Erasing and Rewriting in Manuscript Cultures: Practices of Text Obliteration and Manuscript Reuse in a Global Perspective

Across the most diverse societies, the reuse of writing surfaces in contexts such as learning to write, note-taking, literary creation, and bookkeeping has been not only desirable but essential to optimising resources. In these contexts, it has been typical to use erasable media of various kinds – a practice which in turn has had important implications for palaeography, literary creation, and virtually every aspect related to writing. Manuscript cultures addressed the quest for rewritabilit...