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

, the ''editio princeps'' (

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

: ''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 printed or reproduced i ...

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 print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

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