Textual_criticism

context: Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants in either manuscripts or printed books. Ancient scribes made alterations when copying manuscripts by hand. Given a manuscript copy, several or many copies, but not the original document, the textual critic might seek to reconstruct the original text (the archetype or autograph) as closely as possible. The same processes can be used to attempt to reconstruct intermediate versions, or recensions, of a document's transcription history. The ultimate objective of the textual critic's work is the production of a "critical edition" containing a scholarly curated text.
qas: answers: a manuscript copy, several or many copies, but not the original document
question: What type of documents does a textual critic usually analyze?

answers: the production of a "critical edition" containing a scholarly curated text.
question: What is the goal of the textual critic?

answers: philology
question: What is the proper name for textual scholarship?

answers: Ancient scribes made alterations when copying manuscripts by hand
question: Why are there differences in ancient copies of the same text?

answers: recensions
question: What do textual critics call a revised edition of a text?

context: Many ancient works, such as the Bible and the Greek tragedies,[citation needed] survive in hundreds of copies, and the relationship of each copy to the original may be unclear. Textual scholars have debated for centuries which sources are most closely derived from the original, hence which readings in those sources are correct.[citation needed] Although biblical books that are letters, like Greek plays, presumably had one original, the question of whether some biblical books, like the Gospels, ever had just one original has been discussed. Interest in applying textual criticism to the Qur'an has also developed after the discovery of the Sana'a manuscripts in 1972, which possibly date back to the 7–8th centuries.
qas: answers: Qur'an
question: Interest in an analysis of what text has arose in the early 1970's?

answers: biblical books that are letters, like Greek plays, presumably had one original
question: Why are scholars concerned with analysis of the Gospels over the letters?

answers: the question of whether some biblical books, like the Gospels, ever had just one original has been discussed
question: Why is it important for textual critics to analyze the Gospels?

answers: Sana'a manuscripts
question: What manuscripts prompted a textual analysis of the Qur'an

answers: possibly date back to the 7–8th centuries.
question: When were the Sana'a manuscripts probably written?

context: In the English language, the works of Shakespeare have been a particularly fertile ground for textual criticism—both because the texts, as transmitted, contain a considerable amount of variation, and because the effort and expense of producing superior editions of his works have always been widely viewed as worthwhile. The principles of textual criticism, although originally developed and refined for works of antiquity, the Bible, and Shakespeare, have been applied to many works, extending backwards from the present to the earliest known written documents, in Mesopotamia and Egypt—a period of about five millennia. However, the application of textual criticism to non-religious works does not antedate the invention of printing. While Christianity has been relatively receptive to textual criticism, application of it to the Jewish (Masoretic) Torah and the Qur'an is, to the devout, taboo.[citation needed]
qas: answers: the texts, as transmitted, contain a considerable amount of variation,
question: What is one reasons Shakespeare is a good place to focus on textual criticism?

answers: Mesopotamia and Egypt
question: Name two of the oldest civilizations that textual criticism has focused on.

answers: is, to the devout, taboo.
question: Why is there opposition to textual criticism of Jewish and Muslim religious books?

answers: Bible
question: Aside from Shakespeare, what is another book that is a major focus of textual criticism?

answers: a period of about five millennia
question: Over approximately what expanse of time can textual criticism be applied to written works?

context: Maas comments further that "A dictation revised by the author must be regarded as equivalent to an autograph manuscript". The lack of autograph manuscripts applies to many cultures other than Greek and Roman. In such a situation, a key objective becomes the identification of the first exemplar before any split in the tradition. That exemplar is known as the archetype. "If we succeed in establishing the text of [the archetype], the constitutio (reconstruction of the original) is considerably advanced.
qas: answers: identification of the first exemplar
question: What is the first goal when attempting to analyze a new text?

answers: split in the tradition
question: Why is finding the first exemplar important in textual criticism?

answers: the archetype
question: The exemplar is otherwise known as what?

answers: the constitutio
question: The final product of reconstruction is known as what?

