Instructor: Filippo Mardente
Location: Los Angeles | UCLA
Mode: In-person
Dates: August 10–14, 2026
Tuition: $1200.00

Description

This course explores the material and literary evolution of the Greek book and its spread in Europe following the fall of Constantinople and the invention of movable type printing. Through a historical and codicological analysis, it will consider how the paramount transition from manuscript to print influenced the preservation, the transmission and the diffusion of Greek literature and science. This course aims to provide the tools to conduct historical investigations on manuscripts and early printed books in Ancient Greek, as well as to explore and appreciate the changes that took place in the fields of literature, scholarship and typography in Italy during the Renaissance. 

The first part of the course will cover the methods of productions of the objects (the manuscript and the printed book) and the study of those material elements that assist historical analysis (paper, writing, binding). The second part will be devoted to the printing in Ancient Greek in Italy during the 15^th and the early 16^th centuries. After considering the pioneering works carried out in Milan and in Florence, the classes will focus on Aldus Manutius’ revolutionary editions and on the reasons of their success to the present day. Through an in-person observation of these early Greek editions, it will be analysed the textual and graphic evolution of the printed book as an object. As a conclusion, it will be proposed an overview of the most important collections of Greek books during the Renaissance.e will continue to use DCRM(B) as the standard, with reference to differences coming in the future.

Requirements

Whereas anterior study of Ancient Greek will be an asset, no previous knowledge of the language is required. However, a solid preparation in Medieval history at a university level is recommended. 

Essential Bibliography

1. L. D. Reynolds and N. G. Wilson, Scribes and Scholars. A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013⁴. 
2. N. G. Wilson, From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. 
3. N. G. Wilson (ed.), Aldus Manutius, The Greek Classics, The «I Tatti» Renaissance Library, vol. 70, Cambridge (MA.), Harvard University Press, 2016. 

Offered

2026

Credit

Completion of this course helps to meet requirements for one of the following certificate requirements:

• 1 of 3 elective credit courses for Certificate in Rare Books and Manuscripts, or
• 1 of 2 elective credit courses for Certificate in Librarianship, Activism, and Justice