About 3000 Manuscripts of Classical Authors Survive from the 9th to 12th Centuries (Circa 800)

From roughly 800 forward, as a result of the Carolingian Renaissance,

"there is a continuous if irregular growth in the number of classical manuscripts in circulation, an increase in the range of authors available, and an extension of the geographical areas in which they could be found. . . . It is impossible to assess the growth in the volume of books in circulation without a complete catalogue of all surviving classical manuscripts" (Reynolds, Texts and Transmission [1983] xxvi).

♦ Reynolds states in a footnote on the same page that a catalogue in publication of known manuscripts of classical authors written from the ninth to twelfth centuries will describe about 3000 manuscripts. This is more than ten times the number of manuscripts available from the period prior to 800.