context: The textual critic's ultimate objective is the production of a "critical edition".[citation needed] This contains the text that the author has determined most closely approximates the original, and is accompanied by an apparatus criticus or critical apparatus. The critical apparatus presents the author's work in three parts: first, a list or description of the evidence that the editor used (names of manuscripts, or abbreviations called sigla); second, the editor's analysis of that evidence (sometimes a simple likelihood rating),[citation needed]; and third, a record of rejected variants of the text (often in order of preference).[citation needed]
qas: answers: apparatus criticus or critical apparatus
question: What is included in or accompanies in "critical edition"?

answers: presents the author's work in three parts
question: What is the purpose of the critical apparatus?

answers: a "critical edition"
question: What is the goal of the textual critic?

answers: apparatus criticus or critical apparatus.
question: A critical edition of a text is accompanied by what?

answers: a list or description of the evidence that the editor used (names of manuscripts, or abbreviations called sigla)
question: What is included in the first part of the critical apparatus?

answers: the editor's analysis of that evidence (sometimes a simple likelihood rating)
question: What is included in the second part of the critical apparatus?

answers: a record of rejected variants of the text (often in order of preference)
question: What is included in the final part of the critical apparatus?

context: Before mechanical printing, literature was copied by hand, and many variations were introduced by copyists. The age of printing made the scribal profession effectively redundant. Printed editions, while less susceptible to the proliferation of variations likely to arise during manual transmission, are nonetheless not immune to introducing variations from an author's autograph. Instead of a scribe miscopying his source, a compositor or a printing shop may read or typeset a work in a way that differs from the autograph. Since each scribe or printer commits different errors, reconstruction of the lost original is often aided by a selection of readings taken from many sources. An edited text that draws from multiple sources is said to be eclectic. In contrast to this approach, some textual critics prefer to identify the single best surviving text, and not to combine readings from multiple sources.
qas: answers: literature was copied by hand
question: Why are there multiple variations of texts before the advent of the printing press?

answers: not immune to introducing variations from an author's autograph
question: Are printed editions immune to variation?

answers: a compositor or a printing shop may read or typeset a work in a way that differs from the autograph
question: How do differences in works arise when using a printing press?

answers: eclectic.
question: An edited text compiled through many sources is known as what?

context: When comparing different documents, or "witnesses", of a single, original text, the observed differences are called variant readings, or simply variants or readings. It is not always apparent which single variant represents the author's original work. The process of textual criticism seeks to explain how each variant may have entered the text, either by accident (duplication or omission) or intention (harmonization or censorship), as scribes or supervisors transmitted the original author's text by copying it. The textual critic's task, therefore, is to sort through the variants, eliminating those most likely to be un-original, hence establishing a "critical text", or critical edition, that is intended to best approximate the original. At the same time, the critical text should document variant readings, so the relation of extant witnesses to the reconstructed original is apparent to a reader of the critical edition. In establishing the critical text, the textual critic considers both "external" evidence (the age, provenance, and affiliation of each witness) and "internal" or "physical" considerations (what the author and scribes, or printers, were likely to have done).
qas: answers: witnesses
question: Different documents that represent the same original text are called what?

answers: variant readings, or simply variants or readings.
question: What are the variations in the text of witnesses known as?

answers: either by accident (duplication or omission) or intention (harmonization or censorship)
question: How or why do variations enter a witness text?

answers: document variant readings
question: As well as representing the original text, a critical text must also do what?

answers: so the relation of extant witnesses to the reconstructed original is apparent to a reader of the critical edition.
question: Why is it important to document variations in witness texts when compiling a critical text?

context: The collation of all known variants of a text is referred to as a variorum, namely a work of textual criticism whereby all variations and emendations are set side by side so that a reader can track how textual decisions have been made in the preparation of a text for publication. The Bible and the works of William Shakespeare have often been the subjects of variorum editions, although the same techniques have been applied with less frequency to many other works, such as Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, and the prose writings of Edward Fitzgerald.
qas: answers: The collation of all known variants of a text
question: What is a variorum?

answers: so that a reader can track how textual decisions have been made in the preparation of a text for publication
question: What is the purpose of a variorum?

answers: Edward Fitzgerald
question: Name one author who is less frequently the subject of a variorum.

answers: The Bible and the works of William Shakespeare
question: Name two works that are often the subject of a variorum.

