Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 403/412
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11870
Contents
Language(s): Greek
Gregory-Aland 59; Von Soden ε 272; Scrivener Evan. c
The manuscript was used for the editions by Walton (London 1657) Gon.; Fell (Oxford 1675) G; Mill (Oxford 1707) Gon.; Scrivener (Cambridge 1893) c
TLG 0031.001
p. 141 is blank
TLG 0031.002
pp. 236-237 are blank
TLG 0031.003
TLG 0031.004
Physical Description
Pagination in ink on the top right hand corner recto. The number 1 is not extant due to damage of the leaf; no. 21 is repeated as 21b; the pagination is interrupted at p. 291; afterwards numbers are written in pencil, with a few exceptions, every 10 pages; wrong page numbers in pencil were erased and corrected, in pencil as well, at pp. 373-379; two paper unnumbered endleaves both at the beginning and at the end of the manuscript came with the binding: ff. [i]-[ii] + pp. [1]-[2], 3-21, 21b-[22b], 23-291, [292]-[300], 301, [302]-[312], 313, [314]-[320], 321, [322]-[330], 331, [332]-[340], 341, [342]-[350], 351, [352]-[360], 361, [362]-[370], 371-381, [382]-[390], 391, [392]-[400], 401, [402]-[410], 411, [412]-[420], 421, [422]-[430], 431, [432]-[440], 441, [442]-[450], 451, [452]-[460], 462, [463]-[472] + ff. [iii]-[iv]
Throughout the manuscript, in the upper margins, there are running titles written by Robert Grosseteste (Harrison Thompson 1940, p. 29; Callus 1955, p. 135).
Collation
The manuscript is formed mostly by quaternions. The leaf formed by pp. 471-[472] seems to have been pasted to a bifolium formed by ff. 467-[468]/469-[470].
- Two later paper endleaves ff. [i]-[ii]
- Quires 1-88 pp. [1]-[124]
- Quire 98+1 pp. 125-[142] (1st leaf missing, without loss of text)
- Quires 10-178 pp. 143-[270]
- Quire 1810-2 pp. 271-[286] (3rd and 9th leaf missing, without loss of text)
- Quire 198-1 pp. 287-[300] (6th leaf missing, without loss of text)
- Quire 208-2 pp. 301-[312] (2nd and 6th leaf missing, without loss of text)
- Quires 21-238 pp. 313-[360]
- Quire 246-1 pp. 361-[370] (1st leaf missing, without loss of text)
- Quires 25-308 pp. 371-[466]
- Quire 312+1 pp. 467-[472]
- Two later paper endleaves ff. [iii]-[iv]
In the centre of the upper margin of the first leaf of some quires there are small crosses in black ink, traced by the scribe; they are visible on
- p. 17
- p. 125
- p. 175
- p. 313
- p. [329]
- p. [345]
- p. [387]
- p. [403]
- p. [419]
- p. [435].
Later signatures in Latin letters are present in the lower margin of the first leaf recto of the quires, although they are not always visible (some have been lost to trimming), from B ( p. 17) to Z ( p. 313), and from C ( p. 361) to K ( p. [467]).
Modern numbering of the quires in pencil, in the lower right corner of the recto of the first leaf of the quires, from 17 ( p. 255) to 31 ( p. [467]).
Condition
Layout
A single column of 22-24 lines. 140-145 × 100 mm. Pricking survives in the upper and lower margins, but much has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 9, type Leroy 32C1. Text hangs from the lines.
Hand(s)
pp. 1-[470] Hand A: the text has been written in a minuscule script, vertical, hanging from the lines, calligraphic, belonging to the traditional type; letters tend to have a rectangular form; some are larger, such as kappa, majuscule delta, phi, csi, chi, theta. The script shows so-called pseudo-ligatures, in particular for the letter epsilon, in its majuscule form, whose central horizontal stroke stretches to the right and touches the base of the next letter; the lower edge of minuscule gamma tends to be placed to the left with respect to the vertical axis of the script. These features have been identified as characteristics of the style ' epsilon à pseudo-ligatures basses' which has been linked with the area of Palestine and Cyprus, between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th c. The script has, in particular, affinity to the rectangular stylisation of this type of script (see Canart 1981, pp. 46, 50-51; while Canart, based on the reproductions he had access to, was able to identify just one low pseudo-ligature in the script of the manuscript, for epsilon-ny, we are now able to say that others are present as well, as epsilon-omega, epsilon-pi, confirming his assumption that the script of GCC 403 belongs to this style).
The text is written in black ink.
Hand a: passim in the margins there are notes in a Greek minuscule script, probably contemporary with the main scribe, see e.g. pp. [24], [38], [242].
The ink is black.
Hand b: passim in the margins there are brief notes in a Greek minuscule script, by a hand with a low graphic education, probably a Western hand not very skilled n the writing of Greek. See e.g. pp. 43, 59, 147.
The ink is brown.
