Which of the following is not a step in textual criticism?

• A. Collation
• B. Emendation
• C. Restoration
• D. Creation

Answer: (D)

Textual criticism aims to recover the original wording by examining manuscript evidence. Collation is the process of comparing different copies to note all variants and mistakes across manuscripts. Emendation involves making careful, reasoned corrections to a reading that seems erroneous, guided by language patterns, style, and other readings. Restoration is what you do to reconstruct missing or damaged portions, using internal clues and external witnesses to infer what the author likely wrote. Creation, by contrast, would mean composing a new text from scratch, which is not how textual criticism proceeds; the discipline seeks to recover and present the text as it most likely existed, not to invent new content. Therefore, creation is not a step in textual criticism.