An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe[ Oxford English Dictionary 3rd ed. (2003)]
In some Academy contexts, an amanuensis can assist an injury or disability person in taking written examinations. Eric Fenby acted as such in assisting the blind and paralysed composer Frederick Delius in writing down the Musical notation he dictated.[Eric Fenby (1936) Delius as I Knew Him, G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London]
History
In
ancient Rome, an amanuensis (Latin
āmanuēnsis, “secretary”, from
ab-, “from” +
manus, “hand”
) was a slave or freedperson who provided literary and secretarial services such as taking dictation and perhaps assisting in composition.
Amanuenses were typically Greek, might be either male or female,
[Susan Treggiari, "Jobs for Women", American Journal of Ancient History 1 (1976), p. 78.] and were among the higher-status slaves in ancient Rome who were considered to add value
to their masters' lives rather than serving as mere instruments of production.
Literary slaves had certain privileges under the law and could be manumitted at a younger age.
[W. Martin Bloomer, “Schooling in Persona: Imagination and Subordination in Roman Education”, Classical Antiquity 16:1 (1997), p. 76, n. 44, citing K. Bradley, Slaves and Masters in the Roman Empire (1984), p. 92, with reference to Gaius, Institutes 1.19; 39.]
Amanuenses played an extensive role in medieval writing and the dissemination of texts. Visionary in particular relied on amanuenses to translate their experiences into written form.[Eileen Gardiner, introduction to Medieval Visions of Heaven and Hell: A Sourcebook (Garland, 1993), p. xxvi.] One question in studies of the Christian mystic Margery Kempe, not known to have received a formal education, is the extent to which her amanuenses shaped her self-titled book, completed in 1438.[Rory G. Critten, Author, Scribe, and Book in Late Medieval English Literature (D. S. Brewer, 2018), p. 77.] The work of the amanuensis when the author was minimally or not literate likely involved taking dictation, reading back, getting feedback from the author for revision, and possibly shaping the text further during transcription.[William Provost, "The English Religious Enthusiast", in Medieval Women Writers (University of Georgia Press, 1984), p. 297.] An amanuensis might bring literary polish to visionary experience, as Adam of Eynsham, for instance, is thought to have drawn on the of the Aeneid to shape the "rather rambling and confused" visions of his brother Edmund.[Diane Cady, "Issues of Sexuality, Gender and Ethnicity", in The Medieval British Literature Handbook (Continuum, 2009), p. 207.]
Other uses
In
Finland, an
amanuenssi is an administrative employee of a university, research institution or museum. In Finnish universities, amanuenses can be involved with student guidance counseling, organising course activities, etc.
Job titles
In French, the term "Écrivain Public" (Public Writer) help people to write personal or professional things according to the client.
See also
Notes
Further reading
-
Deissmann, G. Adolf. Bible Studies. Trans. Alexander Grieve. 1901. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1988.
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Doty, William G. Letters in Primitive Christianity. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. New Testament. Ed. Dan O. Via Jr. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.
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Gamble, Harry Y. “Amanuensis.” Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol. 1. Ed. David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
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Longenecker, Richard N. “Ancient Amanuenses and the Pauline Epistles.” New Dimensions in New Testament Study. Eds. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. 281–97. idem, “On the Form, Function, and Authority of the New Testament Letters.” Scripture and Truth. Eds. D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983. 101–14.
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Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome. Paul the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1995.
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Richards, E. Randolph. The Secretary in the Letters of Paul. Tübingen: Mohr, 1991. idem, “The Codex and the Early Collection of Paul’s Letters.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 8 (1998): 151–66. idem, Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition, and Collection. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004.
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Stowers, Stanley K. Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity. Library of Early Christianity. Vol. 8. Ed. Wayne A. Meeks. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1989.
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Wall, Robert W. “Introduction to Epistolary Literature.” New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 10. Ed. Leander E. Keck. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002. 369–91.
External links
