, 86;
various kinds and colors, 84, 85, 86;
uses of colored, 85;
millenniums-old, 84;
tests of genuineness of written documents, 57;
printers', 14;
"royal," 86;
"India," 86.

"Interrogation" (?)--punctuation mark, 124.

Inventions--outgrowth of necessity, 40, 60, 62;
in printing, 11;
in paper, 72;
in the alphabet, 91, 92, 106, 107;
improvement and progress in, 16, 17, 62, 63;
in punctuation, 120, 121, 123, 125;
improvement in materials and arrangement of books, 62, 69, 70,
72-77, 81, 82.

Jews--devotion to sacred books, 49;
rules governing copyists, 49, 50, 51;
Septuagint Version for, 141.

Language--most distinguishing characteristic of mankind, 90;
earliest decipherable, 108-111;
first use of alphabetic writing, 105, 106;
the Gospel in many languages, 34-38, 41;
many and various versions, 38, 39.

Leather--earliest material of portable books, 59;
Hebrew statutes written on, 59;
age of skin-rolls, 59;
royal archives of Persia on, 59;
Yemanite rolls, 59.

Libraries--earliest at Nippur, 133-135;
contents of Nippur tablets, 134, 136;
"deluge" tablet, 134, 135;
at Assur-bani-pal, 103, 135;
scribes of, 135, 136;
the number of tablets therein, 135, 136;
size of tablets and of writing, 136;
magnifying lens found, 136;
contents of tablets, 134, 136, 137;
at Pergamos, 137;
number of rolls in, 137;
disposition of, 137, 145;
at Alexandria, 137, 138;
treasures of learning in, 127, 137, 138, 141;
preëminence of, 137, 138;
books of, 138;
how books secured, 135, 138, 140, 141;
scribes of, 127, 128, 136, 137, 138, 140;
number and size of books therein, 137-140;
varying fortunes of, 143-145;
irreparable loss, 145;
tradition of the destruction, 143, 144;
at Constantinople, 146-148;
fostered by the Emperor, 147-148;
successively wasted and renewed, 148, 152;
of monasteries, 131, 132, 148, 149, 151, 152;
of churches, 148;
at Paris, and elsewhere, 64, 94, 149, 151-153;
the Vatican, 64, 170;
British Museum, 59, 64, 80, 136;
how libraries perpetuated and replenished, 130, 135, 136-141, 147,
152, 157, 163;
number of books in leading modern, 142.

Literature--how first perpetuated, 19, 22, 27, 28;
period of the MSS, 19;
materials of written MSS, 46-88;
punctuation and other devices of literature, 120-125;
stichometry, 123;
chapters and verses of the Bible, 120-124;
ideomatic use of language in, 123;
modern distinctions of, 120-125;
Aldus Manutius and modern punctuation, 125;
extended by Arabian conquests, 152, 153;
system of notation, 126.

Manuscripts--form of book, 61-65;
period of, 19-33;
two desiderata for, 46, 47;
cost of, 29-36, 46, 54, 130;
enemies of, 48;
restoration of palimpsest, 63;
repairing old and damaged, 49, 130;
abundance of Bible and why, 33, 35-39;
preservation of, 47, 48, 130, 165, 167;
the preëminent "uncials": codex "א" (Sinaitic), 44, 64, 65, 147,
166;
codex "B" (Vatican), 44, 64, 65;
codex "A" (Alexandrian), 64, 65;
codex "C" (Ephraem), 63, 64, 65;
rare and embellished, 52-54, 93, 94, 159;
the Septuagint, 141.

Materials--variety and changes in, 44, 47, 55-58, 79;
skin of animals, 59;
leather, 59, 60, 61;
parchment, 59;
vellum, 59, 61, 147;
papyrus, 57;
preparation of papyrus, 67, 68;
first form of books, 61, 62;
letter form, 62;
earliest known roll-books, 59;
commerce in, 31, 70, 71;
paper introduced in West, 73;
variety of substances used in paper-making, 72;
other materials displaced by paper, 75;
development of paper-making and printing-press, 75;
paper long made by hand, 75, 76;
"India" paper, 76, 77;
tablets of various kinds, 78-81, 101;
protected tablets, 81, 82 (see Tablets).

