The term codicology is of recent vintage, there being some
argument as to who invented it, the classical philologist
Alphonse Dain or the historian Charles Samaran. It seems likely
that Samaran invented _codicography_, based on _paleography_,
and that Dain invented _codicology_, based on this. It is
unimportant at any rate, the thing having existed long before
the name (res ante nominum, to calque a phrase). See J. P.
Gumbert, "Ebert's Codicology a Hundred and Fifty Years Old,"
Quaerendo 5 (1975), 336- 39. In German, one spoke long ago of
Handschriftenkunde, Buchwesen and such things, and the term
`archaeology of the book' has been bandied about. Codicology
seems handy, though it must be extended to include scroll, roll,
and other writing materials and modes of gathering. See: What is
Codicology? 1. It is always good to have a taxonomy when
approaching a new (or even an old) subject, and one is provided
for codicology by: Denis Muzerelle, "Le vocabulaire
codicologique. Anhang: Lexique codicologique," Palaeogr