context: Eclectic readings also normally give an impression of the number of witnesses to each available reading. Although a reading supported by the majority of witnesses is frequently preferred, this does not follow automatically. For example, a second edition of a Shakespeare play may include an addition alluding to an event known to have happened between the two editions. Although nearly all subsequent manuscripts may have included the addition, textual critics may reconstruct the original without the addition.
qas: answers: an impression of the number of witnesses
question: What is often included in an eclectic reading?

answers: a second edition of a Shakespeare play may include an addition alluding to an event known to have happened between the two editions
question: Why would someone prefer a second edition to a first edition?

answers: textual critics may reconstruct the original without the addition.
question: Do textual critics always include additions found in the majority of subsequent versions of a work?

context: External evidence is evidence of each physical witness, its date, source, and relationship to other known witnesses. Critics will often prefer the readings supported by the oldest witnesses. Since errors tend to accumulate, older manuscripts should have fewer errors. Readings supported by a majority of witnesses are also usually preferred, since these are less likely to reflect accidents or individual biases. For the same reasons, the most geographically diverse witnesses are preferred. Some manuscripts show evidence that particular care was taken in their composition, for example, by including alternative readings in their margins, demonstrating that more than one prior copy (exemplar) was consulted in producing the current one. Other factors being equal, these are the best witnesses. The role of the textual critic is necessary when these basic criteria are in conflict. For instance, there will typically be fewer early copies, and a larger number of later copies. The textual critic will attempt to balance these criteria, to determine the original text.
qas: answers: evidence of each physical witness, its date, source, and relationship to other known witnesses.
question: What is external evidence?

answers: Since errors tend to accumulate, older manuscripts should have fewer errors.
question: Why are older manuscripts preferred?

answers: geographically diverse
question: What characteristic of a compilation of witnesses is the most beneficial to a textual critic?

answers: more than one prior copy (exemplar) was consulted in producing the current one
question: What characteristic of a single witness is the most beneficial to a textual critic?

context: Two common considerations have the Latin names lectio brevior (shorter reading) and lectio difficilior (more difficult reading). The first is the general observation that scribes tended to add words, for clarification or out of habit, more often than they removed them. The second, lectio difficilior potior (the harder reading is stronger), recognizes the tendency for harmonization—resolving apparent inconsistencies in the text. Applying this principle leads to taking the more difficult (unharmonized) reading as being more likely to be the original. Such cases also include scribes simplifying and smoothing texts they did not fully understand.
qas: answers: Applying this principle leads to taking the more difficult (unharmonized) reading as being more likely to be the original.
question: Is a lectio brevrio or lectio difficilior approach more akin to the original text?

answers: scribes tended to add words, for clarification or out of habit
question: What is the main principle of lectio brevior?

answers: shorter reading
question: Define "lectio brevior"

answers: the tendency for harmonization—resolving apparent inconsistencies in the text.
question: What is the main principle of lectio difficilior?

answers: more difficult reading
question: Define "lectio difficilior"

context: Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton J. A. Hort (1828–1892) published an edition of the New Testament in Greek in 1881. They proposed nine critical rules, including a version of Bengel's rule, "The reading is less likely to be original that shows a disposition to smooth away difficulties." They also argued that "Readings are approved or rejected by reason of the quality, and not the number, of their supporting witnesses", and that "The reading is to be preferred that most fitly explains the existence of the others."
qas: answers: They proposed nine critical rules
question: How many rules were proposed in the 1881 publication of the New Testament in Greek?

answers: The reading is less likely to be original that shows a disposition to smooth away difficulties.
question: What is Bengel's rule?

answers: "The reading is to be preferred that most fitly explains the existence of the others."
question: Does ease of reading correlate to accuracy in relation to the original text?

answers: Readings are approved or rejected by reason of the quality, and not the number, of their supporting witnesses
question: What is more important for a textual critic: quality or quantity?

answers: The reading is to be preferred that most fitly explains the existence of the others.
question: What is the criteria needed to include or dismiss a reading when critiquing texts?

