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 O.1.55

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11965

Contents

Introduction: The manuscript formed originally a single codex with Cambridge, Trinity College, O.1.54 (see in particular Rosenbaum 2004, p. 102* note 290, and Bady-Tchernetska 2003, pp. 63-65). Produced in the 11th century, the manuscript contains a Catena on Proverbs, whose ending is found now on f. 1 of MS Trinity O.1.54. This manuscript contains moreover a Catena on the Song of Songs by the same hand. The Catena on Proverbs lacks the beginning. The extant signatures of the quires attest that some 5 quires are missing at the beginning of the manuscript. Maybe in order to fill in some way this lacuna, a quaternion was added later to the original manuscript (here labeled as Part I, ff. 1-8). However, there is no continuity between the added quire and the rest of the manuscript; ff. 1-8 contain some of the scholia to the Proverbs by Evagrius Ponticus (until Pr. 3,11), whereas the commentary on f. 9 starts with Pr. 10,4. The first quire, moreover, is a palimpsest: the undertext, which is datable in the 9th century, contains parts of John Chrysostom's Sermons against the Jews. Dr Erika Elia

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: iii + 79 + 1 + v leaves. 180 × 132 mm.
Foliation:

Modern pencil foliation, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right. Three paper endleaves at the beginning of the manuscript are unnumbered, as well as six endleaves at the end of it: one of these leaves is in parchment, f. [iv], and five are in paper, ff. [vi]-[ix] (ff. [v]-[vi] have not been completely imaged, only ff. [v] recto and [vi] verso are present in the digital reproduction of the manuscript). In the manuscript has been inserted a loose small paper bifolium (ff. [ia]-[ib]). [i] + [ia]-[ib] + [ii]-[iii] + 1-79 + [iv]-[ix].

Collation

ff. [i]-[iii] | 18 | 2-78, 88-2, 2-78 | ff. [iv]-[vii]

Modern signatures in pencil, in Arabic numerals, on the lower corner, right, of the first recto of the quires, from 2 ( f. 9r), to 10 ( f. 71r).

Condition

The manuscript is in fair condition. The first quire ( ff. 1-8) is damaged: the leaves are heavily stained, and ff. 4-8 are damaged, portions are missing with loss of text.

Additions

On f. [ii] verso are written an older shelfmark, in brown ink, ‘ O.3.46’, which has been erased, and, in pencil, the present shelfmark ‘ O.1.55. ’

On f. 1r are written, in brown ink, the old mark, ‘ C. 81’, and number, ‘ no 213’, and the present shelfmark, ‘ O.1.55’.

On f. 1v is written a title in brown ink ‘ Commentarii sive Catena in Proverbia Solomonis Graece’.

Binding

Early modern western binding; full leather cover over paste-boards. Blind tooling on both boards, a rectangular border, unfilled, with vegetal motifs at the corners. Gold tooling on the boards' edges. On the spine are pasted three paper labels with the shelfmark, ‘ O’, ‘ 1’, ‘ 55’. The binding is identical with the binding of Trinity O.1.54. 190 × 140 × ca. 40 mm.

The spine has been repaired.

Accompanying Material

In the manuscript is preserved a loose paper leaf, ff. [ia]-[ib], ( ca. 190 × 113 mm. ) with the transcript of part of the undertext of the palimpsest signed TR.

A paper leaf has been glued on the parchment guard-leaf f. 79; on it a later hand, datable to the 16th-17th c. at least, transcribed the ending of the text, which is found on f. 1r of MS Trinity O.1.54, since the codex formed originally by both MSS Trinity O.1.55 and O.1.54 was divided into two parts. Under the ending of the text, there is a note: ‘ This page is copied from fol. 1 of ms. O.1.54.’

ff. [i]-[iii], [v]-[ix] are western paper later endleaves, folded in quarto, without watermarks.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was part of the collection of the antiquary Roger Gale (1672-1744) (the manuscript is not identifiable among Thomas Gale's manuscripts in E. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae, 2, Oxoniae 1697).

The manuscript was donated to the Trinity College by Gale in 1738. On f. [ii] verso is pasted the Trinity College bookplate. Stamps of Trinity College Library are present on ff. 2r, 78v and 79r.

