Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian TextsThis fascinating and lively book provides the first comprehensive discussion of the production, circulation, and use of books in early Christianity. It explores the extent of literacy in early Christian communities; the relation in the early church between oral tradition and written materials; the physical form of early Christian books; how books were produced, transcribed, published, duplicated, and disseminated; how Christian libraries were formed; who read the books, in what circumstances, and to what purposes. Harry Y. Gamble interweaves practical and technological dimensions of the production and use of early Christian books with the social and institutional history of the period. Drawing on evidence from papyrology, codicology, textual criticism, and early church history, as well as on knowledge about the bibliographical practices that characterized Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, he offers a new perspective on the role of books in the first five centuries of the early church. |
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Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts Harry Y. Gamble,Professor Harry Y Gamble No preview available - 1995 |
Common terms and phrases
Alexandria ancient antiquity Apocalypse Apostolic Augustine biblical bishop Caesarea canon Cassiodorus Chris Christian communities Christian libraries Christian manuscripts Christian writings circulation Clement codex codices collection congregational libraries congregations copies copyists Cyprian discussion documents earliest Christian early Christian early Christian literature early church edition epistles Eusebius evidence form criticism fourth century genre Gospel Gospel of Mark Greco-Roman Greek Hebrew indicates Irenaeus Jerome Jewish scripture Judaism later Latin letters of Paul literary culture literate liturgical Marcion monastic Museion Nag Hammadi nomina sacra non-Christian oral tradition original Overbeck Oxford Pachomian pagan papyrus parchment Paul's letters Pauline Pergamum period Pliny Polycarp practice private reading probably produced public reading Qumran reader reading of scripture Roberts and Skeat roll Roman libraries Rome scribal scribes script scriptorium scriptural texts scrolls second century Shepherd of Hermas studies synagogue Tertullian Testament textual theological third century tian tion Torah transcribed transcription University Press written