Editing Manuscript (section)

{{short description|Document written by hand}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{tone|date=May 2025}}
[[File:Codex Bruchsal 1 68r.jpg|thumb|right|[[Christ Pantocrator]] seated in a capital "U" in an [[illuminated manuscript]] from the Badische Landesbibliothek, Germany (from {{c.|1220}}).]]
[[File:De urinarum differencia negocium between 1210 and 1230 ..JPG|thumb|right|Image of two facing pages of the illuminated manuscript of "Isagoge", fols. 42b and 43a. On the top of the left hand page is an illuminated letter "D" – initial of "De urinarum differencia negocium" (The matter of the differences of urines). Inside the letter is a picture of a master on bench pointing at a raised flask while lecturing on the "Book on urines" of Theophilus. The right hand page is only shown in part. On its very bottom is an illuminated letter "U" – initial of "Urina ergo est colamentum sanguinis" (Urine is the filtrate of the blood). Inside the letter is a picture of a master holding up a flask while explaining the diagnostic significance of urine to a student or a patient. HMD Collection, MS E 78.]]
[[File:Illuminated letter U between 1210 and 1230 ..JPG|thumb|right|Inside the letter is a picture of a master in cathedra expounding on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. Initial "V" rendered as "U" of "Vita brevis, ars vero longa", or "Life is short, but the art is long". "Isagoge", fol. 15b. HMD Collection, MS E 78.]]

A '''manuscript''' (abbreviated '''MS''' for singular and '''MSS''' for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or [[typewritten]], as opposed to mechanically [[printing|printed]] or reproduced in some indirect or automated way.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manuscript|title=Definition of MANUSCRIPT|website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=15 April 2018|archive-date=18 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018192258/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manuscript|url-status=live}}</ref> More recently, the term has come to be understood to further include ''any'' written, typed, or word-processed copy of an author's work, as distinguished from the rendition as a printed version of the same.<ref>{{OED|manuscript}}</ref>

Before the arrival of prints, all documents and books were manuscripts. Manuscripts are not defined by their contents, which may combine writing with mathematical calculations, maps, [[music notation]], explanatory figures, or illustrations.