Marginal Alphabets in the Carolingian Age: Philological and Codicological Considerations

The essay is devoted to the alphabetical series copied onto the margins of manuscripts leaves. The relationship between these marginal texts and the codex bears several parallels with that existing between glosses and the text they accompany. This essay too proceeds from a correct definition of marginality to identify regualr trands and consistent choices on the part of the scribes. The marginal text, be it an alphabetical series or one or more glosses, complements the main texts. It is along these lines of enquiry that the physical lay-out of glosses needs to be studied, including voluntary or involuntary textual hierarchies.