Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Christ's College, MS Rouse 298

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11816

Contents

Introduction: This Gospel lectionary manuscript, probably copied in the 11th century, belongs to the briefer of the two main types, the "Saturday-Sunday" lectionary, giving the lections for Saturdays and Sundays only, except for Holy Week and the period from Easter to Pentecost, for which weekdays are also included. The manuscript has suffered heavily over the course of its existence, and been extensively reshaped by damage, repair and reconstruction. There is good reason to think that this process began early in its history. While the vast majority of it was written by a single scribe on the same sort of parchment, ruled in a consistent pattern and decorated in a single style, there is a sequence of eight folios where the copyist's hand, material, ruling pattern and ornament are all different (ff. 10r-17v). One may reasonably suppose that these always formed a quire, though clear evidence is lacking. In any case, it seems clear that they were introduced to replace leaves that had been lost or severely damaged. The style of script, however, suggests a date not long after the original production of the manuscript, although a degree of caution must be exercised, given the possibility that these folios were copied in a deliberately archaic style so as to harmonise with the rest of the manuscript. Later in the volume is a sequence of three more replacement folios, written on paper by a very different hand. This replacement was probably made in the later 14th century, given the affinities of the script and watermark, although the latter is of an unusual type to which close parallels have not been identified (ff. 92r-94v). In the former case, there may originally have been a longer stretch of replacement material, since the folios directly either side of this portion are missing; in the latter, they fill the whole of the lacuna into which they were inserted. Overall, these replacements account for only a small proportion of the total losses, which include the whole of the last few months of the menologion (lection sequence for the fixed calendar, starting from September), and many parts of the preceding synaxarion (lection sequence for the movable calendar, starting from Easter), scattered through the volume. The two larger ornamental headpieces belonging to the surviving folios and three of the smaller ones have been deliberately cut out. Many of these losses probably occurred in the late 19th or early 20th century, as the manuscript's donor, W.H.D. Rouse, recorded in a note on f. [i] recto that when he bought the manuscript on Kos in 1906, its folios were being indvidually sold off for use as charms. While being used for this purpose it was obviously unbound, and the leaves sold were clearly selected haphazardly, presumably accounting for the fragmented survival of the early part of the manuscript. Rouse had the remaining folios bound, but they were not organised with sufficient care, as the current ff. 1-19 are in entirely the wrong order. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: ii + 203 + ii leaves. 285 × 225 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i-ii] + 1-121, [121a], 122-134, [134a], 135-201 + [iii-iv], in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right. f. [121a] is the stub of a torn folio which has not been included in the foliation, so from this point the folio numbers are too small by one; f. [134a] is a complete folio but has been omitted from the foliation; from this point the folio numbers are too small by two.

Collation

See Part I for the treatment of the disjointed quire structure. Part II appears here as Quire 10, and Part III as Quire 25: 1-91, 108, 11-121, 133, 141, 15-178, 186, 1910, 202, 21-238, 242, 253, 264, 2712, 28-296, 3012, 316, 3210, 332, 34-398, 358-5

Additions

On f. [i] recto is a note by W.H.D. Rouse regarding his acquisition of the manuscript: ‘W.H.D. Rouse 1906 Bought by me in Cos & bound by Mr Gray. When I came across this, owner was selling it at the price of one "franc" per leaf, to use as charms.’ Notes in other hands here state that ff. 92-94 come from another manuscript and give the former classmark GG.2.12. Notes on the left pastedown give the current and former classmarks and record the manuscript's donation: ‘Presented by Dr Rouse June 12th 1940’.

Binding

Bound by J.P. Gray and Son in Cambridge in 1906, as recorded by Rouse's note and a stamp inside the left board. Green full leather covering over couched-laminate boards, with plain pastedowns. There is decorative gold tooling on both boards, and the title ‘Greek Lectionary MS’ tooled in gold on the spine.

305 × 244 × 69 mm.