context: Since the canons of criticism are highly susceptible to interpretation, and at times even contradict each other, they may be employed to justify a result that fits the textual critic's aesthetic or theological agenda. Starting in the 19th century, scholars sought more rigorous methods to guide editorial judgment. Best-text editing (a complete rejection of eclecticism) became one extreme. Stemmatics and copy-text editing – while both eclectic, in that they permit the editor to select readings from multiple sources – sought to reduce subjectivity by establishing one or a few witnesses presumably as being favored by "objective" criteria.[citation needed] The citing of sources used, and alternate readings, and the use of original text and images helps readers and other critics determine to an extent the depth of research of the critic, and to independently verify their work.
qas: answers: 19th century
question: When did scientists begin searching for a more defined guideline for textual criticism?

answers: The citing of sources used, and alternate readings, and the use of original text and images
question: What inclusion helps readers and critics understand the motivation behind the compiler?

answers: the depth of research of the critic
question: What is a further benefit of including sources, texts and original images in a critique?

answers: justify a result that fits the textual critic's aesthetic or theological agenda
question: Is textual criticism immune to bias on the part of the critic?

context: Stemmatics, stemmology or stemmatology is a rigorous approach to textual criticism. Karl Lachmann (1793–1851) greatly contributed to making this method famous, even though he did not invent it. The method takes its name from the word stemma. The Ancient Greek word στέμματα and its loanword in classical Latin stemmata may refer to "family trees". This specific meaning shows the relationships of the surviving witnesses (the first known example of such a stemma, albeit with the name, dates from 1827). The family tree is also referred to as a cladogram. The method works from the principle that "community of error implies community of origin." That is, if two witnesses have a number of errors in common, it may be presumed that they were derived from a common intermediate source, called a hyparchetype. Relations between the lost intermediates are determined by the same process, placing all extant manuscripts in a family tree or stemma codicum descended from a single archetype. The process of constructing the stemma is called recension, or the Latin recensio.
qas: answers: a rigorous approach to textual criticism
question: What is stemmatics?

answers: The family tree is also referred to as a cladogram.
question: What is a cladogram?

answers: it may be presumed that they were derived from a common intermediate source
question: What is implied when two witnesses have a number of errors in common?

answers: a common intermediate source
question: What is a hyparchetype?

answers: The process of constructing the stemma
question: What is recension?

context: The process of selectio resembles eclectic textual criticism, but applied to a restricted set of hypothetical hyparchetypes. The steps of examinatio and emendatio resemble copy-text editing. In fact, the other techniques can be seen as special cases of stemmatics in which a rigorous family history of the text cannot be determined but only approximated. If it seems that one manuscript is by far the best text, then copy text editing is appropriate, and if it seems that a group of manuscripts are good, then eclecticism on that group would be proper.
qas: answers: examinatio and emendatio
question: Which steps most closely resembles copy-text editing?

answers: copy text editing
question: What process is best used when only one manuscript is viable?

answers: eclecticism
question: What process is best used when there are a number of viable manuscripts available?

context: The critic Joseph Bédier (1864–1938) launched a particularly withering attack on stemmatics in 1928. He surveyed editions of medieval French texts that were produced with the stemmatic method, and found that textual critics tended overwhelmingly to produce trees divided into just two branches. He concluded that this outcome was unlikely to have occurred by chance, and that therefore, the method was tending to produce bipartite stemmas regardless of the actual history of the witnesses. He suspected that editors tended to favor trees with two branches, as this would maximize the opportunities for editorial judgment (as there would be no third branch to "break the tie" whenever the witnesses disagreed). He also noted that, for many works, more than one reasonable stemma could be postulated, suggesting that the method was not as rigorous or as scientific as its proponents had claimed.
qas: answers: critics tended overwhelmingly to produce trees divided into just two branches.
question: What was Joseph Bédier's main criticism of the stemmatic method?

answers: the method was tending to produce bipartite stemmas regardless of the actual history of the witnesses.
question: Why is a methos that only produces two branches seen as inferior?

answers: editors tended to favor trees with two branches
question: To what did Joseph Bédier attribute the prevalence of the stemmatic method?

answers: this would maximize the opportunities for editorial judgment
question: Why would editors only want two alternative branches when analyzing a text?

