Medieval writers copied well-phrased passages as reusable tools rather than seeking originality

Evidence

Borges’s stories include “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote,” which imagines a twentieth-century writer who reproduces Don Quixote word for word, claiming his version is more original than Cervantes’s because of the historical distance traveled. The story is, in IP terms, a perfect philosophical detonator of the originality requirement and the idea/expression distinction. — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 2029 (#expands, via linked claim)

It is one of the striking paradoxes in the history of Western culture that the invention of printing had at first an archaicizing effect, as neglected medieval texts were given a much wider circulation than they had achieved when they were first written. (The first books that Caxton printed did not deal with new technology or the latest literary fashions, but were mostly medieval chivalric treatises.) — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 132 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Printing initially amplified medieval texts rather than new knowledge — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists…, 132; Medieval copyists reproduced contradictory views without vouching for them; Medieval authors could innovate while citing only established authorities — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 161 (+3 more)

Related

• Printing initially amplified medieval texts rather than new knowledge (similarity 0.84)
• Identical text can differ in originality depending on authorial context. (similarity 0.84)
• An author’s absorbed influences differ from their own original philosophy (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval authors could innovate while citing only established authorities (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval copyists reproduced contradictory views without vouching for them (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Printing initially amplified medieval texts rather than new knowledge #expands (0.85) — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 132
• Identical text can differ in originality depending on authorial context. #expands (0.85) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 2029
• Medieval panegyric poems were recycled and resold across patrons #exemplifies (0.82)
• Medieval copyists reproduced contradictory views without vouching for them #corroborates (0.80)
• Medieval authors could innovate while citing only established authorities #qualifies (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 161
• Early modern Europe reused medieval texts about Islam rather than writing new ones #exemplifies (0.75)