A REVIEW ON MANUSCRIPTOLOGY

A manuscript is a hand written document of scientific, historical, philosophical or aesthetic value, which is at least seventy five years old. The scientific study of manuscripts is called manuscriptology. It includes the steps like collection, conservation, cataloguing, transcription, translation, critical edition and publication of manuscripts. India has an estimate of five million manuscripts, probably the largest collection in the world. These cover various subjects like literature, medicine, philosophy etc. The fact is that, there is a considerable amount of manuscripts still unexplored and unpublished. Manuscripts are subjected to deterioration due to various factors. So it is the need of the hour to conduct exploratory researches on manuscripts. This will aid the preservation of the knowledge unrevealed in ancient manuscripts.