The edition of ancient, medieval, and, on occasion, modern texts is a titanic task

The edition of ancient, medieval, and, on occasion, modern texts is a titanic task. Provided the text was produced by one author, the main question is whether to record all the different versions of the textual creation, if extant, or to single out the “original” text seen either as the absolute beginning of the creative process or its final redaction. In regard to the final redaction by the author, it is necessary to distinguish between his/her former manuscript and the corrections of the text in print and after first print.

Giuseppe Veltri, “From The Best Text To The Pragmatic Edition: On Editing Rabbinic Texts”, in The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature, eds. Reimund Bieringer, Florentino García Martínez, Didier Pollefeyt, Peter Tomson (Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2010), 64.

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