希腊拉丁古文书学概论

　　When， twenty years ago， at the invitation of Messrs. Kegan Paul， Trench， Truebner & Company， I contributed to their International Scientific Series a Handbook of Greek and Latin， Palaeography， I hardly dared to hope that such a work would appeal to more than a limited number of students. Yet， even at that time， the study of Palaeography had begun to take a wider range； and the ever-growing output of photographic reproductions and especially the interest aroused by the recovery of valuable relics of Greek Literature which so frequently were coming to light among the newly-found papyri from Egypt combined to give it a greater stimulus. For this reason， and rather because it happened to be the only book of its kind in the English language than for any particular merit of its own， the Handbook attained a larger circulation than had been anticipated， and served more effectually the purpose， for which it was written， of a general guide to the subject.A certain inconvenience， however， embarrassed the usefulness which might be claimed for the book， almost from the first. The small form of the volume and the moderate price of the Series prohibited illustration on more than a limited scale， and although the facsimiles， as issued， may have proved sufficient as an accompaniment of the text， their value as palaeographical specimens， representing as they did only very small sections of the pages of the MSS. from which they were selected， could not count for much. Moreover， the letter-press being stereotyped， the introduction of new matter in any satis-factory degree was attended with difficulties. Therefore， when， in 1906， a third edition of the Handbook was called for， it was suggested to the publishers that the time had arrived for a fuller treatment of the subject both in text and in illustration. They were， however， of opinion that the Handbook， as it stood， still had its value， at the same time they very handsomely gave me authority to make use of it as a basis for a larger work. I here desire to record my grateful thanks for this concession.

　　托马斯·迪布丁，Thomas Dibdin，1776-1847，英国人，曾就读于牛津的圣约翰学院和林肯律师学院。1804年担任牧师，后长期为斯宾塞伯爵掌管图书馆，成为当时重要的目录学家之一。