Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.5.10
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11998
Contents
Language(s): Greek
The colophon has been written in two circles in the headpiece
TLG 4036.030
ff. [i] recto-[iii] verso, [vii] verso-[xi] verso are blank
This single leaf has been added to the first quire containing the text; it contains the beginning of the first book of the commmentary ( C. Steel, Procli in Platonis Parmenidem Commentaria, vol I, Oxford 2007, pp. [617]-[619] l. 22) copied by Humfrey Wanley, without decoration; it could perhaps have been a proof sent to Gale before the work was commissioned
The extension of books 1 and 2 in the manuscript is different from the printed edition, C. Steel, Procli in Platonis Parmenidem Commentaria, vol. I, Oxford 2007: Book 2 starts in the manuscript at p. [660] l. 18. The end of book 2 is the same of the printed edition
p. 174 is blank
ff. [xiii] recto-[xix] verso are blank
Physical Description
Pagination in brown ink, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right from 1 to 312. There are several unnumbered leaves:
- ff. [i]-[iii] and [xviii]-[xix] are later andleaves, which came with the binding (see Watermarks)
- ff. [vii]-[xi], [xiii]-[xvii] are blank unnumbered leaves
- f. [xii] contains another copy of the beginning of the text by the scribe
- ff. [iv], [v] and [vi] are two letters and a receipt bound in the manuscript.
The scribe added running titles, writing in the upper left corner of the verso of the leaves the word βιβλίον in majuscule letters, and in the upper right corner of the recto the number of the book of the commentary, Α / Β / Γ / Δ.
Collation
The quires have been sewn tightly and are not numbered; it was not possible to assess the collation with certainty.
Condition
Layout
A single column of 26 lines. Lines are traced in pencil, bounding lines are traced in red. 255 × 155 mm.
Hand(s)
f. [xii] recto-[xii] verso, pp. 1-22, 24-173, 175-312 Hand A: the manuscript was copied by Humfrey Wanley (1672-1726) in a minuscule script slanting slightly to the right. The scribe signed the copy in 1695.
The text is written in brown ink
Decoration
At the beginning of each book or chapter, there are pen flourished headpieces, in brown ink:
- a vegetal motif of flowers and scrolls, at the centre a scroll with a human face, at its sides two circles containing the indication of the exemplar used by the scribe, and his colophon on p. 1
- scrolling ornament with flowers and fruits on pp. 32, 129
- rinceaux on p. 175.
Pen flourished initials traced with the same ink used for the text, decorated with an elaborated vegetal motif, see e.g. pp. 1, 32, 129. On p. 175 there are two champ initials, the background is formed by a vegetal decoration.
At the end of the books the scribe traced in ink some well executed drawings, depicting:
- p. 31 a bowl of fruit
- p. 128 a vase of flowers
- p. 173 a ribbon (with chiaroscuro effects) on which has been written a final rubric.
Additions
On the left pastedown is pasted a paper label with a note about the text: ‘ Scripsit in Parmenidem | Marinus vide Suidam in | Damascius’, and, below, the shelfmark ‘ O.5.10’.
On f. [vii] recto are written the present shelmark, ‘ O.5.10’, and the note ‘ Vol. primum’ (in MS Trinity O.5.11 there is a corresponding note, ‘ Vol. secundum’) and an older shelfmark, ‘ A. 10’.
Binding
Modern binding, paper cover over pasteboards; parchment on spine, where are glued three paper labels with the shelfmark ‘ O.5.10’. 340 × 220 × 38 mm.
The cover is damaged and yellowed; the spine is damaged at the upper end. The left board and the spine are detached from the book-block.
Accompanying Material
At the beginning of the codex, after f. [iii], have been bound three paper leaves:
- f. [iv] ( 195 × 170 mm. ) is a letter from Humfrey Wanley to Thomas Gale, dated on 7th November 1695, in Edmund Hall, Oxford; Wanley announces the completion of the transcript and asks for £2 more than the £4 agreed upon
- f. [v] ( 80 × 130-140 mm. ) is a receipt of the Carrier Th. Bartlett, dated on 15th November 1695, for £4 to be conveyed to Wanley (whose request had therefore not been accepted)
- f. [vi] ( 180 × 300 mm. ) is a letter from John Mill, who was engaged in collating Proclus, to Thomas Gale; the letter was sent to his house in London; on the exterior of the letter the seal is still preserved.
History
The manuscript was copied by Humfrey Wanley in 1695, in Oxford, as stated in the colophon on p. 1, and also in a letter bound in the manuscript ( f. [iv]) written by him to Thomas Gale on 7th November 1695 from St. Edmund Hall (Oxford). The copy was commissioned by 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.
Provenance and Acquisition
It was donated to the library by Roger Gale (1672-1744) in 1738. On ff. [vii] verso is pasted the Trinity College bookplate. On p. 312 there are stamps of Trinity College Library.
Additional Information
Record Sources
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)
Commentaire sur le Parménide de Platon /
Proclus Budé, (Paris, 1, Les Belles Lettres-, 2007)
Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
