Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.3.18
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11907
Contents
Physical Description
- a parchment strip from a manuscript (f. [i])
- a blank paper strip (f. [ii])
- two paper stubs (ff. [iii]-[iv], only the rectos imaged)
- two paper leaves from a printed book (ff. [v]-[vi])
- a blank paper leaf (f. [vii])
- two paper leaves from a printed book (ff. [viii]-[ix])
- a parchment strip from a manuscript (f. [x])
Collation
1-58 | 6-188
Condition
The manuscript is in good condition. The endleaves are stained.
Additions
On the left pastedown is written the shelfmark ‘ B.3.18’, in brown ink; a previous one, ‘ B.4.14’, has been struck through.
In the upper margin of f. [v] recto there is a note in Latin, in brown ink, indicating the manuscript's contents: ‘ Theophylacti Epistulae pag. 1 | Historia Concilii Nicaeni pag. 41’. Below are written the present shelfmark, ‘ B.3.18’, and a previous one, ‘ B.4.14’ (erased with a stroke).
A note in Latin is written in the upper margin of f. [viii] recto.
Binding
Western full leather cover over pasteboards. Blind-tooled four-fillets frame motif on both boards. On the spine are pasted three paper labels with the shelfmark. The edges are coloured in red, on the fore-edge is written the number 18. 325 × 230 × 45 mm.
Rebacked. There are scratches on the right cover.
Accompanying Material
The following were bound into the manuscript as endleaves, at the beginning:
- f. [i], a parchment strip from a manuscript (a gloss on the Gospels, 13th c., see James 1900, p. 118), bound upside down
- f. [ii], a blank paper strip
- ff. [iii]-[iv], two paper stubs (only rectos imaged), with a few incomplete words in Greek written on, now upside down
- ff. [v]-[vi], two paper leaves from Calepinus' Latin Lexicon, with handwritten marginal notes in Greek; the printed pages have been bound upside down
- f. [vii] a blank paper leaf
- ff. [viii]-[ix], two paper leaves from Calepinus' Latin Lexicon, with handwritten marginal notes in Greek; the printed pages have been bound upside down
- f. [x], a parchment strip from a manuscript (from a law manuscript, 13th c., see James 1900, p. 118).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
The manuscript was owned by Thomas Nevile (c. 1548-1615) , Master of Trinity College and Dean of Canterbury; in the list of manuscripts donated to the College by Thomas Nevile contained in the Trinity College Memoriale (MS Trinity R.17.8), made in about 1614, it can be identified with the entry ‘ Theophilacti epistolae graece’. In the lower margin of f. 1r is pasted a paper label which indicates Nevile's donation: ‘ Ex dono ornatissimi viri Thomae | Nevile Decani Cantuariensis, et | Collegii Trinitatis Praefecti’.
The manuscript was donated to the Library by Thomas Nevile (ca. 1548-1615) , in the years 1611-1612 (for the date of the donation see P. Gaskell, Trinity College Library: the first 150 years. The Sandars Lectures 1978-9 (Cambridge, 1980), p. 81). On the left pastedown is pasted the Trinity College bookplate. Stamps of Trinity College Library are present on ff. 1r and 143r.
Part 1 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.3.18, ff. 1-40]
Contents
Language(s): Greek
TLG 3129.010
The text ends abruptly, incomplete, at P. Gautier, Theophylacte d'Achrida. Lettres (Thessalonica, 1986), pp. 137-597: ep. 18 l. 40; the scribe indicated this writing λείπει ("missing") in the left margin, and leaving the rest of the page and ff. 10r-10v blank
The text begins incomplete, at Gautier 1986, ep. 22 l. 11
The title given in the manuscript to the letter implies that it was addressed to the sebastos Pakourianos, however, this letter was addressed to Gregorios Taronites, see Gautier 1986, pp. 426-433
The text ends abruptly at Gautier 1986, p. 431 l. 61; the rest of f. 40r and f. 40v are blank
Physical Description
Collation
Part I is formed by 5 quaternions; since the quires are sewn very tightly and there is no numbering, the structure has been reconstructed on the basis of the watermarks' position.
- Quires 1-58 ff. 1-40
Condition
Ink stains through: see, for example, ff. 5r, 21v.
Layout
A single column of 30 lines. 220 × 130 mm.