Hand c: in the margins and between lines throughout there are notes in Latin and in Greek by Robert Grosseteste (among others, Callus 1955, p 135; Buchthal 1983, p. 80; Weyl Carr 1987, p. 117) see e.g. pp. [2]-[4]. Similar notes are present also in MS CUL, Ff.1.24 , also owned by him.
Light brown ink.
Hand d: on pp. , 3-5, 239-241, 258-284, 289-309, between lines, there are translations in Latin of words, by another, later, hand.
Light brown ink.
Decoration
A full-page miniature of the evangelist precedes the Gospels of Mark and Luke:
- p. 142: Mark is seated, in the act of thinking; his right hand lies on a scroll open on his right knee. On the background there are a building, coloured in red, on the left, and a desk, in yellow and red, with an open scroll, on the right; the background is filled with gold. The frame of the miniature is blue with white patterns, and red edge
- p. 238: Luke is seated, he has an open scroll in his left hand, and is bending onwards to consult a scroll open on a desk. On the background there are a building, coloured in grey and white, on the left, and a desk, in red, on the right; the ground is filled with gold. The frame of the miniature is blue with white patterns, and red edge.
On pp. 1, 143, 239, 371 rectangular spaces with a frame in red ink have been left blank; probably they should have contained decorated headpieces.
Major initials, at the beginning of the Gospels, are decorated with various motifs:
- p.1 zoomorphic contoured initial in red ink (snake)
- p. 143 figure contoured initial in red ink (nude young figure with a scroll)
- p. 239 zoomorphic contoured initial in red ink (bird and fishes, a hand)
- p. 371 zoomorphic contoured initial in red ink (dragon and birds)
Additions
In the upper margin of p. 1 there is a note of ownership of the Franciscan House in Oxford, written in brown ink (see Provenance). In the upper margin, in a black ink, is written the number ‘ 14’. The number ‘ 94’ is written in brown ink in the left margin. In the frame, which probably should have contained a decorated headpiece, is written a note concerning the donation to Gonville and Caius College (see Acquisition). In the right margin has been pasted a paper strip with a Greek alphabet written vertically. In the right margin, near the space left for the headpiece, ‘ Quatuor Evangelia scripta 1806’.
In the right margin of p. [303], in a light brown ink, is written the name ‘ mg Bryngkeley’. On p. 470, after the end of the Gospel of John, is written, by another hand, in a light brown ink, the name ‘ Βρηνκελει διδασκαλως[sic] ’. In both cases this is Richard Brinkley, the Cambridge Franciscan who received the manuscript on loan in the early 16th c.
There are notes in the margins throughout by a later hand, in Latin, indicating the beginning of chapters, see e.g. p. 47.
Binding
Early modern western binding. Full leather cover over millboard. Blind tooling on both boards (frame), gold tooling on the boards' edges. On the spine there is gold tooling with title ‘ The Four Gospels in Greek’, and two paper labels with the two shelfmarks ‘ 412’ (in red) and ‘ 4[0]3’ (in black). 210 × 150 × ca. 70-80 mm.
Rebacked. Corners covered in new leather.
History
The manuscript was copied in the 13th c., before 1253, when Robert Grosseteste, who was its owner, died. The place of origin of the manuscript is uncertain ( Canart 1981, pp. 50-51), although script and decoration belong to styles typical of manuscripts produced in the areas of Cyprus and Palestine.
Provenance and Acquisition
The manuscript was owned by Robert Grosseteste (1175?-1253) , Bishop of Lincoln. In the manuscript there are notes in his hand.
After his death, the manuscript came in the possession of the Franciscan House in Oxford, the note of ownership is still visible on p. 1, ‘ Quatuor Ewang. in gr. | Iste liber est de communitate fratrum minorum Oxonie’ ( James [1908, p. 469] dates the script to the 13th c.).
In the early 16th c. it was lent to the Cambridge Franciscan Richard Brinkley, warden of the Grey Friars (see Scrivener 2010, pp. xxviii-xxix), see a note continuing the mark of ownership on p. 1, ‘ Concessus et accomodatus fratri Richardi Bryngkeley magistro’. His name is written in the right margin of p. [303], and, in Greek, on p. 470. The manuscript was never returned to the Franciscan House.
The Grey Friars' House was dissolved in 1538, and the manuscript may have come into the hands of Thomas Hatcher (d. 1583) at this time (this is the hypothesis advanced by Scrivener 2010, p. xxix).
It was donated to Gonville and Caius College in 1567 by Thomas Hatcher , see the note in brown ink on p. [1], ‘ Novum Testamentum | Graecum | quod Collegio de Goneville | et Caius dono dedit Thomas | Hatcher | artium Magister’; under the note, in a different, black, ink was added the date of the donation, ‘1567’. On the left pastedown is pasted the Gonville and Caius College bookplate (with handwritten shelfmark in red ink, ‘ 412’, and in black ink, ‘ 403’).
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Visitors to Gonville and Caius College who wish to consult Lower Library material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Gonville and Caius College: Library Information.
Bibliography
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Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
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