Manutius--and system of punctuation, 125.

"Mazarin"--Bible, first printed book, 14;
why so called, 14.

Memory--phenomenal and reliable, 24-27.

Middle Ages--referred to, 53, 63, 115, 116, 125, 163;
bounds of, 127, 129;
ignorance in, 130-132, 149, 150, 154;
period of emergence (renaissance), 168, 169.

Minstrelsy--relation to history and literature, 22-26.

Moabite Stone--referred to, 79;
discovered, described, and deciphered, 79, 108, 109;
age and importance, 109-111;
kinship with the Siloam Inscription, 111, 112.

Monasteries--widely established, 148-152, 154-157, 159-168;
seats of book-making industry, 157-159;
depositories of books, 157-169;
relation to learning, 150, 151, 156, 157, 162-164;
extent and value of schools' instruction, 156, 160.

Monasticism--origin of, 154, 155;
extent of, 150-152, 155;
weaknesses, 159, 160;
contributions to society, 156-165, 168.

Monks--copyists, 132, 157, 158, 161-165;
civilizers, 162, 163, 164, 167;
promoted learning and letters, 161-164.

Moors--relation to civilization in Europe, 73;
first paper-makers of Spain, 73.

Museum--British, 59, 64, 80, 93, 104, 136;
Alexandrian, 137, 138, 145;
destruction of, 143, 145;
Berlin, 80.

Nippur--antiquity of, 133;
results of explorations on site, 133-137.

Notation--system, a development, 125, 126;
"cipher" of, 126.

"Orders"--first, 150, 155 (see monasteries, monasticism, monks).

Paintings--mural, at Washington, 20, 21;
on MSS, 52, 53, 54.

Palæography--art and science of, 89, 90, 159;
development, 90, 92;
modern penmanship a questionable accomplishment, 90;
writing, crystalized speech, 90, 91;
three sources of written language:
(1) _Hieroglyphics_, 20, 21, 91-99;
(2) _Cuneiform_, 99-104;
(3) Alphabetic, 91, 92, 104-112;
classic writing a product, 112;
two stages of classic writing--"uncial," 113, 114;
"minuscule," 113, 114;
undeciphered script of ancient Cretans, 100, 108;
provincial and national "hands," 115-117;
the "ascent" of the Anglo-Saxon "hand," 115, 116;
changes in the direction of writing, 116, 117;
the "hand" a factor in determining age of writing, 117-119.

"Palimpsests"--defined, 63;
examples, 63.

Paper--origin of, 72, 73;
itinerary of progress in making, 72, 73;
substances used as "pulp" for, 72;
materials for making--cotton, 57, 73, 74;
linen, 58, 74;
flax and rags, 58, 74;
other substances, 72, 74, 78;
supercession of other materials by, 75, 76;
earliest documents on, 74;
"water marks" of, 55, 56;
long made by hand, 75;
interleaved and "reinforced," 69, 75;
improved methods of making, 74-76;
complement of the printing-press, 74, 75;
"India" paper and tests and examples of, 76, 79.

Papyrus--source of, 66;
plant described, 67, 101;
preparation of, 67, 68;
cost, 31, 66;
general use of, 66, 70, 71;
period of use, 44, 70, 71;
commerce in, 70, 71;
exportation from Egypt forbidden, 60, 70, 71;
roll-books on, 68, 69;
"reinforced," 69;
subdivision of large rolls on, 139, 140;
fragile, 44, 48, 69, 103;
the oldest rolls on, 70, 84, 85;
the "Prisse" papyrus, 93.

