Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.5.16
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12001
Contents
Language(s): Greek
TLG 0363.010
The text is accompanied by diagrams; between lines and in the margins the scribe wrote extensive scholia (see Mathiesen 1988, p. 291, and I. Düring, Die Harmonielehre des Klaudios Ptolemaios (Göteborg, 1930), pp. xcviii-c)
The text is preceded by a table of contents on f. 1r
The text is preceded by a table of contents on f. 21r; ff. 41r-43v are occupied by diagrams
The text is preceded by a table of contents on f. 45r
On f. 60r the scribe wrote in red ink Ἰδοῦ τὸ τέλος τοῦ βιβλίου
There is a lacuna in the text between f. 56v l. 14 and f. 57r, αἱ τῶν παρακειμένων ἀριθμῶν ἐν τῇ καταγραφῇ διαφοραί … Ὅτι τῇ κατὰ μῆκος κινήσει τῶν ἀστέρων ( I. Düring, Die Harmonielehre des Klaudios Ptolemaios (Göteborg, 1930), pp. 103 l. 4-104 l. 17); after f. 56 l. 17, the scribe crossed out with a line the rest of the text on the page (it is the beginning of the last chapter of book 3) and traced an asterisk, which recalls the missing text, copied by him on ff. 60r l. 18-60v
After the end of the text of Book 3 (f. 60r l. 18), the scribe wrote a passage of Book 3, chapter 9 which fills the lacuna between f. 56v l. 14 and f. 57r (it is I. Düring, Die Harmonielehre des Klaudios Ptolemaios (Göteborg, 1930), p. 103 l. 5-104 l. 17), indicating in the margin that the passage should be placed previously, as shown by the asterisk, which recalls the place of the lacuna on f. 56v
Physical Description
Modern foliation in pencil, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right, from 1 to 60; three blank leaves at the beginning and five at the end of the manuscript are unnumbered: [i]-[iii] + 1-60, [iv]-[v] + [vi]-[viii].
Collation
The quires have been sewn very tightly, the binding is in bad condition, there is no numbering of the quires, therefore it is not possible to ascertain with certainty the original collation.
Condition
Layout
A single column of 38 lines. Text lines are sometimes traced in brown ink (see e.g. f. 49r). 230 × 145 mm.
Hand(s)
ff. 1r-13v, 16r-21r, 27r-29v Hand A: the text has been written in a minuscule script, quite regular in size, probably by a western European hand. The script can be dated in the 17th c.
The text is written in brown ink; titles and initials in red.
Decoration
On ff. 1r, 1v, 21r, 21v, 45r, 46r there are undulated linear friezes in red ink with clovers at both ends.
Initials in ekthesis in red ink decorated with a vegetal motif, see e.g. f. 1v,
The text is accompanied by diagrams.
Additions
On f. [i] recto are written an ancient mark, ‘ A.13’, and a title, Πτολεμαίου Ἁρμονική.
Binding
Modern western full reversed skin binding, pasteboards. Blind tooling on covers. On the spine are glued three paper labels with the shelfmark. 382 × 245 × 20 mm.
The binding is damaged on the spine, the book block is exposed, and the left board is detached.
History
The manuscript was owned by the English classical scholar and antiquarian Thomas Gale (ca. 1635-1702) and was copied around the middle of the 17th century in England, from Oxford, St. John's College, MS 30. The manuscript was copied before 1682: it was lent from Gale to John Wallis, who published the first printed edition of the text in that year, and, in the introduction of the volume, wrote that the manuscript (G in his edition) had been copied from Oxford, St. John's College, MS 30 (I in his edition) a few years earlier (‘ qui fuerat, uti intellego, ex I (codice Johannensi) ante non multos annos descriptus’). The date is confirmed by the watermarks.
Provenance and Acquisition
It was donated by Roger Gale (1672-1744) 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.
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
-
Klaudiou Ptolemaiou Harmonikōn biblia 3.
Claudii Ptolemæi Harmonicorum libri tres: Ex codd. MSS.
undecim, nunc primum Græce editus / Johannes Wallis, SS. Th.
D. Geometriæ Professor Savilianus Oxoniæ, Regiæ Societatis
Londini Sodalis, Regiæque Majestati à Sacris; recensuit,
edidit, versione et notis illustravit, et auctarium
adjecit., Ptolemy, (Oxonii, e Theatro Sheldoniano, 1682)
The western manuscripts in the library of
Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, 3, Cambridge University Press, 1902)
Die Harmonielehre des Klaudios
Ptolemaios Göteborgs högskolas årsskrift, (Göteborg, Elanders boktraktiebolag, 1930)
Ancient Greek music theory: a catalogue
raisonné of manuscripts International inventory of musical sources.
B, Mathiesen, T. J. (München, Henle, 1988)
Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
