Text witnesses
As text witnesses the designated Edition science an object described with text ( "Text carrier", "tradition carrier"), the "witness" this text as a document. Text witnesses are copies or prints of a work or epigraphic sources . In historical-critical editions of a text, all existing text witnesses are used insofar as they are relevant for the reconstruction of the original version, the "author's text", or a later version relevant to the history of tradition. Text witnesses who are mere copies of other text witnesses who are also present are not taken into account.
In edition philology, the term “witness” is extended to include the entire area of traditional media, i.e. it includes the author's own handwritten notes and authentic prints. This common expression blurs a categorical difference: While a witness makes a testimony about someone he is not himself, an author's handwriting or an authentic print does not “testify” to the text, but contains it. Therefore, if there is an author's text, the term “carrier of tradition” is more appropriate.
literature
- Herbert Kraft : Edition Philology. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1990, ISBN 3-534-06423-2 , pp. 39-58
Remarks
- ↑ Herbert Kraft: Editionsphilologie , Darmstadt 1990, p. 42.