Manuscript Mise-en-Page

Description Investigating mise-en-page is a key area of manuscript studies. It includes a description and evaluation of each component of the manuscript’s internal design. Such features include the pricking and ruling for the writing grid; the arrangement of ‘information retrieval tools’, like enlarged initials, rubrics, and intertextual space; and, when contemporary, paratextual features, like running headers and chapter numbers. What manuscript scholars can learn from mise-en-page can be underestimated, as we often tend to look principally at script and decoration in and of themselves. The arrangement of the writing grid, the placement of initials, and the use of particular tools can indicate place of origin; while certain features, such as running headers, or where the text is placed relative to the ruled line, can indicate date. Sometimes it is also possible to ascertain the function of a manuscript from its mise-en-page. Subtitles in English by Elizabeth Manus.

AudiencesGraduates, Professionals, Scholars, Undergraduates