answers: the method was not as rigorous or as scientific as its proponents had claimed.
question: What was the final implication of Joseph Bédier's analysis of the stemmatic method?

context: The stemmatic method's final step is emendatio, also sometimes referred to as "conjectural emendation." But in fact, the critic employs conjecture at every step of the process. Some of the method's rules that are designed to reduce the exercise of editorial judgment do not necessarily produce the correct result. For example, where there are more than two witnesses at the same level of the tree, normally the critic will select the dominant reading. However, it may be no more than fortuitous that more witnesses have survived that present a particular reading. A plausible reading that occurs less often may, nevertheless, be the correct one.
qas: answers: emendatio
question: What is the last step in the stemmatic method?

answers: the critic employs conjecture at every step of the process
question: At what point can a critic using the stemmatic become less concerned with critical analysis?

answers: , it may be no more than fortuitous that more witnesses have survived that present a particular reading
question: Why may the dominant reading may be the weaker reading?

context: The bibliographer Ronald B. McKerrow introduced the term copy-text in his 1904 edition of the works of Thomas Nashe, defining it as "the text used in each particular case as the basis of mine." McKerrow was aware of the limitations of the stemmatic method, and believed it was more prudent to choose one particular text that was thought to be particularly reliable, and then to emend it only where the text was obviously corrupt. The French critic Joseph Bédier likewise became disenchanted with the stemmatic method, and concluded that the editor should choose the best available text, and emend it as little as possible.
qas: answers: 1904
question: When was the term copy-text introduced?

answers: the text used in each particular case as the basis of mine
question: What was the initial definition of copy-text?

answers: choose one particular text that was thought to be particularly reliable, and then to emend it only where the text was obviously corrupt.
question: Explain the process used by McKerrow as an alternative to the stemmaic method

context: By 1939, in his Prolegomena for the Oxford Shakespeare, McKerrow had changed his mind about this approach, as he feared that a later edition – even if it contained authorial corrections – would "deviate more widely than the earliest print from the author's original manuscript." He therefore concluded that the correct procedure would be "produced by using the earliest "good" print as copy-text and inserting into it, from the first edition which contains them, such corrections as appear to us to be derived from the author." But, fearing the arbitrary exercise of editorial judgment, McKerrow stated that, having concluded that a later edition had substantive revisions attributable to the author, "we must accept all the alterations of that edition, saving any which seem obvious blunders or misprints."
qas: answers: deviate more widely than the earliest print from the author's original manuscript."
question: Why did McKerrow alter his previous method of criticism?

answers: inserting into it, from the first edition which contains them, such corrections as appear to us to be derived from the author."
question: How did McKerrow alter his approach to copy-text analysis?

answers: we must accept all the alterations of that edition, saving any which seem obvious blunders or misprints
question: What did McKerrow concede about his new copy-text method?

answers: Prolegomena for the Oxford Shakespeare
question: What work was the first to see McKerrow use his new method?

context: Although Greg argued that an editor should be free to use his judgment to choose between competing substantive readings, he suggested that an editor should defer to the copy-text when "the claims of two readings ... appear to be exactly balanced. ... In such a case, while there can be no logical reason for giving preference to the copy-text, in practice, if there is no reason for altering its reading, the obvious thing seems to be to let it stand." The "exactly balanced" variants are said to be indifferent.
qas: answers: the claims of two readings ... appear to be exactly balanced
question: Are there times when an editor's judgement should be deferred?

answers: if there is no reason for altering its reading, the obvious thing seems to be to let it stand.
question: What should one do when two readings are contradictory but balanced?

answers: indifferent
question: What do editors call variants that are exactly balanced?

context: Whereas Greg had limited his illustrative examples to English Renaissance drama, where his expertise lay, Bowers argued that the rationale was "the most workable editorial principle yet contrived to produce a critical text that is authoritative in the maximum of its details whether the author be Shakespeare, Dryden, Fielding, Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Stephen Crane. The principle is sound without regard for the literary period." For works where an author's manuscript survived – a case Greg had not considered – Bowers concluded that the manuscript should generally serve as copy-text. Citing the example of Nathaniel Hawthorne, he noted:
qas: answers: The principle is sound without regard for the literary period.
question: Is the idea formed by Greg limited to a specific time period?

