Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.9.11

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11938

Introduction: This manuscript contains the extant books of Origen's Commentaries on the Gospel of John. Origen, a theologian who lived between the end of the 3rd and the first half of the 4th century CE, was reportedly a very prolific author; little of his writings have survived, however, due to the condemnation of his teachings. This codex was copied in the 17th century by the English academic and clergyman Herbert Thorndike ( Brooke (1896), p. xii; Preuschen (1904), p. XXXIII, where the manuscript is erroneously indicated as B.9.12); the exemplar was Oxford, Bodleian Library, Auct. E.4.13-15 (Misc. 058) ( Brooke (1896), p. xii; Preuschen (1904), p. XXXIII). The scribe copied in the margins annotations present in the exemplar ( Brooke (1896), p. xii). Other critical notes were added by another hand both in the margins and on the first leaves of the manuscript. Herbert Thorndike had a project to prepare a new edition of Origen, but he never accomplished it ( W.B. Patterson, 'Thorndike, Herbert (bap. 1597?, d. 1672), biblical scholar and theologian', in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/27342). Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek and Latin

1. ff. i recto-iii recto

Critical notes on Origen's Commentaries on the Gospel of John

Incipit: f. i recto Ἐκέκραξε Apoc. VII. 2 nostri codd. l. ἔκραξε

Explicit: f. iii recto τυγχάνον δ' ἐν τούτῳ ᾧ ὁ Θεὸς δράσσεται difficili… κ(?)ολουθία.

The text is written only on the recto of the leaves

ff. i verso, ii verso and iii verso-v verso are blank

2. ff. 1r-128v

Origen, Commentaries on the Gospel of John (books 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, 19, 20, 28, 32) Commentarii in Evangelium Joannis

Rubric: f. 1r Ὠριγένους τῶν εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγέλιον ἐξηγητικῶν. Τόμος πρῶτος

Incipit: f. 1r Ὃν τρόπον οἶμαι ὁ πάλαι λαὸς ἐπικληθεὶς θεοῦ εἰς φυλὰς διῄρητο δυοκαίδεκα

Explicit: f. 128v αὐτοῦ που καταπαύσομεν τὸν λόγον

ff. 1r-15v Book 1
ff. 16r-28r l. 29 Book 2
ff. 28r l. 30-46r l. 21 Book 6
ff. 46r l. 22-63v l. 5 Book 10
ff. 63v l. 6-82v l. 17 Book 13
ff. 82v l. 18-89r l. 20 Book 19
ff. 89r l. 21-106r l. 45 Book 20
ff. 106r l. 46-114v Book 28
ff. 115r-128v Book 32

TLG 2042.005; CPG 1453

ff. 52v-53v and ff. 98r-98vare blank (there are not lacunae)

ff. [b]r-[i]v are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: i-v, [vi]-[xii] Flag with letters ‘ N’ and ‘ Z’ on one half of the leaf, on the other half three mountains (?) ( 60 × 40 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, no parallels found in the main repertoires. ff. 1-96 Pitcher with one handle, with letters ‘ A(?) | O V(?) ’, and a crescent, surmounted by a crescent, with a lily on the pedestal ( 85 × 40 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, comparable to Heawood Pot 3594-3595, which are dated in 1653 and 1654. ff. 97-128 Crozier-Dovecote on a cartouche, with name ‘ P LAMY’ ( 65 × 50 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, similar to Heawood Crozier-Dovecote 1220, which is dated in 1643 (Lancs).

Extent: Codex: i + 5 + 128 + 7 i + 290 × 185 mm.

Foliation:

Modern foliation in pencil, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right, from i to v and from 1 to 128; 7 blank endleaves have been left unnumbered (ff. [vi]-[xii]). Folios [a] and [b] are two later endleaves, unnumbered, which came with the binding: [a] + i-v + 1-128 + [vi]-[xii] + [b].

Collation

The quires are unnumbered and have been sewn tightly, therefore it was not possible to reconstruct the collation for the main part of the manuscript. The endleaves form respectively a ternion and a quaternion, which are both missing the first leaf (without loss of text).

Quire^6-1 ff i-v
Quire ^8-1 ff. [vi]-[xii]

Horizontal catchwords in the lower part, right, of each folio recto and verso, by the scribe.

Condition

The manuscript is in good condition. There are some brown stains on the leaves. About the centre of ff. 1-21 there is a tear.

Layout

ff. 1r-128v A single column, varying number of lines, 41 to 54. 270-285 × 140 mm.

Hand(s)

ff.1r-128v Hand A: the texts have been written in an informal minuscule script, quite regular in size, by a western European scribe; Brooke (1896), p. xii) identified him as Herbert Thorndike (1598-1672) .

The text is written in brown ink.

The scribe wrote also marginal annotations throughout the whole text.

ff. i recto-iii recto Hand B: another hand, datable to the 17th century as well, wrote the critical notes at the beginning of the manuscript and marginal notes to the text, in Greek and in Latin (see e.g. f. 4r, f. 10r). The script seems to be by a western European scribe.

The ink is light brown.

Additions

On the left pastedown and on f. i recto is written the present shelfmark, ‘B.9.11’

Binding

Western binding; full leather cover, over pasteboards. Blind tooling on the edges. Gold tooling on the spine with title ‘Origen | In | Joan.’; on the spine are pasted three leather labels with shelfmark, ‘ B’ ‘9’ ‘11’. 305 × 195 × 23 mm.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was copied in the 17th century, before 1672, when it was donated to the Library, from MS Oxon. Bodl. Auct. E.4.13-15. The transcription was allegedly made by Herbert Thorndike ( Brooke (1896), p. xii).

Provenance and Acquisition

It was owned by Herbert Thorndike (1598-1672) , English academic and clergyman, fellow of Trinity College (1618).

Herbert Thorndike (1598-1672) donated the manuscript to the Trinity College Library probably in the years 1670-1672 (see P. Gaskell, Trinity College Library. The First 150 Years, The Sandars Lectures 1978-9 (Cambridge, 1980), p. 234). On the left pastedown is pasted the Trinity College bookplate. Trinity College Library stamps on ff. 1r, 97v, 99r and 128v.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2020) draws partly on M. R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900), vol. 1, p. 274.

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 fragments of Heracleon Texts and studies (Cambridge, England), , (Cambridge, University Press, 1891)

The commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel, , (Cambridge, University Press, 1896)

The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, 1, Cambridge University Press, 1900)

Origenes, Werke: Band 4: Der Johanneskommentar, Preuschen, E. (De Gruyter, 1903)

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, Trinity College, MS B.9.11

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