Parchment--from skins of animals, 59, 60, 62;
preparation of, 60;
best material, 60, 61;
scarcity and cost and "palimpsests," 63;
valuable MSS of Bible on, 52-54, 64, 65.

Pergamos--parchment first made at, 60;
library of, 137, 145.

Pens--for writing, 87;
"pen-knife," 87.

Pentecost--relation of first to spread of Gospel, 34-36.

"Period"--punctuation mark, 124.

Phœnicians--developed ideographic alphabet, 105-107, 109, 110;
earliest traders and first to need a communicable language, 106;
alphabet and Philistines, 106.

"Phonetic"--writing, described, 94-96.

"Pointings"--a development, 122, 123, 124.

"Polyptych"--described, 82.

Printing--the invention of, 11-13;
reputed examples in China and Japan, 11, 12, 14;
Gutenberg the inventor, 13;
first types, 13;
original press and modern, 13, 28, 29, 30;
importance of, 16-18, 28, 29, 75;
typography witness to date of, 117, 118;
contrasted with oral tradition, 24, 25;
"proof correction" an aid to purity of literature, 17, 18.

Punctuation--system developed, 120-125;
modern, 114, 120, 125;
indispensable to literature and commerce, 120-122;
system completed, 125.

Ptolemaic (dynasty)--"Soter," 137;
"Philadelphus," 137, 138;
relation to Alexandrian Library, 137, 138;
"Epiphanes," 98, 99.

Renaissance--time and importance of, 150-152, 168, 169.

Revelation--progressive, 41, 42;
materials embodying, subject to exposure, 42-44.

Revised Version--feat of N. T. publication, 28;
errors in, 17.

Roll-book--earliest form in leather and papyrus, 59, 61, 68, 69;
antiquity of, 59, 70, 84;
size of, 68, 69, 83, 139, 140.

Roman alphabet--ascendancy of and reasons for, 114, 115, 116.

Rosetta Stone--referred to, 70, 79;
discovery of, 79, 94, 98;
described, 98, 99;
tri-lingual inscription on, 70, 98, 99;
key to decipherment, 99;
and Egyptian literature, 79, 99.

Schools--of abbeys and monasteries, 151, 156, 157, 163, 164;
Arabian, 155.

Scribes--professional, 127;
monks, 128, 157-159, 163, 164;
dignitaries and princes, 128;
slaves, 129, 130;
persons of sedentary habits, 129;
women, 128;
dictation to by reader, 157, 158;
beauty of work, 52-54, 159;
wages of, 29-32;
employed in libraries, 135, 138, 140, 145, 147.

"Scriptorium"--of monasteries, 157, 158, 165.

"Semicolon"--punctuation mark, 124.

"Septuagint"--what and for whom, 141;
probable fate of original, 141;
compared with, 145.

Siloam Inscription--place, date, and object, 111, 112;
discovery and significance of, 111, 112;
related to Moabite Stone, 112.

Sinaitic Manuscript--referred to, 44;
when and by whom discovered, 166;
described, 61, 64, 65, 148;
where treasured, 64;
rank, 65.

Speech--distinguishing characteristic of man, 90.

St. Catharine--convent of, 64, 166, 167;
depository of Sinaitic MS for centuries, 166;
location and entrance, 167.

"Stichometry"--species of early punctuation, 123, 124.

Stylus--instrument used on clay, wax, etc., 81, 82, 87, 101, 102.

Tablets--early, 28, 48;
the material of and preparation, 78, 79, 81, 101, 102;
size and form, 79, 135, 136;
number, 79, 104, 134, 135, 136;
Tel-el-Amarna, 79, 80;
Cnossos, 107;
character of writing on, 79, 80, 101-103, 136;
subjects treated, 79, 80, 134, 136, 137;
wood for, 81;
wax, 78, 81, 82;
envelopes for, 101;
protected, 82, 101;
"deluge," 134.