answers: the manuscript should generally serve as copy-text
question: What will an editor do in the case where an author's work was not wiped out?

answers: English Renaissance drama
question: What where the limitations of Greg's analyses?

answers: works where an author's manuscript survived
question: What is the main criticism of Greg's work?

context: McKerrow had articulated textual criticism's goal in terms of "our ideal of an author's fair copy of his work in its final state". Bowers asserted that editions founded on Greg's method would "represent the nearest approximation in every respect of the author's final intentions." Bowers stated similarly that the editor's task is to "approximate as nearly as possible an inferential authorial fair copy." Tanselle notes that, "Textual criticism ... has generally been undertaken with a view to reconstructing, as accurately as possible, the text finally intended by the author".
qas: answers: our ideal of an author's fair copy of his work in its final state
question: What are editors trying to ultimately accomplish?

answers: approximate as nearly as possible an inferential authorial fair copy
question: If an editor can't achieve an exact reproduction of an authors work, what should be the goal?

answers: represent the nearest approximation in every respect of the author's final intentions
question: What did Bower's say about Greg's method?

answers: has generally been undertaken with a view to reconstructing, as accurately as possible, the text finally intended by the author
question: What did Tanselle say about textual criticism?

context: Bowers and Tanselle argue for rejecting textual variants that an author inserted at the suggestion of others. Bowers said that his edition of Stephen Crane's first novel, Maggie, presented "the author's final and uninfluenced artistic intentions." In his writings, Tanselle refers to "unconstrained authorial intention" or "an author's uninfluenced intentions." This marks a departure from Greg, who had merely suggested that the editor inquire whether a later reading "is one that the author can reasonably be supposed to have substituted for the former", not implying any further inquiry as to why the author had made the change.
qas: answers: Bowers and Tanselle
question: Who argued against works where the author listens to input from others?

answers: Tanselle
question: Who wanted to determine why an author made changes to a work?

answers: a later reading "is one that the author can reasonably be supposed to have substituted for the former
question: Does Greg believe a later work can be substituted for a earlier one?

answers: unconstrained authorial intention
question: What idea did Tanselle champion?

context: Bowers confronted a similar problem in his edition of Maggie. Crane originally printed the novel privately in 1893. To secure commercial publication in 1896, Crane agreed to remove profanity, but he also made stylistic revisions. Bowers's approach was to preserve the stylistic and literary changes of 1896, but to revert to the 1893 readings where he believed that Crane was fulfilling the publisher's intention rather than his own. There were, however, intermediate cases that could reasonably have been attributed to either intention, and some of Bowers's choices came under fire – both as to his judgment, and as to the wisdom of conflating readings from the two different versions of Maggie.
qas: answers: remove profanity, but he also made stylistic revisions
question: What alterations did Crane make to secure commercial publication?

answers: to preserve the stylistic and literary changes of 1896
question: What was Bower's first step in editing multiple works into a single product?

answers: to revert to the 1893 readings where he believed that Crane was fulfilling the publisher's intention rather than his own
question: What was Bower's second step in editing multiple works into a single product?

answers: his judgment
question: What was one of the criticisms Bowers faced after editing Maggie?

answers: 1896
question: I what year was Maggie printed for commercial use?

answers: to preserve the stylistic and literary changes of 1896,
question: What was the first step Bowers took in editing a single work with two versions?

answers: to revert to the 1893 readings where he believed that Crane was fulfilling the publisher's intention
question: What was the second step Bowers took in editing a single work with two versions?

answers: to remove profanity, but he also made stylistic revisions
question: What changes were made for the commercial publication of Maggie?

answers: 1893
question: When was Maggie first published?

context: Some critics believe that a clear-text edition gives the edited text too great a prominence, relegating textual variants to appendices that are difficult to use, and suggesting a greater sense of certainty about the established text than it deserves. As Shillingsburg notes, "English scholarly editions have tended to use notes at the foot of the text page, indicating, tacitly, a greater modesty about the "established" text and drawing attention more forcibly to at least some of the alternative forms of the text".
qas: answers: appendices that are difficult to use,
question: Are appendices easy to use for the average reader?