Part 1: lower text [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.55, ff. 1-8 ]

Contents

Introduction: The first quire of the manuscript is formed by 4 palimpsest leaves from a single manuscript. The correspondence between the original leaves (numbered as in E. Powell, A palimpsest of St. Chrysostom, in: The Journal of Theological Studies 39, 1938, pp. 132-140) and the present ones is:
  • f. I recto = ff. 1v + 8r
  • f. I verso = ff. 1r + 8v
  • f. II recto = ff. 6v + 3r
  • f. II verso = ff. 6r + 3v
  • f. III recto = ff. 4r + 5v
  • f. III verso = ff. 4v + 5r
  • f. IV recto = ff. 2r + 7v
  • f. IV verso = ff. 2v + 7r

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-8v
John Chrysostom, Homilies against the Jews 4, 5, 8 (fragments) Adversus Iudaeos orationes 4, 5, 8

A transcription of the undertext has been published by Powell 1938

TLG 2062.021; CPG 4327

1.1. ff. 1v, 8r, 1r, 8v
Homily 4 (fragment)
Incipit: || f. 1v …θανόντως αὐτοὺς ἀπήγαγε
Explicit: f. 8v …κείνης αὕτη||

Only a fragment of the text: PG 48, 880 l. 45-881 l. 33

1.2. ff. 6v, 3r, 6r, 3v, 4r, 5v, 4v, 5r
Homily 5 (fragments)
Incipit: f. 6v … ἐπειδὴ πρὸς Ἕλλη…ας διελέγετο
Explicit: f. 5r καὶ θρηνίσας[sic] ἱκανῶς

The original leaves (ff. II-III) formed the outer double leaf of a quire (see Powell 1938, p. 132): only two fragments of the homily are extant, PG 48, 886 l. 50-887 l. 36 and 892 l. 23-893 l. 5

1.3. ff. 2r, 7v, 2v, 7r
Homily 8 (fragment)
Incipit: f. 2r …τήριον εἰσηνέ…μεν
Explicit: f. 7r …ειν

Only a fragment of the text: PG 48, 939 l. 18-939 l. 61

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment.
Extent: Codex: 4 leaves. ca. 255 × ca. 180 mm.
Foliation: Modern folio numbers for the structure of the original manuscript before its transformation into a palimpsest in pencil, in Roman numerals, appear in the upper margin of the original leaves, in an orientation corresponding to that of the undertext: ff. I-IV.

Condition

The leaves are damaged, ff. 4-8 lost portions in the upper external part. Chemicals used in order to read the underdext left brown stains.

Layout

Two columns of 31 lines ( Powell 1938); only 25/26 visible today. Hard-point ruling is visible.

Hand(s)

ff. 1r-8v Hand A: the undertext has been written in a sloping pointed majuscule script, datable in the 9th c. The angle of slope is not very wide; uprights tend to present round thickenings at the end; the contrast between thick and thin strokes is quite marked.

The script lies on the lines.

History

Origin: These leaves were part of a larger manuscript copied probably in the 9th c.

Part 2: upper text [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.55, ff. 1-8 ]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. ff. 2r-8v
Evagrius, Ponticus, 345?-399, Scholia on Proverbs of Solomon Expositio in Proverbia Salomonis
Rubric: f. 2r Παροιμίαι Σολομῶνος
Incipit: f. 2r Παροιμίαι Σολομῶνος υἱοῦ Δαυίδ. Παροιμία ἐστὶ λόγος δι' αἰσθητῶν πραγμάτων σημαίνων πράγματα νοητά
Explicit: f. 8v μηδὲ ἐκλύου ὑπ'||

The text ends imperfectly at Proverbia 3,11 (TLG 0527.029)

For a description of the exact content see G. Bady, N. Tchernetska, Un nouveau témoin direct des 'Scholies aux Proverbes' d'Evagre le Pontique (Cambridge, Trinity Coll. O.1.55), Revue d'histoire des textes 32, 2002 pp. 63-72: 65-66

TLG 4110.030; CPG 2456

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment.

Collation

Part II consists of one quaternion

  • Quire 18 ff. 1-8

Layout

A single column of 19-21 lines. 125-145 × ca. 95-100 mm. No ruling.

Hand(s)

ff. 2r-8v Hand B: the text has been written by a single hand in a minuscule script datable in the 14th c. (a Gebrauchsschrift), vertical, characterized by the enlargement of some letters, as majuscule omicron, zeta, alpha, tau, ypsilon. Some abbreviations and surmounting letters are used.

The text is written in brown ink, title and initials in red.

Decoration

On f. 2r there is a small and very simple frieze in brown and red ink, formed by repeating patterns, and clovers at both ends.

Thick initials in red ink.

Additions

On f. 1r there are words written in Greek by another hand, very faded.

History

Origin: This part of the manuscript was copied probably in the 14th c. and bound with a manuscript of the 11th c., probably in order to provide it with a missing beginning.

