Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.4.22

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11994

Introduction: This richly ornamented Greek Gospel lectionary, probably produced in the 11th century, belongs to the briefer of the two main types, the "Saturday-Sunday" lectionary, which normally gives the lections for Saturdays and Sundays only, except for Holy Week and the period from Easter to Pentecost, for which weekdays are also included. It is provided with gilt lettering for all headings and with painted and gilded headpieces for all sections, usually quite small but including a large and ornate one at the beginning, and similarly ornamented initial letters. At the end of the text it has been annotated by an early user, perhaps an owner, the anagnostes (reader) Ioannes, a junior cleric whose duties would have included the recitation of the Gospel lections from this manuscript. The note is a salutation of an individual described as his teacher and arch-priest, but also as his exadelphos (cousin or nephew). This person's name is not given, but text in capital letters follows which appears to have been encoded using a numerical cryptographic system and which may be surmised to include the name of the dedicatee. This text is not, however, decipherable by any of the more common Greek cryptographic systems, and remains to be resolved. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Gospel lectionary (Saturday-Sunday)

Gregory-Aland l 186; Scrivener Evst. 221

Incipit: f. 1r Ἐν άρχῆ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸ Θεὸν καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

Explicit: f. 248v κατὰ τὸ ἔθος εἰς τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν· ἠκολούθησαν δὲ αὐτῶ· οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ

1.1. ff. 1r-54v

Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of John

1.2. ff. 55r-82v

Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Matthew

1.3. ff. 83r-113v

Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Luke

1.4. ff. 113v-126v

Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Mark (Lent)

1.5. ff. 126v-173r

Synaxarion: Lections of Holy Week

f. 173v is blank.

1.6. ff. 174r-183r

Menologion: Lections for September

1.7. ff. 183r-188v

Menologion: Lections for October

1.8. ff. 188v-189v

Menologion: Lections for November

1.9. ff. 189v-200r

Menologion: Lections for December

1.10. ff. 200r-208r

Menologion: Lections for January

1.11. ff. 208r-211r

Menologion: Lections for February

1.12. ff. 211v-214v

Menologion: Lections for March

1.13. ff. 214v-215r

Menologion: Lections for April

1.14. ff. 215r-216v

Menologion: Lections for May

1.15. ff. 216v-221r

Menologion: Lections for June

1.16. ff. 221v-223r

Menologion: Lections for July

1.17. ff. 223r-227v

Menologion: Lections for August

1.18. ff. 228r-233r

Lections of the eothina

1.19. f. 233v

Lections for various occasions

1.20. ff. 234r-248v

Orthros lections for Holy Week

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Extent: Codex: 250 + 1 leaves. 313 × 220 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers 1-87, 87a, 88-165, 165a, 166-248 + [i] in Arabic numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 33 quires, of which one is a single bifolium, one is a binion, one a ternion and the rest are quaternia.

Quires 1-6⁸ ff. 1-48
Quire 7⁶ ff. 49-54
Quires 8-22⁸ ff. 55-172
Quire 23^2-1 f. 173 The second folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
Quires 24-32⁸ ff. 174-245v
Quire 33^4-1 ff. 246-248 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.

There are original quire signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower left. They survive on Quires 2-33 (βʹ-λγʹ).

Condition

There are small tears to the edge of some folios (notably ff. 221 and 248) and a significant number of worm-holes in the outer folios. The tail-edges of ff. 246-248 are irregularly formed, and have been repaired with paper patches, which are now partially detached. There is significant cockling and some creases, especially to the last few folios. The outermost folios (ff. 1, 248) are discoloured, and there is some discoloration to the lower outer corner throughout. There are occasional areas of dirt and drops of wax.

Layout

Two columns of 20 lines each. 215 × 145 mm. Pricking survives in all three margins, but some has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 22C2. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The main text has been copied in mixed minuscule Perlschrift, upright or slanting slightly to the right, in brown ink. There is minimal variation in letter size. Tails are occasionally flourished into the lower margin and decorated, usually on the abbreviation of καὶ (e.g. ff. 79r, 84v). There are deletions by expunctuation, including more than ten lines on ff. 151v-152r, where a passage has been duplicated.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are both angular and curved, and mute iota is absent. Use of the double dot is functional only. Nomina sacra are not accentuated unless more than three letters long or with enclitics, and not always then. The double grave accent is in use.

