The study of ancient books and manuscripts, especially focusing on how they were made, written, and physically constructed.
From Latin 'codex' (ancient bound book) and Greek '-logia' (study of). The field emerged in the 19th century when scholars realized that understanding a manuscript's physical features reveals secrets about when and how it was created.
Codicologists are like detective scientists—they examine everything from ink composition to stitch patterns in book bindings to solve mysteries about ancient texts, often revealing forgeries or dating errors that fooled historians for centuries.
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