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.5.27

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12005

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript is a 17th century copy of Porphyrius, In Ptolemaeum, made by different hands, and arranged in order to have a complete text. The core of the manuscript consist of the folios copied by Hand A. It was donated to the Trinity College by Roger Gale in 1738, the eldest son of the Fellow of Trinity and Dean of York Thomas Gale, who was also an antiquarian. Dr Matteo Di Franco

Language(s): Greek

ff. 1r-84r
Porphyrius, Commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics Commentarius in Claudii Ptolemaei Harmonica
Rubric: f. 1r Πορφυρίου εἰς τὰ ἁρμονικὰ Πτολεμαίου ὑπόμνημα
Incipit: f. 1r Πολλῶν αἱρέσεων οὐσῶν ἐν μουσικῇ περὶ τοῦ ἡρμοσμένου, ὦ Εὐδόξιε, δύο πρωτεύειν ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι, τήν τε Πυθαγόρειον καὶ τὴν Ἀριστοξένειον
Explicit: f. 84r ὥστε τὸ ἀρχῆθεν ἐφαρμόζον τῇ διαστάσει μέλος, πῆ μὲν ἀπολεῖπον, πῆ δὲ ἐπιλαμβάνον, ἑτερότητα τοῦ ἤθους ποιεῖν

TLG 2034.021

Final rubric: f. 84r Πορφυρίου εἰς τὰ ἁρμονικὰ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ὑπομνήματος τέλος

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. [i] recto-86v, Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Fleur-de-lis in a shield sourmonted by a crown and beneath letters, with IHS countermark ( 145 × 65 mm. ) mid on the folio comparable to Heawood 1785 , but the countermark has a "I P" beneath and the S is reverse. Watermarks of this shape are dated between 1670s and 1700s.
Extent: Codex: ii + 86 leaves. 358 × 224-233 mm.
Foliation: [i-ii] + 1-86. Modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right corner.

Collation

Due to the tightness of the binding it is not possible to determine the manuscript's collation, and the alternation of watermark and countermark does not provide sufficient ancillary evidence from which the quire structure could be inferred. Catchwords present on ff. 11r and 34r.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

ff. 1r-9v, ff. 12r-21r, ff. 43r-46v, ff. 53r-57v, ff. 68r-79r: 350 × 185 mm. 30-33 lines per page.

ff. 10r-11r, ff. 22r-26v, ff. 35r-40v: 320 × 185 mm. 32 lines per page.

ff. 27r-34r, ff. 47r-52v, ff. 80r-84r: 315 × 177 mm. 41 lines per page.

ff. 41r-42v, ff. 58r-61v: 330 × 170 mm. 50-56 lines per page.

ff. 62r-67v: 310 × 183 mm. 32-37 lines per page.

Hand(s)

Hand A: ff. 1r-9v, ff. 12r-21r, ff. 43r-46v, ff. 53r-57v, ff. 68r-79r.

The main hand of the manuscript shows a mixed minuscule script of the 17th century by a Western scholar. It is neat and airy, regular with ample development of ascending and descending strokes. Abbreviations and ligatures are in modest use.

Hand B: ff. 10r-11r, ff. 22r-26v, ff. 35r-40v.

Hand B has a minuscule contemporary with that of Hand A, with rounded shapes and a wide theta scroll.

Hand C: ff. 27r-34r, ff. 47r-52v, ff. 80r-84r.

Hands C, D, E are 17th-century western hands in mixed minuscule following the same models as hands A and B.

Hand D: ff. 41r-42v, ff. 58r-61v.

Hand E: ff. 62r-67v.

Additions

List of cited authors on f. 86r.

Binding

Couched-laminated board binding, sheepskin with blind embossing reused from a previous binding (probably late 17th-century).

365 × 245 × 25 mm.

History

Origin: The manuscript was copied in the 17th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the antiquarian Thomas Gale (c. 1635-1702) , Fellow of Trinity and Dean of York. It is sorted as nos 5970-5973 in the list of Gale's manuscripts in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697) .

Donated to Trinity College by Thomas's son Roger Gale (1672-1744) in 1738.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2020) draws on M.R. James, The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902), vol. 3, p. 329.

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) Ancient Greek music theory: a catalogue raisonné of manuscripts International inventory of musical sources. B, Mathiesen, T. J. (München, Henle, 1988) Commentarius in Claudii Ptolemaei Harmonica Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, (Berlin; Boston, De Gruyter, 2016)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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