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

Headings identifying Gospels have been added by the same hand in Alexandrine majuscule script in red ink, and gilded. Headings identifying the occasion of the lection (and those identifying the Gospel at the beginning of major subdivisions of the lectionary) are in epigraphic display majuscule, also rubricated and gilded.

Musical Notation: The text is provided throughout with ekphonetic notation in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the text (f. 1r) is preceded by a large rectangular headpiece in red, blue, green and white paint and gold, containing a heading identifying the Gospel of the first lection in a four-lobed opening at its centre. Pylai in the same style mark the beginning of some major sections:-

f. 55r Weeks of Matthew
f. 83r Weeks of Luke
f. 174r Menologion

The beginning of other sections is marked by small rectangular headpieces in the same style:-

f. 113v Weeks of Mark
f. 145r Lections of the Passion
f. 183r October
f. 188v November
f. 189v December
f. 200r January
f. 208r February
f. 211v March
f. 214v April
f. 215r May
f. 216v June
f. 221v July
f. 223r August
f. 228r Lections of the eothina
f. 233v Lections for various occasions
f. 234r Orthros lections for Holy Week

The text of each lection begins with an ornamented initial, usually in the same style as the headpieces, but occasionally in gold only (e.g. f. 3r). In the initial letter of the first lection of the Gospel of John, an epsilon, the central bar takes the form of an arm and hand, as was common; more unusually, the hand is shown not in a gesture of blessing, but grasping an upright bar (f. 1r).

There are occasional gilt minor initials at the beginning of lines.

All headings are gilded.

Additions

The original ornate headings giving the occasion of lections are placed in the upper margin, while those identifying the Gospel are in the main line of text.

Another hand has added a brief excerpt from Mk 16:9-10, with its lection preamble, after the last lection (f. 248v).

Following this, the anagnostes (reader) Ioannes has added a dedicatory note: ‘Ἐγὼ Ἰωάννης ἀναγνώστης χεριτιζω[sic] τὸν διδάσκαλόν μου· ἀρχιερέα· καὶ ⟨ἐ⟩ξαδελφόν μου’. Following this he has added a cryptographic note: ‘ΑΒ· Β· Κ· Β· Γ Ι· Δ ΛΕ ΙΗ· Ϛ ζ: Ζ ΚΖ· Η ΙΕ Θ Δ ΙΚ Δ. ΙΑ· ΙΒ ΙΒ· Α ΙΓ ΚΑ· ΙΑ Θ ΙΕ ΚΘ ΙϚ ΙΖ· ΙΖ Ε ΙΗ. ΚΕ· ΙΘ ΙΓ’

A Latin note of content has been added on the left pastedown.

Binding

16th-century full leather binding over wooden boards, with unsupported sewing and plain pastedowns. The boards and edges are decorated with blind tooling. The classmark appears on the spine on patches.

230 × 171 × 112 mm.

There are two movable ribbon bookmarks made of green and blue thread wrapped around a core, attached to the headband.

The binding has been rebacked.

Accompanying Material

There is a single early parchment endleaf at the right-hand end, possibly original to the production of the manuscript, with pen-trials in Greek (f. [i]).

History

Origin: The characteristics of the script suggest that the manuscript was copied in the 11th century. It has been dated in the past to the 12th century, but the combination of features such as the ornamentation of flourished tails in the lower margin, the omission of accents from shorter nomina sacra, the use of abbreviations and superscriptions only at the end of lines and the frequent use of a horizontal stroke for nu suggest an earlier date.

Provenance and Acquisition

Possibly owned by the anagnostes Ioannes .

Donated to Trinity College by 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

Novum Testamentum Graece: ad antiquissimos testes denuo recensuit apparatum criticum apposuit Constantinus Tischendorf. Vol. 3, Prolegomena , Gregory, Caspar René (Leipzig, J.C. Hinrichs, 1894)

The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M. R. (Cambridge, 3, Cambridge University Press, 1902)

Adversaria critica sacra with a short explanatory introduction, Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Plain introduction to the criticism of the New Testament, Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose (1, Project Gutenberg, 2011)

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.4.22

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