Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.4

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11952

Introduction: This manuscript, probably copied in the first quarter of the 16th century, contains a Greek grammatical tract by Ioannes Glykys, On Syntax. The author was a civil official of the Byzantine government who for twenty years held the post of Logothete of the Drome, a senior office traditionally equating to that of foreign minister. He was an associate of some of the leading figures of the so-called Palaiologan Renaissance in classical scholarship. In the last years of his life Glykys served as Patriarch of Constantinople (1315-1319). Such an elevation to the empire's highest ecclesiastical office of a man who had not hitherto been a member of the clergy was not unknown. In this text he took an original approach, breaking with the standards of the grammatical tradition which Byzantium had continued from Antiquity and propounding a linguistic theory on theological foundations (Donnet, Glykys, pp. 81-82). This manuscript has traditionally been dated to 1545, on the basis of a note on f. 50v. However, while this resembles a scribal colophon, it appears not to be by the hand that copied the manuscript and is not explicitly identified as the date of the manuscript's completion. The note displays a classical affectation in dating by the months of the ancient Athenian civil calendar, in this case the month of Hekatombaion. This corresponded originally to late July and early August, but the early modern usage of these revived months was highly erratic. Therefore the note cannot be placed precisely in the year. The scribe left space on the first page (f. 1r) for a heading and perhaps decoration, but this was not provided. Three different headings were subsequently added by different hands, the first and most modest being apparently by the same person responsible for the date, who merely identified the text as a work on syntax. A second, more ornate hand asserted that the text was anonymous, while the third correctly identified it as the work of Glykys. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

ff. 1r-50v

Johannes Glycys ca. 1260 - ca. 1320 (PLP 4721), On Syntax Περὶ συντάξεως

Incipit: f. 1r Ἡ τοῦ λόγου χρῆσις εὕρηται μὲν, ἢ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δέδοται

Explicit: f. 50v ποθητὰ δικαίως ἂν αὐτοῖς καὶ εἴη καὶ νομείζοιτο[sic]

Ed. Albert Jahn, Joannis Glycae Patriarchae Constantinopoli opus de vera syntaxeos ratione (Bern 1839)

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Western paper, folded in quarto. Watermark: Anchor ( c. 70 × 45 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Briquet 500. This example is dated to 1512.

Extent: Codex: v + 50 + vii leaves. 207 × 150 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i-v] + 1-50 + [vi-xii], in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 7 quires, of which three are ternia and four quaternia.

Quires 1-2⁶ ff. 1-12
Quires 3-6⁸ ff. 13-44
Quire 7⁶ ff. 45-50

There are quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right. They survive on all quires.

Condition

There are small tears to the edges of some folios. There is some water staining and patches of dirt.

Layout

A single column of 20 lines. 150 × 100 mm.

Hand(s)

The manuscript was copied in mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in brown ink, with modest variation in letter size. There are deletions by strikethrough.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. There is decorative use of the double dot. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings.

The modern eta, modern nu, sigma telikon and loop epsilon are present. Distinctive letter-forms include minuscule phi with a large upper loop.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower comma and full stop.

Additions

There are a significant number of corrections by various different Greek hands, and an annotation in Latin on f. 45v, referring to a lacuna in ‘MS Ravii’, presumably a manuscript of this text in the possession of the scholar Christian Ravius (1613-1677). Three different hands, none of them the copyist of the main text, have added different headings in Greek on f. 1r: ‘Περὶ Συντάξεως:- Περὶ Συντάξεως Ἀνωνύμου:- Τοῦ Πατριαρχοῦ κυροῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Γλυκέως περὶ ὀρθότητος Συντάξεως’. The first of these hands has added a note on f. 50v, giving the place as Chios and the date 1545, in the ancient Athenian month of Hekatombaion: ‘ Ἐν Χίῳ, τοῦ ͵αφμεʹ ἔτους Ἐκατομβαιῶνος[sic] ἔνῃ καὶ νέᾳ’.

The former classmark C.43. no. 174 has been marked on f. [i] recto, along with the classmark O.3.4, which has been corrected to the present O.1.4.

Binding

17-century full leather binding over couched-laminate boards, with plain pastedowns. There is decorative blind tooling on both boards. The classmark appears on patches on the spine.

182 × 155 × 19 mm.

Both outer joints are partially split.

Accompanying Material

The later endleaves ff. [ii-v] and [vi-xi] are uncut.

History

Origin: The watermark indicates that the manuscript was copied in the first quarter of the 16th century, which is consistent with the style of script. Its copying has previously been dated to 1545 on the basis of the note on f. 50v. However, this gives only the date without context and is not in the hand of the copyist, so it is not clear that it refers to the manuscript's completion.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the antiquary Thomas Gale (c. 1635-1702) , Fellow of Trinity and Dean of York. It appears in the 1697 catalogue of Gale's collection contained in Trinity College MS O.5.38 (p. 161).

Donated to Trinity College by Thomas's son, the antiquary Roger Gale (1672-1744) , in 1738.

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, 3, Cambridge University Press, 1902)

Jean Glykys, De la Correction Syntaxique: inventaire préalable a l'histoire du texte Revue d'Histoire des Textes, Donnet, Daniel (11 (1981), 81-97, 1983)

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 O.1.4

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