Guardians of Letters

"Who were the scribes that copied early Christian literature during the second and third centuries? What roles did they play in the reprodcution and dissemination of these writings?" "Kim Haines-Eitzen sets out to answer these questions using evidence from early Christian literature as well as the earliest Christian papyri. The form, physical features, and textual characteristics of these documents all feature as clues. She demonstractes that the copyists of early Christian literature were also the users of this literature, and that they formed private networks to facilitate its transmission." "The first study devoted exclusively to the copyists of Christian literature during the second and third centuries, Guardians of Letters will be of interest to students and scholars of Christianity, including textual critics of the New Testament and other early Christian literature as well as scholars interested in the transition and iterpretation of early Christian literature."--Jacket.