Changes to manuscripts

It is very common to come across changes within manuscripts. This may be for a variety of different reasons. 

A) Commentaries and notes

In some cases, medieval scribes or later readers will make use of the margin and add notes in visibly different handwriting. This may be to draw attention to something within the original passage:

B) Mistakes, corrections and revision

Don't forget, scribes are only human and they make mistakes! Look at these examples:

In both cases, the scribe has simply made a mistake whilst copying. Here, a strikethrough has been used to neatly cross out the error. Errors could also be corrected in different ways, such as adding interlinear text, dots underneath a word, letter (or letters) or a phrase (or phrases) or by writing on top of the original writing.

Other more significant changes can be seen in manuscripts. In this example, a scribe has changed the meaning of the text by underlining the word 'quarto' and writing a note to correct it to 'qujnto':

Sometimes entire sections of the manuscript can be re-worked by another scribe at a later stage:

There are many interesting things to look out for within the Estoria de Espanna manuscripts. Changes to manuscripts can add new layers of meaning to the text. By tagging these details as far as possible, the digital edition can help identify this important aspect of medieval manuscripts.