tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post6825892049808024883..comments2024-03-29T00:57:56.876+00:00Comments on Evangelical Textual Criticism: Vellum and ParchmentP.J. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04388225485348300613noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-72195038558172121682007-07-29T23:35:00.000+01:002007-07-29T23:35:00.000+01:00It would be valuable to do more legwork on this, e...It would be valuable to do more legwork on this, even just to clarify fragment by fragment what materials are involved. <BR/><BR/>Even in contemporary bookbinding, only the most snobbish of technicians will distinguish between vellum and parchment in their own work. Vellum, from the French "velin," refers specifically to young unblemished calf skins prepared in a certain way (not as many scratches and cuts from shrubs, fences, other animals, etc... that older skins will have). It is a valuable and thrilling material to work with in comparison to parchment, which is tough to use and doesn't age well. I think it was very early that "vellum" came to be used for the <I>best</I> part of any skin prepared to an exacting standard.<BR/><BR/>I have noticed that some of the older codex and papyri catalogs (e.g. British Museum, Pierpont Morgan) go to greater lengths to distinguish between these materials, but such fine distinctions have not really appeared in NT papyrology or codicology. Much of this is due, I think, to the difficulty of personally examining every bit of material one is commenting on. When such autopsy is available, then follicle distribution, color, and thickness of material are clear indications of whether something is calf, goat, or sheep.<BR/><BR/>Regardless, it would be fair to call finer material "vellum" and rougher material "parchment" regardless of what critter it comes from.<BR/><BR/>I do wonder what a clearer taxonomy of what skins are being used in some of the earlier codices could tell us about provenance, or the binding habits of whoever produced them.M. Learyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15880797801848941435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-17148058986202196272007-07-15T12:49:00.000+01:002007-07-15T12:49:00.000+01:00If I recall correctly, dictionaries vary in their ...If I recall correctly, dictionaries vary in their definitions of these terms; they aren't used consistently. It may be worth reading Stephen Pfann's observations on some Qumran skin writing surfaces. (In Discoveries in the Judaean Desert and online on the old orion list: google: Pfann leather parchment.) He said that most Qumran mss are, strictly speaking, neather leather nor parchment, narrowly defined.<BR/>Stephen Goranson<BR/>Perkins Library<BR/>Duke UniversityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-62380563847790460402007-07-14T21:35:00.001+01:002007-07-14T21:35:00.001+01:00PS: the difference between hair and flesh side is ...PS: the difference between hair and flesh side is evident even to amateurs and in photographs.Roger Pearsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05808510649531166290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-23613900237680972012007-07-14T21:35:00.000+01:002007-07-14T21:35:00.000+01:00As I understand it, vellum is merely parchment mad...As I understand it, vellum is merely parchment made from cowskins. This generally makes a finer grade of material, but is less common since people keep many fewer cows than sheep. It should certainly be possible for the skilled eye to tell the difference. <BR/><BR/>While vellum today is very fine and expensive, most parchment in the middle ages was a by-product of monastic farming, not something bought in. With the renaissance people once again bought the stuff from suppliers -- the letters of Poggio Bracciolini are full of queries about sources of good parchment for texts that he wanted to have copied.<BR/><BR/>The process of preparation of parchment/vellum is not tanning but scraping and stretching while wet and soaked with chalky substances. This of course has the side-effect that the process is partially reversable, and wet parchment shrinks and shrivels and generally does awful things.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise parchment is pretty much eternal. If you hold a cigarette lighter to it it burns with great reluctance, at least when new.<BR/><BR/>I don't claim to be an expert, but did a study weekend on manuscripts, and this is what I remember of it! Verify it all, of course. There are German handbooks on the ancient book trade which should be of use.Roger Pearsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05808510649531166290noreply@blogger.com