Part 3 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.55, ff. 9-78 ]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

3. ff. 9r-78v
Catena on the Proverbs (Cambridge Catena, see Danezan 2019) Catena in Proverbia (Cambridge Catena, see Danezan 2019)
Incipit: || f. 9r δούλεια ὥσπερ ἐκείνη
Explicit: f. 78v ἑλκύουσαι αὐτοὺς ἀλλ' ἡ||

The text, still unpublished, starts imperfectly; there are two lacunae due to the loss of two leaves: between ff. 56v-57r and ff. 62v-63r

The end of the text is contained in MS Trinity O.1.54, f. 1r; it was copied by a later hand also on f. 79r of MS Trinity O.1.55, a parchment leaf added later to the codex

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment ( FHHF).

Collation

Part III consists of quaternions; in quire 8, the first and the last leaves are missing, resulting in loss of text:

  • Quires 2-78 ff. 9-56
  • Quire 88-2 ff. 57-62 ( 1st and 8th leaf missing, with loss of text)
  • Quires 9-108 ff. 63-78

Signatures in Greek numerals, in ink, very faded, are visible passim in the upper margin, right, of the first leaf recto of the quires:
  • ζ΄ (7, f. 17r)
  • θ΄ (9, f. 33r)
  • ι΄ (10, f. 41r).
They are probably original to the production of the manuscript, they recur also in Trinity O.1.54, continuing this series.

Layout

A single column of 29 lines. 140 × 90 mm. Pricking survives in the external and lower margins, but much has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, Leroy-Sautel system 1, type 20C1. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

ff. 9r-78v Hand C (= Hand A in MS Trinity O.1.54): the text has been written by a single hand in a Perlschrift minuscule script, vertical, in brown ink, with enlargement of some letters, as majuscule epsilon, round zeta, phi, tau, datable to the 11th c. The text of the Proverbs is written by the same scribe in an Auszeichnungs-Schrift based on the Alexandrian majuscule script.

Iota subscript is not regularly written.

The text is written in brown ink.

The script hangs from the ruled lines.

ff. 9r-78v Hand a: passim in the margins there are annotations by another hand in a grey-black ink; this scribe made also corrections to the text (see e.g. f. 68r). The script is a minuscule, contemporary or slightly later than hand C.

History

Origin: This part of the manuscript was copied in the 11th c., probably in the first half.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2020) draws partly on M. R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Cambridge, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1902, p. 53, and N. Tchernetska, 'Hand-list of the Greek palimpsests in Cambridge libraries', in: G. Prato, I manoscritti greci tra riflessione e dibattito: Atti del V Colloquio Internazionale di Paleografia Greca (Cremona 4-10 ottobre 1998), Florence 2000, pp. 733-739

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. (Montague Rhodes) (Cambridge, 3, Cambridge University Press, 1902) Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments Bible. Old Testament. Supplementum. Greek. Septuagint. 1931, , (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2004) A palimpsest of St. Chrysostom The Journal of Theological Studies, Powell, J. Enoch (39, 132-140, 1938) Codices Chrysostomici Graeci I Codices Britanniae et Hiberniae, Aubineau, Michel (Paris, CNRS éditions, 1968) Commentaire sur le Cantique des cantiques / Nil d'Ancyre Sources chrétiennes ; no 403-, Nilus, of AncyraGuérard, Marie-Gabrielle (Paris, Éditions du Cerf, 1994) Hand-list of the Greek palimpsests in Cambridge libraries I manoscritti greci tra riflessione e dibattito: Atti del V Colloquio Internazionale di Paleografia Greca (Cremona 4-10 ottobre 1998) Papyrologica Florentina, Tchernetska, Natalie (Florence, 733-739, Edizioni Gonnelli, 2000) Un nouveau témoin direct des 'Scholies aux Proverbes' d'Evagre le Pontique (Cambridge, Trinity Coll. O.1.55) Revue d'histoire des textes, Bady, G.Tchernetska, N. (32, 63-72, 2002) Nilus von Ancyra · Schriften, Band I: Kommentar zum Hohelied [Unter Verwendung der Vorarbeiten von Harald Ringshausen] Patristische Texte und Studien, Rosenbaum, Hans-Udo (Berlin ;Boston, De Gruyter, 2004) Le document synoptique transmis par le ms. Venezia, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. I.13 (coll. 1010) Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata, Barone, F. (14, 49-60, 2017) Did Hesychius of Jerusalem Compose an Outline of the Sapiential Books (CPG 6560[4])? Philologie, herméneutique et histoire des textes entre Orient et Occident: mélanges en hommage à Sever J. Voicu Instrumenta patristica et mediaevalia, Ceulemans, Reinhart, , , , (Turnhout, Belgium, 343-380, Brepols, 2017) Le chaînon manquant. La source de l'Epitomé de Procope (Type II) dans la Chaîne du Vatican Byzantion, Danezan, M. (123-152, 2019)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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