answers: suggesting a greater sense of certainty about the established text than it deserves
question: Can a reader be certain of the validity of information found in a clear-text edition?

answers: notes at the foot of the text page
question: How do most editors work around the reference problems of clear-text editing?

answers: appendices
question: Where can a reader find more information on text variants after noticing a footnote?

context: Cladistics is a technique borrowed from biology, where it was originally named phylogenetic systematics by Willi Hennig. In biology, the technique is used to determine the evolutionary relationships between different species. In its application in textual criticism, the text of a number of different manuscripts is entered into a computer, which records all the differences between them. The manuscripts are then grouped according to their shared characteristics. The difference between cladistics and more traditional forms of statistical analysis is that, rather than simply arranging the manuscripts into rough groupings according to their overall similarity, cladistics assumes that they are part of a branching family tree and uses that assumption to derive relationships between them. This makes it more like an automated approach to stemmatics. However, where there is a difference, the computer does not attempt to decide which reading is closer to the original text, and so does not indicate which branch of the tree is the "root"—which manuscript tradition is closest to the original. Other types of evidence must be used for that purpose.
qas: answers: to determine the evolutionary relationships between different species
question: What is the biological basis for Cladistics?

answers: manuscripts are then grouped according to their shared characteristics
question: How is evolution applied to textual criticism?

answers: cladistics assumes that they are part of a branching family tree
question: How is cladistics similar to the stemmatic method?

answers: does not indicate which branch of the tree is the "root"
question: What is the main difference between cladistics and stemmatics?

context: Although some earlier unpublished studies had been prepared, not until the early 1970s was true textual criticism applied to the Book of Mormon. At that time BYU Professor Ellis Rasmussen and his associates were asked by the LDS Church to begin preparation for a new edition of the Holy Scriptures. One aspect of that effort entailed digitizing the text and preparing appropriate footnotes, another aspect required establishing the most dependable text. To that latter end, Stanley R. Larson (a Rasmussen graduate student) set about applying modern text critical standards to the manuscripts and early editions of the Book of Mormon as his thesis project – which he completed in 1974. To that end, Larson carefully examined the Original Manuscript (the one dictated by Joseph Smith to his scribes) and the Printer’s Manuscript (the copy Oliver Cowdery prepared for the Printer in 1829–1830), and compared them with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd editions of the Book of Mormon to determine what sort of changes had occurred over time and to make judgments as to which readings were the most original. Larson proceeded to publish a useful set of well-argued articles on the phenomena which he had discovered. Many of his observations were included as improvements in the 1981 LDS edition of the Book of Mormon.
qas: answers: the early 1970s
question: When did textual criticism applied to the Book of Mormon?

answers: digitizing the text and preparing appropriate footnotes
question: What was one portion of preparing a new edition of the Holy Scriptures?

answers: applying modern text critical standards to the manuscripts
question: How was the most reliable version of the Holy Scriptures determined?

answers: 1974
question: When did Larson finish his project?

answers: Larson
question: Whose observations were included in the 1981 publication of the Book of Mormon?

context: By 1979, with the establishment of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) as a California non-profit research institution, an effort led by Robert F. Smith began to take full account of Larson’s work and to publish a Critical Text of the Book of Mormon. Thus was born the FARMS Critical Text Project which published the first volume of the 3-volume Book of Mormon Critical Text in 1984. The third volume of that first edition was published in 1987, but was already being superseded by a second, revised edition of the entire work, greatly aided through the advice and assistance of then Yale doctoral candidate Grant Hardy, Dr. Gordon C. Thomasson, Professor John W. Welch (the head of FARMS), Professor Royal Skousen, and others too numerous to mention here. However, these were merely preliminary steps to a far more exacting and all-encompassing project.
qas: answers: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
question: What is FARMS?

answers: Robert F. Smith
question: Who spearheaded the Critical Text of the Book of Mormon project?

answers: the first volume of the 3-volume Book of Mormon Critical Text in 1984. The third volume of that first edition was published in 1987
question: How many years did it take to publish all three volumes of the Book of Mormon Critical Text?

