Dictatores non scriptores

Abstract

The predominance of dictation over personal writing which can be observed both in antiquity and the early Middle Ages is notable. The practice of mentally composing and then dictating is not an insignificant historical curiosity, but rather an index of the relation of the writer to the written page, which differs considerably from present conceptions. Dictation, as a form of composition, is now an intellectual relic but on further examination it can be perceived as one of the most remarkable chapters in the complex relations which have existed among voice, memory and the written page.