Thirteenth century--referred to, 30, 39, 54, 159;
great, 151, 159, 168;
renaissance began in, 151;
libraries and universities founded during, 151, 152.

"Tongues"--at Pentecost, 34;
object of the "gift," 34-36.

Tradition--preceded written records, 22;
preserved and perpetuated literature, 21-27;
of the Alexandrian Library's destruction, 143, 144.

"Triptych"--described, 82.

Types--printing, 12;
composition of, 13, 14;
changes in, an aid in determining age of literature, 117, 118.

"Uncial"--the earliest classic "hand," 113, 114;
the "hand" of the preëminent MSS of the Bible, 64, 65.

Universities--when founded, 151;
expeditions of Pennsylvania University, 134.

Vatican--manuscript referred to, 44, 53;
described, 64, 65;
on vellum, 52-54, 61;
depository of, 64;
Library, 64, 169, 170.

Vellum--described, 61;
Bible MSS on, 52-54, 61.

Versions--of the Bible, 35-39, 45;
Septuagint, 141.

Volume--earliest form of books, 61-65, 68;
size of, 68, 69, 139;
first writing on one side of, 61, 138;
larger works divided, 139, 140;
roll-books designated by letters, 140.

Wage--for scribe in time of Diocletian, 31.

"Water marks"--impressed in fiber of paper, 55, 56;
old custom and test of genuineness of documents, 56, 57.

Writing--materials used and changes in, 46-48, 50, 52-58, 60, 70,
71, 78;
instruments adaptable to, 87;
inks, 83-86;
art and science of, 89, 90;
modern neglect of the art, 90;
"crystalized" speech, 90, 91;
development of, 91, 92;
picture writing, 20, 91-98;
the three great "species" of, 92--
(1) _Hieroglyphic_, 91-99;
two classes of: "ideographic" and "phonetic," 94-96;
distinctions of "hieratic" and "demotic," 70, 94, 98, 99;
the Rosetta Stone the "key" to the early Egyptian writing,
94, 98, 99;
clumsy and uncertain, 97, 98;
(2) _Cuneiform_, 99-104;
Dr. Grotefend's decipherment of, 103;
tablets and cylinders, 79-82;
Tel-el-Amarna tablets and the Hammurabi monument, 79, 80;
(3) _Alphabetic_, 104-112;
origin of, 91, 92, 105, 106;
oldest deciphered, 108-110;
the undeciphered Minoan script, 108;
Moabite Stone and Siloam Inscription, 108-112;
Phœnician contribution to alphabetic literature, 105-108;
the pre-exilic of Palestine, 111;
classic writing, 112-117;
development of national and provincial "hands," 112-117;
"uncial" and "cursive" "hands," 113, 114;
Anglo-Saxon "hand," 115, 116;
changes in the direction of writing, 116, 117;
style of writing a verisimilitude of genuineness, 117-119;
determining age of composition, 118, 119;
compared and contrasted with printing, 27-32, 138.

Young (Dr.)--labors in deciphering the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian
hieroglyphics, 98, 99.

"Zero"--the cipher completing the system of notation, 126;
when and by whom added, 126.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation, p. 119.

[2] The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation, p. 121.

[3] Middle Ages, vol. 1, p. 7.

[4] International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, art. "Books."

[5] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[6] Authors and Their Public, pp. 63, 106.

[7] International Standard Bible Ency., art. "Books."

[8] The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation, pp. 13, 14.

[9] The Conquest of Mexico, Vol. 1, p. 111.

[10] Amenities of Literature.

[11] The Near East, p. 40.

[12] Monument Facts, p. 60.

[13] International Standard Bible Ency., art. "Books."

[14] Authors and Their Public, pp. 93, 94.

[15] The Influence of the Bible, Etc., pp. 124, 125.

[16] Divine Authority of the Bible, p. 103.

[17] The Chief End of Revelation, pp. 99, 134.

[18] International Standard Bible Ency., art. "Books."

[19] Prideau's Connections.