answers: The third volume of that first edition was published in 1987, but was already being superseded by a second, revised edition of the entire work
question: Was the third volume of the first edition deemed sufficient?

answers: Professor John W. Welch
question: Who is the head of FARMS?

context: In 1988, with that preliminary phase of the project completed, Professor Skousen took over as editor and head of the FARMS Critical Text of the Book of Mormon Project and proceeded to gather still scattered fragments of the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon and to have advanced photographic techniques applied to obtain fine readings from otherwise unreadable pages and fragments. He also closely examined the Printer’s Manuscript (owned by the Community of Christ—RLDS Church in Independence, Missouri) for differences in types of ink or pencil, in order to determine when and by whom they were made. He also collated the various editions of the Book of Mormon down to the present to see what sorts of changes have been made through time.
qas: answers: 1988
question: When was phase one completed?

answers: Professor Skousen
question: Who took over after the preliminary phase?

answers: to obtain fine readings
question: Why did Professor Skousen gather fragments and have them analyzed?

answers: advanced photographic techniques
question: What process what used to study the gathered fragments?

answers: Printer’s Manuscript
question: On what did Skousen analyze ink and pencil remnants?

context: Shemaryahu Talmon, who summarized the amount of consensus and genetic relation to the Urtext of the Hebrew Bible, concluded that major divergences which intrinsically affect the sense are extremely rare. As far as the Hebrew Bible referenced by Old Testament is concerned, almost all of the textual variants are fairly insignificant and hardly affect any doctrine. Professor Douglas Stuart states: "It is fair to say that the verses, chapters, and books of the Bible would read largely the same, and would leave the same impression with the reader, even if one adopted virtually every possible alternative reading to those now serving as the basis for current English translations."
qas: answers: extremely rare
question: How common are variations in text that alter the meaning of the Urtext of the Hebrew Bible?

answers: hardly affect any doctrine
question: To what degree do variations in the Old Testament alter the meaning?

answers: Professor Douglas Stuart
question: Who claims that the Old Testament is essentially the same throughout all variations?

answers: virtually every possible alternative reading
question: How many variations of the Old Testament offer the same meaning?

context: While textual criticism developed into a discipline of thorough analysis of the Bible — both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament — scholars also use it to determine the original content of classic texts, such as Plato's Republic. There are far fewer witnesses to classical texts than to the Bible, so scholars can use stemmatics and, in some cases, copy text editing. However, unlike the New Testament where the earliest witnesses are within 200 years of the original, the earliest existing manuscripts of most classical texts were written about a millennium after their composition. All things being equal, textual scholars expect that a larger time gap between an original and a manuscript means more changes in the text.
qas: answers: There are far fewer witnesses to classical texts than to the Bible
question: Does the Bible or Plato's Republic have more witnesses?

answers: within 200 years
question: What's the gap between original Christian texts and subsequent editions of the same works?

answers: about a millennium after their composition
question: What's the gap between original classical texts and subsequent editions of the same works?

answers: a larger time gap between an original and a manuscript means more changes in the text.
question: How does the expanse of time correlate to authenticity with regard to original and subsequent versions of texts?

context: Scientific and critical editions can be protected by copyright as works of authorship if enough creativity/originality is provided. The mere addition of a word, or substitution of a term with another one believed to be more correct, usually does not achieve such level of originality/creativity. All the notes accounting for the analysis and why and how such changes have been made represent a different work autonomously copyrightable if the other requirements are satisfied. In the European Union critical and scientific editions may be protected also by the relevant neighboring right that protects critical and scientific publications of public domain works as made possible by art. 5 of the Copyright Term Directive. Not all EU member States have transposed art. 5 into national law.
qas: answers: if enough creativity/originality is provided
question: What is the criteria for copyright?

answers: The mere addition of a word, or substitution of a term with another one believed to be more correct
question: What minor things can be included and not invalidate a copyright?

answers: All the notes accounting for the analysis and why and how such changes have been made represent a different work autonomously copyrightable
question: Are footnotes included in the copyright of the original work?

answers: the relevant neighboring right that protects critical and scientific publications of public domain works
question: What rights do scientific publications in the EU enjoy?