classical scholarship Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient ...

, the ''editio princeps'' (

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For example, the ''editio princeps'' of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

is that of

Demetrius Chalcondyles Demetrios Chalkokondyles ( el, Δημήτριος Χαλκοκονδύλης ), Latinized as Demetrius Chalcocondyles and found variously as Demetricocondyles, Chalcocondylas or Chalcondyles (14239 January 1511) was one of the most eminent Gree ...

, now thought to be from 1488. The most important texts of classical Greek and Roman authors were for the most part produced in ''editiones principes'' in the years from 1465 to 1525, following the invention of the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...

around 1440.Briggs, Asa & Burke, Peter (2002) ''A Social History of the Media: from Gutenberg to the Internet'', Cambridge: Polity, pp. 15–23, 61–73. In some cases there were possibilities of partial publication, of publication first in translation (for example from Greek to Latin), and of a usage that simply equates with

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

. For a work with several strands of manuscript tradition that have diverged, such as ''

Piers Plowman ''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative v ...

'', ''editio princeps'' is a less meaningful concept. The term has long been extended by scholars to works not part of the Ancient Greek and Latin literatures. It is also used for legal works, and other significant documents. For full lists of literature works, see: * Editio princeps (Latin) *

Editio princeps (Greek) In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for p ...

* Editio princeps (other languages)

Notable works

The following is a list of notable literature works.

References

{{Authority control Book terminology Textual criticism Textual scholarship History of printing