[20] The Jewish Encyclopedia.

[21] Story of My Life and Work, pp. 403, 404.

[22] The Influence of the Bible, Etc., pp. 30, 31.

[23] The Quest of John Chapman.

[24] The Jewish Encyclopedia.

[25] The Influence of the Bible, Etc., p. 29.

[26] Greek Papyri, Prof. Geo. Milligan, D.D., p. xxiii.

[27] Prideau's Connections, Vol. 2, p. 510.

[28] Authors and Their Public, p. 142.

[29] Appleton's New Practical Encyclopedia.

[30] Chambers' Encyclopedia.

[31] The Americana.

[32] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[33] Conquest of Mexico, Vol. 1, p. 102.

[34] Monument Facts, Etc., pp. 37-40.

[35] The Code of Hammurabi, R. F. Harper, Ph.D.

[36] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[37] The Dwellers on the Nile, p. 41.

[38] Childhood of the World, p. 13.

[39] Assyrian Life and History, p. 40.

[40] The Dwellers on the Nile, pp. 42-44.

[41] The Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I; p. 98.

[42] The Beginnings of Civilization, pp. 39, 40.

[43] Assyrian Life and History, pp. 39, 40.

[44] National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXIX, p. 135.

[45] National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXIX, p. 166.

[46] Assyria: Its Princes, Priests, and People, p. 93.

[47] National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXIX, p. 166.

[48] Authors and Their Public, p. 270.

[49] Nelson's Encyclopedia.

[50] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[51] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition) "Crete." National Geographic Magazine, January, 1912.

[52] Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, pp. 79, 82.

[53] Article on "The World's One Alphabet."

[54] International Standard Bible Ency., art. "Books."

[55] Monument Facts, Etc., pp. 28, 29.

[56] Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, pp. 83, 84.

[57] The Jewish Encyclopedia.

[58] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[59] History of the Transmission of Ancient Books.

[60] Recent Research in Bible Lands, pp. 194, 195.

[61] The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation, p. 13.

[62] National Geographic Magazine, Vol. XXIX, p. 167.

[63] Middle Ages, Vol. II, pp. 459, 463.

[64] Authors and Their Public, pp. 273, 274.

[65] Recent Research in Bible Lands, pp. 45-63.

[66] Authors and Their Public, p. 142.

[67] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[68] World Almanac.

[69] June, 1914.

[70] The Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries, Chapter IX.

[71] Encyclopedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition).

[72] Europe in the Middle Ages, pp. 325, 326.

[73] The Influence of the Bible, Etc., pp. 70, 71.

[74] Medieval Civilisation, Edited by Munro and Sellery.

[75] Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries, pp. 162, 163.

[76] History of European Morals, 2: 207, 208.

[77] Medieval Civilisation, pp. 282, 290, 330.

[78] Middle Ages, 2: 484.

[79] Europe in the Middle Ages, p. 333.

[80] Medieval and Modern History, pp. 26, 27.

[81] Introduction to Study of the Middle Ages, p. 144.

[82] Medieval and Modern History, p. 87.

[83] History of the Middle Ages, p. 288.

[84] Hastings' Bible Dictionary.

[85] Authors and Their Public, pp. 292, 293.

[86] Medieval and Modern History, p. 270.

Transcribers' Notes:

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.

Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.

Text uses both "mediæval" and "medieval"; both retained.

Index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

The Hebrew letter "aleph" appears on pages 64 and 174. Devices that cannot display it may use a "?" or other symbol.

Page 70: "most ancient or the picture-writing" probably should be "of".

Page 102: "well-kneeded" was printed that way.

Page 105: "concensus" was printed that way.

Page 129: "Origin" may be a misprint for "Origen".

Page 169: The sentence beginning "For it was a specific outgrowth" was printed as shown in this eBook, but seems to be incomplete or incorrectly worded.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Reign of the Manuscript, by Perry Wayland Sinks