Beyond the Colophon: Assessing Roles in Manuscript Production and Acquisition in the Observant Dominican Nunneries of Early-Modern Portuga

In early-sixteenth-century Portugal the quick development of secular manuscript manufacturing, along with the decrease of the monasteries’ production, led to a change in the roles and dynamics of monastic book acquisition. As the study of sixteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts remains in its early days, this paper intends to unveil the internal and external relationships between communities, artisans and patrons concerning book production and acquisition. For this sake, after a more general analysis, I will pay special attention to the case of Observant Dominican nunneries, not only due to their special relation with the written word, but also because their liturgical manuscripts represent a major part of the surviving books from Early-Modern Portugal.