Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.17.20

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11950

Contents

Introduction: This item includes three Gospel fragments from different manuscripts. Two of these belong to Gospel books in majuscule script, one of which is now London, British Library, Harley MS 5684 , dating to the 9th or 10th century; the other is Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS In Scrin. 91, of the 10th century. During the 9th century, Greek book production largely shifted from the use of majuscule script to the more compact minuscule, but many religious texts, particularly those for liturgical use, long continued to be copied in the more traditional mode. Both manuscripts were provided with notes identifying the lections to be read from them through the liturgical calendar, and the Hamburg manuscript was also provided with ekphonetic musical notation to guide the chanting of the text. The Hamburg manuscript, to which Fragment B (f. 173r-173v) belongs, is particularly important for its variant readings and has been used in many editions. In the 18th century these two books were mutilated while both were in the possession of the German collector Johann Christoph Wolf, who sent them to the English scholar Richard Bentley. Bentley intended to produce a new edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, a project which never came to fruition. These two Gospel fragments came to be inserted into a collection of papers relating to this project, MS B.17.20, and foliated as part of its sequence, as ff. 172-173. They have since been rehoused separately, but continue to be kept with it under the same classmark. A third fragment, a bifolio of a Gospel lectionary probably dating to the 11th century, remains bound as part of MS B.17.20, foliated as ff. 170-171. Both folios of this sheet are folded over, perhaps reflecting past reuse as a wrapper. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Accompanying Material

Fragments A and B (ff. 172-173) are accompanied by printed notes regarding their content and association with their original manuscripts and the one to which they now belong. A loose handwritten note on the provenance of Fragment B (f. 173) is also inserted between ff. 170 and 171. See the full manuscript digitised on the Wren Digital Library.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Fragments A and B (ff. 172 and 173) were removed from their original manuscripts when they were in the possession of the scholar and book collector Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739) .

Sent by Wolf to Richard Bentley (1662-1742) , Master of Trinity. They became part of the collection of papers relating to his proposed edition of the Greek New Testament which is now MS B.17.20.

Bequeathed by Bentley to the College Library after his death.

Fragment A [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.17.20, f. 172 ]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. f. 172r-172v
Gospel of Matthew

The text of this fragment comprises, on f. 172r parts of Mt 5:39-44, and on f. 172v parts of Mt 5:29-32. The order of recto and verso, as determined by the current foliation, is inverted

Gregory-Aland Ge / 011; Von Soden ε 55 (Ki)

Filiation: Aland placed the manuscript to which this fragment belongs in his category E.
Incipit: f. 172v ὀφθαλμός σου
Explicit: f. 172r καὶ μίσησεις τὸν ἐχθρὸν[sic] σου

TLG 0031.001

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Fragment (scrap) 1 leaves. 249 × 90 mm.
Foliation: The fragment is foliated with the number 172, in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right. This reflects its former position, attached within MS B.17.20.

Condition

There is extensive water staining and occasional abrasion of the text.

Layout

Two columns (of which one survives on each side of the folio) of 22 lines. 171 × c. 120 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint. Text stands on the lines.

Hand(s)

The manuscript to which this fragment belonged was copied in upright ogival majuscule script in black ink.

Decoration

The beginning of sections is marked with plain minor initials in brown ink.

Additions

As part of the original production of the manuscript, it was provided with marginal lection notes, while ἀρχή and τέλος marks identifying the beginning and end of lections were added later.

A note in pencil on f. 172r identifies the fragment as originally ‘from Codex Leidelii I’. Another pencil note on f. 172v erroneously identifies the Gospel as that of Luke, while an earlier note in ink gives the correct identification. The fragment has been marked in ink with the Latin letter A as an identifying mark distinguishing it from Fragment B, and in pencil with the siglum of the original manuscript, G.

History

Origin: This fragment was originally part of London, British Library, Harley MS 5684, which was probably copied in the 9th or 10th century, as suggested by the style of script.

Fragment B [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.17.20, f. 173]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. f. 173r-173v
Gospel of Luke

The text of this fragment comprises, on f. 173r parts of Lk 1:3-6, and on f. 173r parts of Lk 1:13-15

Gregory-Aland He / 013; Von Soden ε 88 (Ki)

Filiation: The manuscript to which this fragment belongs was used in the preparation of the Nestle-Aland, Bover-O'Callaghan, UBS, Merk, Vogels, BFBS, Souter, Synopsis, Husck-Greeven, Orhard and IGNTP editions.
Incipit: f. 173r Θεοφίλε· ἵνα ἐπιγνῶς
Explicit: f. 173v <⟨π⟩>λησθήσεται ἔτι ἐκ κοιλίας

TLG 0031.003

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Fragment (scrap) 1 leaves. 105 × 83 mm.

