Écriture et pratiques intellectuelles dans le monde antique

Abstract

This study is centred on the role and the differing use of handwriting in Greek and Roman antiquity. Writing, considered to be a humble trade when practised by slaves or freed individuals seeking remuneration from it, was on the contrary a prerogative prized by the cultivated person for the composition of letters or personal notes. In the literary domain, the author himself either wrote his own first draft or dictated the text to professional scribes. Throughout successive stages of the writing process, up to the moment of public dissemination of the work, the author continued to intervene in the text, either in his own hand or through the intermediary of professional correctors.