Writing, Copying, and Autograph Manuscripts in Ancient Rome Export

@article{citeulike:1292731, author = {Mcdonnell, Myles}, citeulike-article-id = {1292731}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/639803}, comment = { Once interpreted as evidence for early critical editions, it is now commonly taken to show that valuable but fraudulent autograph manuscripts by famous writers were especially widespread in the Rome of the second century A.D.(478). there is evidence to show both that upper-class Romans scorned copying, and that in the Roman world the copying of texts was done by professionals of low status. (484) (As a high-class ghostwriter of senatorial speeches Aelius Stilo constituted a special category.) (486) Despite being passed over by modern scholarship on rhetoric and memory, the mnemonic technique of writing also seems to have been a normal oratorical practice. (489) In ancient Rome copies were made by professionals, many of whom were slaves. To be sure, a copy might be made by an upper-class Roman as a pedagogical exercise of one kind or another, or on occasion a scholar, particularly if he was a freedman, might copy a text as an obligation to a patron. But copying the work of another was a task inappropriate for an important and busy elite Roman. The writing and correcting of original documents carried no such stigma, however. For a variety of reasons-some practical, some personal, others having to do with good manners- many upper-class Romans choose to write sua manu. (490)}, keywords = {ancient, authorship, fraud, ghostwriting, history, memory}, posted-at = {2007-05-13 19:35:11}, priority = {0}, title = {Writing, Copying, and Autograph Manuscripts in Ancient Rome}, url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/639803} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1292731 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1292731 TI - Writing, Copying, and Autograph Manuscripts in Ancient Rome KW - ancient KW - authorship KW - fraud KW - ghostwriting KW - history KW - memory N1 - Once interpreted as evidence for early critical editions, it is now commonly taken to show that valuable but fraudulent autograph manuscripts by famous writers were especially widespread in the Rome of the second century A.D.(478). there is evidence to show both that upper-class Romans scorned copying, and that in the Roman world the copying of texts was done by professionals of low status. (484) (As a high-class ghostwriter of senatorial speeches Aelius Stilo constituted a special category.) (486) Despite being passed over by modern scholarship on rhetoric and memory, the mnemonic technique of writing also seems to have been a normal oratorical practice. (489) In ancient Rome copies were made by professionals, many of whom were slaves. To be sure, a copy might be made by an upper-class Roman as a pedagogical exercise of one kind or another, or on occasion a scholar, particularly if he was a freedman, might copy a text as an obligation to a patron. But copying the work of another was a task inappropriate for an important and busy elite Roman. The writing and correcting of original documents carried no such stigma, however. For a variety of reasons-some practical, some personal, others having to do with good manners- many upper-class Romans choose to write sua manu. (490) AU - Mcdonnell, Myles UR - http://www.jstor.org/stable/639803 ER -