Outi Merisalo

My research focuses on the transmission of language and culture in the long period between Antiquity and Early Modern Age through the study of book history: what texts were copied? How were they transmitted: by means of a papyrus roll, an inscription, the book as we know it (the so-called codex-form book) on parchment and paper? Who wished to have what text written in what language (Latin, Old French, Middle French, Medieval Italian etc.)? Which Latin scripts (epigraphic capitals, cursive, uncial, Carolingian minuscule, Gothic, Humanist script) were used to write down the texts? How was information transmitted? Since people tend to act in similar ways regardless of the period, studying the past helps us to predict contemporary and future developments.