Accompanying Material

A number of papers are inserted inside the left board: notes of the content of ff. 1r-11v by William Elliott, dated 2 December 1987; a photocopy of a letter from Elliott to the Librarian regarding the notable features of the manuscript, dated 20 January 1988; photocopies of f. 29v and one of the boards; a photocopy of the entry for this manuscript in Easterling, "Greek manuscripts in Cambridge"; a bibliographical reference for this excerpt; and a card bearing the partial classmark GG2.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Bought by the classicist and teacher W.H.D. Rouse (1863-1950) , Honorary Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, on Kos in 1906.

Presented to Christ's College by Rouse, 12 June 1940.

Part 1 [Cambridge, Christ's College, MS Rouse 298, ff. 1-9, 18-91, 95-201]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-9v, 18r-201v
Gospel lectionary (Saturdays and Sundays)

Gregory-Aland l 1984

Defective at the beginning and end, with lacunas. The folios are bound in the wrong order. The correct order (with semicolons indicating lacunas) runs ff. 4, 8, 6, 7, 9, 5; 10-17 (see Part II); 18; 19; 2, 3; 20-39; 40-47; 48-61; 62-63; 64-91, 92-94 (see Part III), 95-121, 121a, 122-134, [134a], 135-150; 151-201, 1. Begins during the lection for Easter Sunday (Jn 1:17); ends during the lection for 6 March (Mt 20:15)

Incipit: || f. 4r ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια· διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο
Explicit: f. 1v ὃ θέλω ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς εἰ ὁ||
1.1. ff. 1r-9v, 18r-23r
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of John

Defective at the beginning, with lacunas, bound out of order (see above for correct order of folios). Due to the loss of folios from the manuscript, replacement leaves were later inserted to restore this text, now ff. 10-17 (see Part II)

f. 23v is blank

1.2. ff. 24r-47v
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Matthew

Defective at the end

1.3. ff. 48r-73r
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Luke

Defective at the beginning, with lacunas

f. 73v is blank

1.4. ff. 74r-84v, col. b, line 2
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Mark (Lent)

Incomplete, with a small lacuna

1.5. f. 84v-col. b, line 3-f. 91v, ff. 95r-150v
Synaxarion: Lections of Holy Week

Defective at the end, with lacunas

Apparently due to the loss of folios from the manuscript, replacement leaves were later inserted to restore this text, now ff. 92-94 (see Part III)

1.6. ff. 151r-161v
Menologion: Lections for September

Incomplete, with a lacuna

1.7. ff. 162r-169v
Menologion: Lections for October
1.8. ff. 169v-172v
Menologion: Lections for November
1.9. ff. 172v-185v
Menologion: Lections for December
1.10. ff. 185v-197r
Menologion: Lections for January
1.11. ff. 197r-201v
Menologion: Lections for February
1.12. f. 201v
Menologion: Lections for March

Defective at the end

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

The loss of many folios, the dismantling of quires among those that remain and the out-of-order binding of the early folios have destroyed the original quire structure, which cannot be reconstructed in the absence of quire signatures or catchwords. From f. 24 onwards, the visible stitching enables the current structure to be identified. This is made up of quires of variable lengths sometimes containing non-consecutive folios where others in between have been lost. Only towards the end of the manuscript does a continuous run of quaternia composed of consecutive folios suggest that the original quire structure has survived. In the early part of the manuscript, made up largely of isolated single leaves and many attached in an erroneous order on paper stubs, it has not been possible to group folios into a current quire structure, and they have been treated as autonomous entities, except where a brief consecutive run exists (ff. 20-23), which has been treated conjecturally as a portion of a single original quire, though these folios may in fact span two adjacent quires.

