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Document Details : Title: Evaluating Scribal Freedom and Fidelity Subtitle: Number-Writing Techniques in Codex Washingtonianus (W 032) Author(s): COLE, Zachary J. Journal: Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists Volume: 52 Date: 2015 Pages: 225-238 DOI: 10.2143/BASP.52.0.3203269 Abstract : The mysterious relationship of Codex Washingtonianus (W 032) to its parent text(s) has been a matter of some debate among textual critics, primarily because of the manuscript’s startling block mixture of 'text-types'. This study brings to light an overlooked scribal feature that suggests W is a strict copy of its exemplar(s) rather than the customized text of a scrupulous redactor. Specifically, the scribe’s method of writing numerals, whether by numerical symbol or longhand word, conspicuously changes at each point where there is a shift in textual affinity – a pattern that could hardly have been introduced independently by the scribe and almost certainly reflects the contents of the source-texts. |
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