Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.3.8

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11979

Introduction: This manuscript contains the second oration of Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 330-ca. 390) with the commentary of Elias, metropolitan of Crete (12th c.). Information is scarce about this author, who is known for his commentaries on the orations of Gregory of Nazianzus, and also for a commentary on John Climacus' Heavenly Ladder. The text was copied by Manuel Glynzounios (or Manolis Glyzounis), a Greek from the island of Chios, who was active in Venice (mainly), Rome and Spain in the second half of the 16th century, in various fields (on his life and activities, see I. Papadaki, 'Manolis Glyzounis, Greek Publisher and Copyist in Venice in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century', in Greeks, Books, and Libraries in Renaissance Venice, ed. by R.M. Piccione (Berlin/Boston, 2021), pp. 115-146, and M. Sicherl, 'Manuel Glynzunios als Schreiber griechischer Handschriften', Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 49 (1956), pp. 34-54). A scribe and dealer of manuscripts, Glynzounios worked in particular for the Spanish court in acquiring books for the library of El Escorial, and was moreover acquainted with prominent personalities of the Western courts (see Papadaki (2021)). In Venice he was involved in the printing trade, in particular the production of liturgical texts of the Greek rite. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-220v

Elias Cretensis, Commentarium in Gregorii Nazianzeni oratio II

Rubric: f. 1r Ἐξήγησις τοῦ ἱερωτάτου μητροπολίτου Κρήτης κυροῦ Ἡλιοῦ[sic], εἰς τοὺς μὴ ἀναγινωσκομένους λόγους τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Γρηγορίου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ θεολόγου

Incipit: f. 1r Ἐν πεντηκοστῷ δευτέρῳ ἀριθμῷ τῶν τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Γρηγορίου

Explicit: f. 220v οἱ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ἐπουρανίῳ Σιὼν ἀπο… ||

The text is incomplete, see also C. Macé, P. Andrist, 'Elias of Crete’s Commentary on Gregory of Nazianzus’s Homilies in Codex Basel AN i 8 : A Philological and Codicological Approach', in: Νέα Ῥώμη. Rivista di Studi Bizantinistici, 13 (2016), pp. 171-239: 194

The text of Gregory of Nazianzus is signalled by citations marks in the margin

CPG 3028

1.1. ff. 1r-1v

Introduction

PG 36, 757-759

1.2. ff. 1v-220v

Commentary on Or. 2

2. ff. [iii] recto-[vi] verso

Blank leaves

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: ff. 1-220, [iii]-[iv] Anvil with a hammer, in a circle surmounted by a Latin cross ( 70 × 45 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, very similar to Briquet Enclume 5965 , which is dated 1578-1580 (Italy), and similar to Heawood Anvil 29 , which is dated ca. 1580 (Rome?). f. [v] Lily on a cartouche surmounted by a crown ( 117 × 65 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, comparable to the type Heawood Fleur-de-lis 1734 , which is dated in 1677 (Paris). f. [vi] Coat of arms with letters ‘ A C’ ( 78 × 45 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, comparable to Heawood Coat of arms 652 , which is dated in 1642 or after. ff. [i]-[ii] Western paper, folded in folio, no watermarks are visible.

Extent: Codex: ii + 222 + ii leaves. 290 × 210 mm.

Foliation:

Modern foliation in pencil, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin, right, from 1 to 220; there are two unnumbered later endleaves at the beginning of the manuscript (ff. [i]-[ii]), two unnumbered blank leaves (ff. [iii]-[iv]) and two unnumbered later endleaves ([v]-[vi]) at the end: [i]-[ii] + 1-220 + [iii]-[vi].

Collation

The manuscript consists of quaternions. Two later endleaves are bound at the beginning (ff. [i]-[ii]) and at the end of the manuscript (ff. [v]-[vi]).

2 endleaves ff. [i]-[ii]
Quires 1-27⁸ ff. 1-216
Quire 28⁶ ff. 217-220, [iii]-[iv]
2 endleaves (17^th century) ff. [v]-[vi]

Condition

The manuscript is in good condition. Passim there are a few ink stains.

Layout

A single column of 30 lines. 210 × 110 mm.

Hand(s)

ff. 1r-220v Hand A: the manuscript was copied in a minuscule script by Manuel Glynzounios (1540-1596) (Μανουὴλ Γλυνζούνιος, RGK I, 248; on him see also II 341, III 490).

The text is written in a brown ink.