  • Quires 1-91 ff. 1-9 These single leaves, detached from their original quires, are bound out of order, attached to paper stubs.
  • Quires 11-121 ff. 18-19 These are also single leaves detached from their original quires.
  • Quire 138-4 ff. 20-23 The first four leaves have been lost, with loss of text.
  • Quires 14-158 ff. 24-39
  • Quire 168 ff. 40-47 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 176 ff. 48-53 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 1810 ff. 54-63 These leaves are bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire; the last two leaves are not consecutive with those that precede them.
  • Quire 192 ff. 64-65 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quires 20-228 ff. 66-89
  • Quire 232 ff. 90-91 These leaves are consecutive, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 254 ff. 95-98 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire. Three blank, unnumbered paper stubs follow.
  • Quire 2612 ff. 99-110 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 276 ff. 111-116 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 286 ff. 117-[121a] These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 2912 ff. 122-133 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 306 ff. 134-138 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 3110 ff. 139-148 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quire 322 ff. 149-150 These leaves are consecutive and bound as a quire, but do not correspond to a single original quire.
  • Quires 33-388 ff. 151-198
  • Quire 398-5 ff. 199-201 The last five folios have been lost, with loss of text. Small stubs of three following folios survive, with paper stubs attached.

Condition

Most of f. [121a] has been torn away. The outer half of f. 73 has been cut away; the lower margin has also been removed, and repaired with a parchment patch. Parts of ff. 24, 74, 151, 197 and 201 have been cut away to remove decorations; the gaps in f. 197 and 201 have been repaired with paper patches. The edges of many folios have suffered losses, quite substantial in ff. 4-9, 19, 123 and 175, but mainly confined to the margins. These have been repaired with paper patches. There are smaller tears to the edges elsewhere. A loss from the upper outer corner of f. 4, which has caused some loss of text, was repaired earlier with a parchment patch, on which replacement text has been written. The same applies to f. 8v, where the patch had at some point become detached and reattached in a modern repair using Japanese paper. Damage to the text from abrasion on ff. 4v-9v, primarily on the uppermost lines, has been redressed by overwriting. There are numerous holes in f. 3, with some singeing. There is purple mould staining in the lower margin through much of the manuscript. There are areas of dirt, drops of wax and water staining, most notably in the upper part of ff. 1-9. The folios are moderately cockled.

Layout

Two columns of 21 lines. 210 × 150 mm. Pricking survives in places in the lower margin, but has mostly been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type probably Leroy 35D2df. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The main text was copied by Hand A in an upright mixed minuscule Perlschrift in brown ink, with minimal variation in letter size.

Superscript word endings are not used, and syllabic abbreviations appear only at the ends of lines, and very rarely. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent. The double dot is used functionally only, and there is accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra . The double grave accent is in use.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points and question mark. The teleia (red cross forming part of the ekphonetic notation) appears as a full stop at the end of lections.

Headings for lections are by the same hand, in Alexandrine majuscule script, in red ink, with traces of gilding.

A lection omitted by Hand A was added on f. 136r-136v by Hand D in a mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in black ink, with modest variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations appear throughout the line, while the superscript word endings present are at the ends of lines. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent. There is decorative use of the double dot.

Punctuation used includes the middle point, lower comma and full stop.

The lection heading has been added by the same hand in the same style, in red ink.

Musical Notation: There is ekphonetic notation throughout, in red ink.

Decoration

Small rectangular headpieces in red, blue, green and white paint and gold precede the beginning of some sections:

  • f. 113v lections of the Passion
  • f. 137r lections of the Hours
  • f. 162r October
  • f. 169v November
  • f. 172v December
  • f. 185v January

Headpieces in the same style originally preceded other sections, but these have been cut out. Corner ornaments survive of sizeable headpieces on f. 24r (weeks of Matthew) and f. 74r (weeks of Mark), and traces of them from a small rectangular headpiece on f. 151r (September), while there is no surviving remnant of those on f. 197r (February) and f. 201v (March).

The text of each lection begins with an ornamental initial in red, blue, green and white paint and gold, in the same style as the headpieces.

The lection added later on f. 136r begins with an ornamental initial in red ink.

Lection headings have been gilded.

Additions

As part of the original process of production, parts of the lection headings have been placed in the margins.

Additional lection information has been added by later hands (e.g. ff. 39r, 64v, 89v).

