Before Palaeography

How far can we rely on statements made about the age of Greek manuscripts before the time of Mabillon and Montfaucon, when the systematic study of palaeography had not yet come into being? I pose the question not merely out of curiosity, but also because it has some bearing on the history of texts, as one or two of my examples will show. Of course it is far too general a question to admit of a precise answer, but I think there are at least some rough criteria by which we can evaluate the remarks about dating that are scattered here and there in scholia, on flyleaves and in the prolegomena to early printed editions. The first point that emerges from a study of notes of this kind, other than actual subscriptions, 1 is that they are normally very general, employing such terms as antiquus , vetustus , in what appears to be a quite non-technical way.