The Old Slavic Acts of the Apostles: Computer-Assisted Analysis and Comparative Presentation of the Texts
The Old Slavic Acts of the Apostles: Computer-Assisted Analysis and Comparative Presentation of the Texts

Summary/Abstract: This computer-assisted research identifies four redactions for the texts of the Old Slavic Acts of the eleventh through fifteenth centuries in chapters 1, 2, 12, and 28, and presents the redactions in the lineated format that allows convenient observation of the consecutive stages of the textual history. The complete critical apparatus accounts for the variant readings of the witnesses. The manuscript data include several previously unedited sources. Additionally, the research produced the electronic corpus of the Old Slavic manuscripts for the selected chapters of Acts, available for further computer-assisted study. The comparative evaluation of the witnesses proved it impossible to discern a clear pattern of further groupings for the witnesses of the first redaction. This confirms the approach taken for this research: instead of attempting to establish the single archetype of the earliest witnesses, one should begin with establishing the redactions in order to provide the data for further study of textual history in its development. A better understanding of the textual history should assist in comprehending the processes of textual formation and thus in approaching the earliest text.

• Details
• Contents