Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 788/791

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11880

Contents

Introduction: The manuscript contains an anonymous Church History (Historia Ecclesiastica) traditionally attributed, on the basis of a mention by patriarch Photius in his Bibliotheca, to Gelasius of Cyzicus ( see Hansen 2002, pp. ix-xii). The work, in three books, consists mainly of a collection of Acts of the Nicene Council (325 CE). The manuscript was copied from MS Cambridge, Trinity College, B.3.18 ( Hansen 2002, p. xxvi) of the 16th century. Hansen has pointed out that a Latin translation of the work by Clint Kitchingman made on the basis of this Caius manuscript is contained in MSS Cambridge, Clare College Library, 28 and London, British Library, Cotton Nero D.10(1) (see Hansen 2002, p. xxvi). Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

ff. [1]r-[100]v
Church History Historia Ecclesiastica
Rubric: f. [1]r Σύνταγμα τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ ἁγίαν σύνοδον πραχθέντων
Incipit: f. [1]r Τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ μεγάλην καὶ οἰκουμενικὴν τῶν ἐπισκόπων
Explicit: f. [100]v ὁ θεός σε διαφυλάξει, ἀδελφὲ ἀγαπητέ
Final rubric: f. [100]v Τέλος

This anonymous text has been traditionally attributed to Gelasius of Cyzicus (5th c.) , see G.C. Hansen, Anonyme Kirchengeschichte (Gelasius Cyzicenus, CPG 6034), Berlin 2002, pp. IX-XII

TLG 2768.001; CPG 6034

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. [1]-[100] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: Shield with an undefined motif on it ( ca. 25 × 20 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, no exact parallels have been found in the main repertoires, due to the scarce visibility of the watermark's particulars.
Extent: Codex: 100 leaves. 405 × ca. 260 mm.
Foliation:

The leaves are unnumbered: ff. [1]-[100].

Collation

The manuscript consists mainly of quaternions.

  • Quires 1-38 ff. [1]-[24] b(?)-c
  • Quire 46 ff. [25]-[30](d)
  • Quires 5-128 ff. [31]-[94](e-m)
  • Quire 136 ff. [95]-[100]( n)

Signatures constituted by letters of the Latin alphabet, in a brown ink, are visible in the lower margin, recto, of the first leaf of the quires, from b ( f. [9]r) to n ( f. [95]r). The ink has faded, they are not always clearly readable. Horizontal catchwords by the scribes in the lower margin, right, right below the text, on each leaf recto and verso.

Condition

The manuscript is in fair condition. The binding is very stained. The leaves have not been trimmed regularly.

Layout

ff. [1]r-[57]v, [60]r-[62]v A single column of 24-26 lines. 275 × 155 mm.

ff. [58]r-[59]v, [63]r-[78]v A single column of 26-28 lines. ca. 290 × 130 mm.

ff. [79]r-[100]v A single column of 27-28 lines. ca. 290 × 150 mm.

Hand(s)

f. [1]r-[57]v, [59]v l. 28-[62]v Hand A: a minuscule script slanting to the right, probably by a western European hand.

The text is written in black/grey ink.

f. [58]r-[59]v l. 27, [63]r-[78]v Hand B: a minuscule script slanting to the right, probably by a western European hand.

The text is written in black/grey ink.

f. [79]r-[100]v Hand C: a minuscule script slightly slanting to the right, probably by a western European hand.

The text is written in black/grey ink.

Additions

In the upper margin, left, of f. [1]r is pasted a paper label with manuscript notes about the manuscript's acquisition, ‘ Sothebys Lot. 1409 | 1/2/73 Gelasius of Cyzicum ? | Acts of the Nicene Council (in Greek)’, and a paper strip with printed notes (from Sotheby's sale as well), ‘ 1409 Nicaeensis Concilii Acta, Graece, Manuscript, Saec. XVI’.

Binding

Early modern soft parchment binding. Titles written in ink on the left board, ‘ Account of the Council of Nicaea’, and on the spine, ‘ Concilium Nicaenum(?) Graece’; on the spine, in the upper part, is written the number ‘ 2’; on it, moreover, are pasted two papaer labels with the two shelfmarks ‘791’ (in red) and ‘788’. 400 × 270 × ca. 25 mm.

The cover is torn at the edges and stained. There are worm holes on the right board.

Accompanying Material

On the left board and on the right board are pasted two parchment leaves of a 15th c. copy of Lyra on the Epistles.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was copied by three contemporary hands between the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th : the manuscript was copied from MS Cambridge, Trinity College, B.3.18, copied around the middle of the 16th c., and was used for a Latin translation contained in two manuscripts of the 17th c., before 1663 ( Hansen 2002, p. xxvi).

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was sold at Sotheby's on 1st February 1873 (lot 1409, see Additions). It was owned by the English Biblical scholar Henry Barclay Swete (1835-1917) . In the lower margin of f. [1]r is pasted a bookplate with his name and the date of 1890.

The manuscript was donated to the College by Henry Barclay Swete . In the lower margin of f. [1]r is pasted the Gonville and Caius College bookplate.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2021) draws partly on M. R. James, Supplement to the catalogue of manuscripts in the library of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1914, p. 39.

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

    Supplement to the catalogue of manuscripts in the library of Gonville and Caius College, James, M. R. (Cambridge, University Press, 1914) Anonyme Kirchengeschichte: (Gelasius Cyzicenus, CPG 6034) Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte (1995) ; n.F., Bd. 9, Hansen, Gunther Christian (Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, 2002)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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