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.5.11

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11999

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript contains books 5-7 of the Commentary to Plato's Parmenides by Proclus, with the continuation by George Pachymeres. The manuscript was owned by Thomas Gale, and was copied in 1697 from Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gr. 1836 . Two years earlier, in 1695, Thomas Gale had commissioned Humfrey Wanley to copy the first four books of the Commentary from Oxford, Bodleian Library, Auct. F.3.23 : the resultant copy is now Trinity College, MS O.5.10 . With MS Trinity O.5.11, Gale had therefore a complete text of the Proclus' Commentary to Plato's Parmenides. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-95r
Proclus, Commentary on Plato's Parmenides, books 5-7 In Platonis Parmenidem, 5-7
Incipit: f. 1r Συγχωρῶ σοι ἔφη ὦ Παρμενίδη ὁ Σωκράτης·
Explicit: f. 95r l. 25 ταῦτα οὐχ οὕτως; ναί.

TLG 4036.030

1.1. ff. 1r-24r
Book 5
Rubric: f. 1r Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ε΄ βιβλίου ἐξηγήσεως Πρόκλου εἰς Παρμενίδην
1.2. ff. 25r-57r l. 16
Book 6
Rubric: f. 25r l. 4 Ἀρχὴ τοῦ ϛ ου βιβλίου τοῦ Πρόκλου
1.3. ff. 57r l. 17-95r l. 25
Book 7
Rubric: f. 57r l. 17 Ἀρχὴ τοῦ δευτέρου βιβλίου Πρόκλου
2. ff. 95r-114v
George Pachymérès, Commentary on Plato's Parmenides In Platonis Parmenidem
Rubric: f. 95r l. 26 Ἀρχὴ τῆς δευτέρας ὑποθέσεως
Incipit: f. 95r Ὅρα δὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς
Explicit: f. 114v καθὼς συντίθεται ὁ πρὸ[sic] διαλεγόμενος.

The text follows the preceding one whithout an interruption

TLG 3142.007

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1-114 Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: ff. 1-84 Coat of arms formed by a shield with three circles surrounded by a laurel wreath, with countermark formed by a series of letters, difficult to read ( ca. 95 × ca. 75 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, comparable to the types Heawood Coat of arms 697, 704 , which are dated to 1687 (Paris) and 1696 (Paris). ff. 85-114 Coat of arms formed by a shield with three double countered circles surrounded by a laurel wreath, with countermark ‘ A P/R (?) ’ with the symbol of a heart between the letters in an oval ( ca. 80 × ca. 75 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, comparable to the type Heawood Coat of arms 701 (countermark is different) which is dated to 1677 (Paris). ff. [i]-[iv], [vii]-[x] Western paper, folded in folio. No watermarks are visible. ff. [v]-[vi] Western paper. Hand ( ca. 34 × ca. 25 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, no parallels found in the main repertoires.
Extent: Codex: iv + 114 + 2 + ii leaves. 390 × 250 mm.
Foliation:

Foliation in black ink, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right from 1 to 114; there are 4 unnumbered leaves at the beginning and at the end of the manuscript: [i]-[iv] + 1-114 + [v]-[x].

Collation

The manuscript consists mainly of binions. The quires have been sewn very tightly, therefore the collation has been reconstructed on the basis of the catchwords written by the scribe and of the watermarks. Quires 28-29 do not correspond to the original collation, because their leaves have been bound in the wrong order (now 109-112-113-110-111-114); originally they formed probably a binion (109-110-111-112) and a bifolium (113-114). Quire 30 (ff. v-vi) is a smaller bifolium, bound within the manuscript. Four later endleaves are bound at the beginning (ff. [i]-[iv]) and at the end of the manuscript (ff. [vii]-[x]).

  • ff. [i]-[iv] later endleaves (probably 18th c., as the binding)
  • Quire 18 ff. 1-8
  • Quires 2-154 ff. 9-64
  • Quires 16-172 ff. 65-68
  • Quires 18-274 ff. 69-108
  • Quire 282 ff. 109/112
  • Quire 294 ff. 113, 110-111, 114
  • Quire 302 ff. [v]-[vi]
  • ff. [vii]-[x] later endleaves (probably 18th c., as the binding)

Condition

The manuscript is in good condition. Some leaves have tears along the edges. The leaves have not been trimmed

Layout

A single column of 30 lines. 250 × 155 mm.

Hand(s)

ff.1r-[v] recto, [vi] recto Hand A: the manuscript was copied in a minuscule script slightly slanting to the right, characterized by a tendency to end uprights forming rounded forms; the script indicates a western European hand.

The text is written in a brown ink.

Additions

On f. [ii] recto are written the present shelmark, ‘ O.5.11’, in black ink, and, in brown ink, the note ‘ Vol. secundum’ (the first volume is MS Trinity O.5.10) and an older shelfmark relating to the Gale collection, ‘ A. 11’.

In the upper margin of f. 1r there are some annotations referring to the copy of the manuscript, which was carried out in 1697 from an exemplar from the library of the King of France signed by Angelos Bergikios on the 11th September 1536 (see Origin for the transcription of the notes).

Binding

Western binding datable to the 18th century (see MS O.5.10). Paper cover over pasteboards; parchment on spine, where are pasted three paper labels with the shelfmark ‘ O.5.11’. 395 × 255 × ca. 25 mm.

The cover is damaged at the edges, and yellowed.

Accompanying Material

After the end of the text (f. 114), a smaller bifolium (ff. [v]-[vi]) ( 275 × ca. 180 mm. ), in a different paper (see Material), has been bound. On f. [v] recto the scribe wrote a list of abbreviations and forms used by the scribe of his exemplar, Angelos Bergikios: ‘ Quelques unes des abbreviations, et des certaines manières d'escrire, dont s'est servi l'auteur du mss. de la Biblioth. Royale, contenant les Commentaires de Proclus sur Parmenide, hore de Platon’. On f. [vi] recto he started to write a list of ‘ Dubia’, of doubtful lessons, but he wrote only one.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was copied in 1697, from a manuscript in the library of the king of France, which had been completed by the scribe Angelos Bergikios on 11th September 1536 in Venice, as it is also stated in two annotations written in the upper margin of f. 1r:

  • ‘ Exemplar, anno 1697, ex cod. R. Galliarum’
  • ‘ M.S. Regis Galliarum no. 2099 a pagina \ folio/ 131 ad fol. 251, Ἑνετίησι παρ' Ἀγγέλῳ Βεργικίῳ τῷ Κρητὶ ͵αφλϛ΄ σεπτεμβρίου ια΄’
The codex is indicated as ‘ no. 2099’, with its ancient shelfmark; it is today Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, gr. 1836.

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscipt was owned by Thomas Gale (1635/1636-1702) , Regius professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, High Master of St Paul's School and Dean of York.

It was donated to Trinity College by Roger Gale (1672-1744) in 1738. On f. 1r is pasted the Trinity College bookplate. On ff. 1r and 114v there are stamps of Trinity College.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2020) draws partly on M.R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902), vol. 3, pp. 314-315.

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, Proclus, (Paris, 1, Les Belles Lettres-, 2007)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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