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The aim of this study is to place the inscriptions found on Athenian vases in the context of the early development of writing in Athens from the time of the invention of the alphabet in the eighth century BC to the early fourth, when the local alphabet had been supplanted by the common Ionic script. Other sources include the inscriptions on stone, both public and private, scratched inscriptions on pottery, among them the political ostraca, and some inscriptions on lead tablets; they are, however, insufficient to give a full picture of actual writing practices in a period from which we have no papyri. Although the vase inscriptions are brief, they number in the thousands, and being autographs of the period, they give a more accurate picture of the art of writing and the state of literacy in the Classical period. This book presents a selection of inscriptions, with many illustrations, that will help students of ancient vase painting to properly appreciate the individuality, writing competence, and level of education of the members of the pottery workshops, and epigraphists to get a better feel for the different styles of the well-known stone inscriptions. Professor Immerwahr has been working for many years on a complete collection of the inscriptions on Attic pottery, which he hopes will help contribute to a wide-ranging study of aspects of ancient life.
