Stemmatology is the discipline that attempts to reconstruct the transmission of a text on the basis of relations between the various surviving manuscripts. The object of this volume is the evaluation of the most recent methods and techniques in the field of stemmatology, as well as the development of new ones. The book is largely interdisciplinary in character: it contains contributions from scholars from classical, historical, biblical, medieval and modern language studies, as well as from mathematical and computer scientists and biologists. The contributions in the book have been divided into two sections. The first section deals with various stemmatological methods and techniques. The second section focuses more specifically on the various problems concerning textual variation.An earlier volume on Studies in Stemmatology was published in 1996 and opened the most actual state of the art in stemmatology to a broad audience. That first volume was very well received by stemmatologists and also gave an impulse to new research, as several articles in the current volume clearly illustrate. Both volumes are of interest to scholars in (historical) linguistics, literary studies, Bible studies, classical studies, medieval studies, and history.

This volume contains ten papers selected from among those presented at the annual Free University Stemmatological Colloquia 1990-93. Current issues in (automated) stemmatology, paleography and codicology are addressed from contemporary theoretical perspectives. All papers focus on new directions in textuology and manuscript affiliation, and especially on the use of computer science in this field.The theoretical implications of computer-assisted stemma construction are explored. In combination with achievements in codicology and paleography, these investigations allow for dealing with the major problems in textuology: extreme complex and entangled manuscript traditions. Following an introductory chapter, part 1 presents six theoretical contributions on stemmatology, and part 2 deals with auxiliary fields in textuology, such as codicology and paleography. In part 3 applications of the previously developed fields are presented.

Stemmatology studies aspects of textual criticism that use genealogical methods to analyse a set of copies of a text whose autograph has been lost. This handbook is the first to cover the entire field, encompassing both theoretical and practical aspects of traditional as well as modern digital methods and their history. As an art (ars), stemmatology’s main goal is editing and thus presenting to the reader a historical text in the most satisfactory way. As a more abstract discipline (scientia), it is interested in the general principles of how texts change in the process of being copied. Thirty eight experts from all of the fields involved have joined forces to write this handbook, whose eight chapters cover material aspects of text traditions, the genesis and methods of traditional "Lachmannian" textual criticism and the objections raised against it, as well as modern digital methods used in the field. The two concluding chapters take a closer look at how this approach towards texts and textual criticism has developed in some disciplines of textual scholarship and compare methods used in other fields that deal with "descent with modification". The handbook thus serves as an introduction to this interdisciplinary field.

Now available in English Josef Schmid's landmark publication, Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Apokalypse-Textes, has been the standard work for understanding Revelation's Greek manuscript tradition and textual history for more than sixty years. Despite the fact that most major studies on the book are based on Schmid's work, the work itself has long been out of print, making it difficult for the broader scholarly community to reassess Schmid's conclusions in light of recent manuscript discoveries and technological advances. This new translation of the work makes Schmid's detailed review of the history of textual scholarship; his comprehensive examination of the origin, history, and development of the Greek manuscripts of the book of Revelation; and his assessment of John's peculiar linguistic writing style accessible to a new generation of scholars. Features A critical introduction that places Schmid's work in its historical and theoretical context Definitions and explanations of Schmid's text-critical terms and categories used in his construction of Revelation's Greek manuscript tradition The latest available information used to correct, update, and supplement Schmid's Greek manuscript data and historical and text-critical conclusions

This study offers the first sustained examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM), a computerized method being used to edit the most widely-used editions of the Greek New Testament. Part one addresses the CBGM’s history and reception before providing a fresh statement of its principles and procedures. Parts two and three consider the method’s ability to recover the initial text and to delineate its history. A new portion of the global stemma is presented for the first time and important conclusions are drawn about the nature of the initial text, scribal habits, and the origins of the Byzantine text. A final chapter suggests improvements and highlights limitations. Overall, the CBGM is positively assessed but not without important criticisms and cautions.

Klaus Wachtel has pioneered the creation of major editions of the Greek New Testament through a blend of traditional philological approaches and innovative digital tools. In this volume, an international range of New Testament scholars and editors honour his achievements with thirty-one original studies. Many of the themes mirror Wachtel's own publications on the history of the Byzantine text, the identification of manuscript families and groups, detailed analysis of individual witnesses and the development of software and databases to support the editorial process. Other contributions draw on the production of the Editio Critica Maior, with reference to the Gospels of Mark and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Pauline Epistles and the Apocalypse. Several chapters consider the application of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method. A wide selection of material is considered, from papyri to printed editions. The Greek text is analysed from multiple perspectives, including exegesis, grammar and orthography, alongside evidence from versions in Latin, Syriac, Coptic and Gothic. This collection provides new insights into the history of the biblical text and the creation, development, analysis and application of modern editions.

The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis provides a thoroughly up-to-date assessment of every major aspect of New Testament textual criticism. The twenty-four essays in the volume, all written by internationally acknowledged experts in the field, cover every major aspect of the discipline, discussing the advances that have been made since the mid twentieth century. With full and informative bibliographies, these contributions will be essential reading for anyone interested in moving beyond the standard handbooks in order to see where the discipline now stands, a vade mecum for all students and text-critical scholars for a generation to come.