Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 291

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11889

Introduction: This manuscript, dating to the early 17th century, contains the Life of Barlaam and Joasaph (or Josaphat), a Christianised version of the life of the Buddha, who appears as Joasaph, a name ultimately derived from the term Boddhisatva, while Barlaam is his teacher, a character derived from the ascetic who inspired the Buddha's turn to spiritual pursuits. In this text they are credited with reviving Christianity in India, supposed to have reverted to its old religious traditions after its conversion to Christianity by St Thomas . The story of the Buddha had been adopted into the Manichaean tradition, capitalising on the themes of renunciation of the world and the flesh common to Buddhism and Manichaeism, and passed thence through Persian and Arabic versions before entering the Georgian Christian tradition. From there it was translated into Greek, with some alterations, in the late 10th or early 11th century by Euthymios Hagioreites, a Georgian monk who spent much of his life in Constantinople and in the monasteries of the Byzantine holy mountains of Olympos and Athos, eventually becoming abbot of the Georgian Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos. The title commonly transmitted with the work credited a monk named John with bringing the story from India (here conflated with Ethiopia), and this led to a traditional attribution of the text to the Church Father John of Damascus. This manuscript, in Greek script of a western European type, is probably to be dated to 1628, the date which appears on its front endleaf (f. ii recto), although this does not explicitly state that it relates to the time of production. Its relationship with other manuscripts suggest that it was copied in England. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

ff. 1r-184r

Euthymios Hagioreites(d. 1028)

Traditionally attributed to John of Damascus .

Life of Barlaam and Joasaph

Filiation: Volk places this manuscript in Family C of this text, most closely related to two older manuscripts, Manchester, John Rylands Library MS gr. 3 and the latter's exemplar, Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Laud gr. 66. The manuscript was used in the preparation of Robinson's edition of the Greek version of the Apology of Aristides, incorporated into this work.

Rubric: f. 1r Ἱστορία ψυχωφελὴς ἐκ τῆς ἐνδοτέρας τῶν Αἰθιοπῶν χώρας, τῆς Ἰνδῶν λεγομένης, πρὸς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν μετενεχθεῖσα διὰ Ἰωάννου Μοναχοῦ, ἀνδρὸς τιμίου καὶ ἐναρέτου Μοναστηρίας ἁγίας Σάβα· ἐν ᾗ ὁ βίος Βαρλαὰμ καὶ Ἰωάσαφ

Incipit: f. 1r Ὅσοι πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἄγονται

Explicit: f. 184r νῦν, καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· Ἀμήν

Final rubric: f. 184r Τέλος

TLG 2934.066

CPG 8120

BHG 0224-0224a

PG 96, coll. 860-1240

f. 184v is blank.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Western paper, folded in folio, with 9 chainlines per leaf. Watermark: Pitcher ( 62 × 28 mm. ) in the centre of the folio.

Extent: Codex: ii + 2 + 186 + 2 + ii leaves. 305 × 195 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [a]-[b] + i-ii + 1-10, 10a, 11-18, 18a, 19-184 + 185-186 + [c]-[d] in pencil, in Arabic and Roman numerals, recto, upper right. ff. 10a and 18a are small paper slips later bound in between the adjacent leaves.

Foliation: ff. 1r-184r, not including the insertions ff. 10a and 18a, have been paginated with the numbers 1-367 in brown ink, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right and verso, upper left, probably original to the production of the manuscript. The number 71, correctly placed on f. 36r, has been duplicated on f. 36v, and from this point these numbers were originally too small by one. These numbers were subsequently corrected by the same hand.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 50 quires, of which three are single bifolios and the rest binia.

This collation requires treating the endleaves ff. ii and 185 as part of the main quire structure, although they are less wide than the other folios, and it is not possible to determine with certainty whether they are made of the same paper, due to their lack of watermarks. However, if they are excluded, contradictions arise in the distribution of watermarks.

Quires 1-9⁴ ff. ii-35
Quire 10^4-1 ff. 36-38 The first folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 11-16⁴ ff. 39-62
Quires 17² ff. 63-64
Quire 18^4-1 ff. 65-67 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 19² ff. 68-69
Quire 20^4-1 ff. 70-72 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 21-32⁴ ff. 73-120
Quire 33^4-1 ff. 121-123 The second folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 34-39⁴ ff. 124-147
Quire 40^4-1 ff. 148-150 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 41-43⁴ ff. 151-162
Quire 44^4-1 ff. 163-165 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 45-48⁴ ff. 166-181
Quire 49^4-1 ff. 182-184 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quire 50^2-1 f. 185 The first folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.

Catchwords appear on every page.

Condition

The lower outer corner of f. 186 has been torn away. f. ii has been attached to a paper stub. There are small tears to the edges of the outermost folios and the edges of ff. ii-1 have been repaired with paper patches. There is water staining to the early part of the manuscript, and patches of dirt on the outermost folios. There are mould stains on ff. ii verso-4v.

Layout

A single column of 20-26 lines. 237 × 145 mm. ff. 1r-10r intermittently ruled in pencil or brown crayon, type Leroy 00D1. Text sometimes stands on, sometimes hangs from the lines. Ruling is absent from the remainder of the manuscript.

Hand(s)

The manuscript was copied in a mixed minuscule script resembling early printing, slanting to the right, in brown ink. There is modest variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript, appearing as a dot rather than a line. Use of the double dot is functional only, while nomina sacra are not contracted. Accents are sometimes joined to letters.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower and middle commas and question mark.

Additions

The manuscript is extensively annotated in the margins throughout, and on the flyleaf f. ii verso and the inserted slips ff. 10a recto and 18a recto by a single hand in Greek and Latin, in brown ink. This hand proposes numerous corrections to the text, underlining the relevant words or passages, and gives references for Biblical citations, as well as adding commentary.

A note on f. ii recto gives the date ‘Anno 1628’.

On f. 186r (the inside of the former cover), another hand has added ‘Sum John J. Thes for’.

There are various jottings and pen trials on this cover, including on f. 186v the name ‘William Dan⟨iels⟩ (?)’.

Binding

Rebound by Stoakley and Son (formerly Hawes), according to a stamp on f. [a] verso. 20th-century half-leather binding with marbled paper covering over millboards, with plain pastedowns and a brown leather spine and corners. The classmark and the title ‘Barlaam & Josaphat’ are tooled in gold on the spine.

319 × 215 × 36 mm.

Accompanying Material

ff. i and 186 are part of the limp vellum cover in which the manuscript was previously bound, while ff. ii and 185 are paper endleaves, probably original to the production of the manuscript but slightly smaller than the folios of the main body:

314 × 185 mm.

A small scrap of paper is pasted to the fore-edge of f. 185, protruding beyond the edge.

History

Origin: Probably copied in 1628, as suggested by the note on f. ii recto. This would be consistent with the style of script. Presumably copied in England, as the text is most closely related to manuscripts already in England at this date.

Provenance and Acquisition

Donated 24 June 1663 by Richard Drake (1609-1681) , as recorded in the Book of Benefactors (MS LC II.77, f. 90r).

Additional Information

Availability

Researchers should note that Pembroke College's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Pembroke College manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

The Apology of Aristides on behalf of the Christians: from a Syriac ms. preserved on Mount Sinai , (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1891)

A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Pembroke College, Cambridge, James, M.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1905)

Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos Patristische Texte und Studien,, (Berlin, VI/1: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria), De Gruyter, 2009)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Pembroke College, MS 291

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