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Stichometry - a term applied to the measurement of ancient texts ”rows” or verses of a fixed standard length. In poetical works the number of metrical verses was computed; in prose works a standard line had to be taken, for no two scribes would naturally write lines of the same length.
The object of such stichometrical calculations was a commercial one, viz. to assess the pay of the scribe and the market value of the manuscript.
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Jay Kennedy, University of Manchester