Hand a: Passim, in the margins (see e.g. ff. 7r, 9v, 48v, 102r, 107r, 143r), there are notes by another hand, in Latin and Greek. The script seems to be identifiable as the hand of Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614) , who owned the manuscript (see Provenance). Similar notes in his hand are detectable in the first leaves and in the margins of two manuscripts copied by Glynzounios from the same exemplar of Trinity O.3.8, both owned by Casaubon:

London, British Library, Royal MS 16 D.v , f. 1r
London, British Library, Royal 16 D.vi , ff. 2r-49

The ink is light brown.

Decoration

On f. 1r there is a very simple frieze, in brown ink, traced by the scribe, formed by a repeating pattern of points, commas and lines.

Thick initials in ekthesis in brown ink. Some have a small decoration of pearls, see f. 1v.

Additions

On the left pastedown is written, in pencil, the present shelmark, ‘ O.3.8’.

In the upper margin of f. 1r is written, in brown ink, the shelfmark, ‘ O.3.8’. Below, in brown ink, there is a note about the author of the text, with a reference to the Latin partial version of the text by Leunclavius (Johann Löwenklau), published in Basel in 1571.

Binding

Modern binding; full leather cover over pasteboards; gold tooling on spine with title ‘ Elias Cretensis M.S.’; the remains of two paper labels with the shelfmark are visible on the spine, ‘ O’. ‘ 3’. 304 × 220 × ca. 47 mm.

Accompanying Material

Within the manuscript leaves is preserved a paper fragment ( f. [161a]) ( 85 × ca. 23 mm. ), with traces of script, probably in Latin, in brown ink.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was copied by Manuel Glynzounios in the second half of the 16th century, before 1596, when the scribe died. The text was copied from MS Vat. gr. 1219 (see Sajdak (1914), pp. 105-106), a codex which was owned by a prominent member of the pontifical Curia, Cardinal Antonio Carafa, who had bought it in 1576 from the collection of Annibal Caro, secretary to the Farnese family in Rome (see G. Cardinali, 'Un acquisto "poco giuditioso" del cardinale Antonio Carafa: il Gregorio Nazianzeno commentato da Elia di Creta Vat. gr. 1219', Νέα Ῥώμη 10 (2013), pp. 303-318). So, Trinity O.3.8 was probably copied in Rome. Moreover, since the majority of manuscripts copied by Glynzounios are datable around the 1580s (see Sicherl (1956), p. 53), and the scribe was in Rome immediately before his travels to Spain in 1582 (see Sicherl (1956), p. 38), the copy of the manuscript could be more precisely dated around this period. The possible origin of the manuscript in the 1580s is also suggested by the anvil watermark of the paper.

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was owned by Isaac Casaubon (1559-1614) (see Craster (1926-1928), p. 98; Calvié (2020), p. 160).

It was subsequently part of the collection of the English classical scholar and antiquarian Thomas Gale (ca. 1635-1702) , Regius professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, High Master of St Paul's School and Dean of York (see James (1902), pp. xix seqq.). The manuscript is not identifiable among the list of Thomas Gale's Greek manuscripts in E. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (Oxoniæ, 1697).

It afterwards became part of the collection of the antiquary Roger Gale (1672-1744) (no. 300, see James (1902), p. xxiv).

The manuscript was donated to the Library by Roger Gale in 1738. On the left pastedown is pasted the Trinity College bookplate; in the lower margin of f. 1r is pasted the Trinity College library bookplate. On ff. 1r and 220v there are stamps of Trinity College.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2021) partly draws on M.R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Cambridge, vol. 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902), pp. 189-190.

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)

Historia critica scholiastarum et commentatorum Gregorii Nazianzeni, Sajdak, Jan (Cracoviae, Sumptibus Academiae Litterarum, 1914)

Casaubon’s Greek Manuscripts Bodleian Quarterly Record, Craster, E. (5, 97-100, 1926)

Specimen eines Repertoriums der griechischen Kopisten Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (27, 293-322, 1978)

Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, 800-1600 Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, I. Grossbritannien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981)

Repertorium Nazianzenum. Orationes, textus Graecus. 2, Codices Americae, Angliae, Austriae Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums. Reihe 2, Forschungen zu Gregor von Nazianz, Mossay, Justin (Paderborn, Schöningh, 1987)

Le commerce transalpin du copiste-libraire vénitien Andréas Darmarios entre 1582 et 1585 Revue d'Histoire des Textes, Calvié, L. (15, 89-168, 2020)

Manolis Glyzounis, Greek Publisher and Copyist in Venice in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century Greeks, Books and Libraries in Renaissance Venice Transmissions, Papadaki, I.Piccione, R.M. (Berlin; Boston, De Gruyter, 2020)

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.3.8

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