Layout

Ruled in hardpoint. Text stands on the lines.

Hand(s)

The manuscript to which this fragment belonged was copied in upright ogival majuscule script in brown ink. There is decorative use of the double dot, replacing a breathing at the beginning of a word.

Musical Notation: The text is accompanied by ekphonetic notation in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of sections is marked with plain minor initials in brown ink.

Additions

A note in pencil on the f. 173v identifies the fragment as originally part of ‘Codex Leidelii II’. Another pencil note here identifies the Gospel as that of Luke. The fragment has been marked in ink with the Latin letter B as an identifying mark distinguishing it from Fragment A, and in pencil with the siglum of the original manuscript, H.

History

Origin: This fragment was originally part of Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, MS In Scrin. 91, which was probably copied in the 10th century, as suggested by the style of script.

Fragment C [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.17.20, ff. 170-171 ]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

3. f. 170r-171v
Gospel lectionary

Fragment: begins during the lection for Monday of Tyrophagy, ends during the lection for Sunday of Tyrophagy

Gregory-Aland l 1838

Incipit: f. 170r <⟨ἀνα⟩>κείμενος· ἢ ὁ διακονῶν οὐχὶ ὁ ἀνακειμενος
Explicit: f. 171v ἀφῆσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ Πατῆρ

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment, thick and of quite poor quality.
Extent: Fragment (bifolio) 2 leaves. 308 × 270 mm.

Condition

There is a tear from the edge of f. 171. Both folios have been folded, probably through use as a wrapper. The rubric has become blackened by oxidation. There are areas of dirt.

Layout

Two columns of 23 lines. 230 × 197 mm. Pricking survives in the lower margin, but most has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, type Leroy 40C2. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

This fragment was copied in upright mixed minuscule script, in brown ink, with consistent letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings do not appear. Breathings are both angular and round and mute iota is absent. Nomina sacra are unaccentuated.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points and full stop.

Lection headings are in Alexandrine majuscule script, written in red ink and gilded, but now blackened.

Musical Notation: The text is accompanied by ekphonetic notation, written in red ink and gilded, but now blackened.

Decoration

The beginning of sections is marked with plain minor initials written in red ink and gilded, but now blackened.

Lections headings were written in red ink and gilded, but now blackened.

Additions

As part of the original production of the manuscript, lection headings were written in the margins.

There is a note in brown ink regarding provenance on f. 170r: ‘E villa prope Cullam’.

History

Origin: The manuscript from which this fragment comes was probably copied in the 11th century, as suggested by the style of script.

Additional Information

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) Novum Testamantum Graece, Souter, Alexander (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1947) Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine: textum Graecum recensuit, apparatum criticum ex editionibus et codicibus manu scriptis collectum addidit, textum Latinum ex Vulgata versione Sixti V Pont. Max. iussu recognita et Clementis VIII auctoritate edita repetiit Henr. Jos. Vogels, Vogels, Heinrich Joseph (Freiburg; Barcelona, 1955) Hē Kainē Diathēkē., Nestle, ErwinKilpatrick, George Dunbar, (London, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1958) Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, Merk, August (Rome, Sumptibus Pontificii Instituti Biblici, 1964) La provenance athonite des manuscrits grecs legues par R. Bentley a Trinity College, Cambridge et en particulier de l'oncial 0131 du Nouveau Testament Studies in the history and text of the New Testament in honor of Kenneth Willis Clark, Duplacy, Jean (Salt Lake City, 113-126, University of Utah Press, 1967) Nuevo Testamento trilingüe, Maria Bover, JoséO'Callaghan, JoséMartini, Carlo M (Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1977) Synopsis of the first three Gospels, with the addition of the Johannine parallels, Huck, Albert (Tubingen, Mohr, 1981) A Synopsis of the four Gospels in Greek, arranged according to the two-Gospel hypothesis, Orchard, Bernard (Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1983) Synopsis quattuor evangeliorum: locis parallelis evangeliorum apocryphorum et patrum adhibitis, Aland, KurtNestle, EberhardNestle, Erwin, (Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1986) Novum Testamentum Graece Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle, EberhardNestle, ErwinAland, BarbaraAland, KurtStrutwolf, Holger, (Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012) The Greek New Testament, Aland, BarbaraAland, KurtKaravidopoulos, JohannesMartini, Carlo MMetzger, Bruce M. (Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibel Gesellschaft, American Bible Society, United Bible Societies, 2014)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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