History

Origin: The style of script suggests that the manuscript was copied during the 11th century. The lection added by Hand D probably dates to the 14th or 15th century.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Christ's College, MS Rouse 298, ff. 10-17]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. ff. 10r-17v
Gospel lectionary (synaxarion): Lections for the weeks of John

This is an apparent replacement for lost original folios, inserted into the surrounding text of Part I, beginning during the lection for Thursday of the 4th week after Easter (Jn 8:17) and ending during that for Friday of the 5th week (Jn 10:17). Given the loss of many folios from this part of the manuscript, including those which would have appeared either side of this quire, it is unclear whether this was the full extent of this replacement portion or if other replacement leaves have subsequently been lost.

Incipit: || f. 10r καὶ ἐν τῶ νόμω δὲ τῶ ὑμετέρω, γέγραπται
Explicit: f. 17v Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, πρὸς||

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

A single inserted quire, identified in the collation above as Quire 10.

Condition

There are some small holes in f. 10, moderate cockling, areas of dirt and water staining.

Layout

Two columns of 21 lines each. 205 × 150 mm. Pricking survives in all three margins. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 22C2n. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The main text was copied by Hand B in an upright mixed minuscule Perlschrift in brown ink, with minimal variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the ends of lines. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent. The double dot is used functionally only, and there is accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra .

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower comma and question mark. The teleia (red cross typically used in ekphonetic notation) appears as a full stop at the end of lections and as a normal punctuation mark.

Headings for lections are by the same hand, in Alexandrine majuscule script, in red ink.

Musical Notation: Apart from the use of the teleia noted above, there is no ekphonetic notation.

Decoration

Lections begin with ornamented initials in red ink.

Additions

As part of the original process of production, parts of the lection headings have been placed in the margins.

History

Origin: Apparently produced to replace lost folios, the style of script suggests that this part was copied in the 11th century, though a somewhat later date is possible, especially if the style was adjusted to fit in with the existing body of the manuscript.

Part 3 [Cambridge, Christ's College, MS Rouse 298, ff. 92-94]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

3. ff. 92r-94v
Gospel lectionary (synaxarion): Lections of Holy Week

This is a replacement for lost original folios, inserted into the surrounding text of Part I, beginning during the pannychis lection for Monday of Holy Week (Mt 21:44) and ending at the end of the morning lection for Tuesday (Lk 21:6).

Incipit: || f. 92r πὰς ὁ πεσῶν ἐπι[sic] τὸν λίθον τοῦτον
Explicit: f. 94v οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῆ ὦδε λίθος ἐπι λίθω, ὃς ου[sic] καταλυθήσεται||

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Letter H, Letter N or Letter R ( 78 × 25 mm. ) in the centre of the folio. No close parallel has been identified, but comparable motifs (e.g. Briquet 8241, 8920-8922) date from the second half of the 14th century.

Collation

Three inserted leaves, identified in the collation above as Quire 25.

Condition

These leaves have been attached on paper stubs, perhaps at a time earlier than the most recent rebinding, having presumably suffered damage in the gutter. There have been some losses to the edges, which have been repaired with paper patches. There are drops of wax and some water staining.

Layout

Two columns of 31-33 lines each. 215 × 160 mm.

Hand(s)

This insert was copied by Hand C in a mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in brown ink, with minimal variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the ends of lines, except in the top line. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent. There is decorative use of the double dot, and accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra . Accents are sometimes joined to nomina sacra strokes. The double grave accent is in use.

Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points, lower comma and full stop. Many punctuation marks have been overlaid with larger marks in red ink, some new marks have been added in red, and some original points converted to commas by this means.

Decoration

Lections begin with ornamented initials in red ink. At various other points in the text, in mid-line as well as at the beginning of lines, there are small initial letters in red ink.

Additions

As part of the original process of production, parts of the lection headings have been placed in the margins.

History

Origin: Produced to replace lost folios, the watermark and style of script suggests that this part was probably copied in the second half of the 14th century.

Additional Information

Availability

Visitors to Christ's who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Christ's College Old Library.

Bibliography

    Greek manuscripts in Cambridge: recent acquisitions by college libraries, the Fitzwilliam Museum and private collectors. Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Easterling, Patricia E. (4, 179-191, 1966)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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