Few languages in the world look back on more than 1500 years of uninterrupted written tradition
- Georgian the language of the Christian country south of the Caucasus is one of them. Since
their Christianisation in the fourth century Georgians in constant exchange with neighbouring
peoples have created an immense wealth of literary cultural heritage which has been reflected
in countless handwritten books. To open up this treasure to the interested German-speaking
audience is the task of the present book which was created in close cooperation with the K.
Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts Tbilisi and which is built upon
contributions by numerous authors. From the Manuscript Centre this is first of all the team of
Maia Karanadze Lela Shatirishvili Nestan Chkhikvadze and Tamar Abuladze whose album The
Georgian Manuscript Book: 5th to 19th Centuries (2012) with its rich illustrations has been an
invaluable basis for the present handbook. In addition the Manuscript Centre and its director
Zaza Abashidze provided valuable text contributions in particular a detailed account of the
Georgian scripts authored by Elene Machavariani and a comprehensive treatise on the development
of Georgian scripture compiled by Zurab Chumburidze. Furthermore the present work includes
Georgian-related contributions from the handbook Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies
(Hamburg 2015) for which Bernard Outtier Tamara Pataridze and the present editor are
responsible. The contributions of the many scholars who have been working for decades at the
Manuscript Centre in Georgia or outside cataloguing Georgian manuscripts cannot be specifically
mentioned. Without their preparatory work the publication of this book would have been
impossible.