Hand(s)
ff. 1r-40r Hand A: the text has been written by Manuel Provataris (active 1546-1570) (Μανουὴλ Προβατάρης; on him see RGK I, 254, II 350, III 418). Among the characteristic forms of Provataris' script can be recognized: the ligature of final sigma with the circumflex, the ligature delta-iota-alfa/omicron with a long iota which is linked with the lower part of the next letter Period 2a
The text is written in dark brown ink; titles and initials in red.
There are corrections to the text by the scribe, in the margins.
Decoration
On f. 1r there is a frieze in red ink with a vine-scrolls motif. Similar friezes are found in manuscripts copied by Provataris, see e.g. MSS Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. gr. 568 (see P. Canart, 'Les manuscrits copiés par Emmanuel Provataris (1546-1570 environ): Essai d'étude codicologique', in Mélanges Eugène Tisserant, VI (Città del Vaticano, 1964), pp. 173-287: Pl. 4) and Vat. gr. 1177 ( Canart (1964), Pl. 5).
Initials in red ink, in ekthesis with a simple vegetal decoration (see e.g. f. 1r).
Thick minor initials in red-ink, see e.g. f. 3r.
History
Part 2 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.3.18, ff. 41-144]
Contents
Language(s): Greek
This anonymous text has been traditionally attributed to Gelasius of Cyzicus (5th century) (see G.C. Hansen, Anonyme Kirchengeschichte (Gelasius Cyzicenus, CPG 6034), (Berlin, 2002), pp. IX-XII)
As in the case of most of the manuscripts of this text, only books 1-2 and three letters by emperor Constantine are preserved (on this see Hansen (2002), pp. XII-XIII)
TLG 2768.001; CPG 6034
ff. 143v-144v are blank
Also edited in: H.-G. Opitz, Athanasius Alexandrinus, Werke, Band III, Teil 1: Urkunden zur Geschichte des arianischen Streites 318-328, Lieferung 2: Kaiser Konstantins Schreiben zur Einberufung der nicänischen Synode - Brief Kaiser Konstantins an Arius und Genossen (Berlin, 1934) (repr. Berlin-Boston, 2012), Urkunde 34
Also edited in: Opitz (1934) (repr. Berlin-Boston, 2012), Urkunde 27
Also edited in: Opitz (1934) (repr. Berlin-Boston, 2012), Urkunde 28
Physical Description
Collation
Part II consists of 13 quaternions.
- Quires 6-18 8 ff. 41-144
Layout
ff. 41r-143r: single column of 27 lines. 220 × 130 mm.
Hand(s)
ff. 41r-143r Hand B: texts in part II have been all written by the same hand, in a minuscule script, vertical, showing a few ligatures. This hand has been identified in various manuscripts now in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, and has been called Main 5 Mon. 27 in B. Mondrain, 'Copistes et collectionneurs de manuscrits grecs au milieu du XVIe siècle: le cas de Johann Jakob Fugger d’Augsbourg', in Byzantinische Zeitschrift 84-85, no. 2 (1992), pp. 354-390. See, for example, ff. 357-398 in Mon. Cod. Graec. 45 .
The text is written in brown ink, titles and initials in red.
Hand a: another hand wrote corrections and additions in the margins, throughout, in a minuscule script datable to the 16th or early 17th century: see, for example, ff. 63v-64r, 134r. Perhaps by the same hand are a few notes in Latin on ff. 50v, 63v, 124v, citing a codex of Athanasius.
The text is written in a grey ink.
Decoration
Small crosses and undulating strokes are used as line fillers for the titles, see e.g. ff. 41r, 45v .
Thick minor initials in red-ink, see e.g. f. 41r.
History
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Visitors to Trinity College 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: Trinity College: Information for Readers.
Bibliography
-
The western manuscripts in the library of
Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, 1, Cambridge University Press, 1900)
Lettres / Théophylacte d'Achrida Corpus fontium historiae Byzantinae; Series
Thessalonicensis, Gautier, Paul (Thessalonique, Association de recherches byzantines, 1986)
Anonyme Kirchengeschichte: (Gelasius Cyzicenus,
CPG 6034) Anonyme Kirchengeschichte Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der
ersten Jahrhunderte (1995), Hansen, Gunther Christian (Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, 2002)
Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
