Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.8.11
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12019
Contents
Language(s): Greek
TLG 4384.001
ff. 1v-3v are blank
The table of contents is incomplete
f. 7v is blank
Only the prologue is present, F. Drexl, Achmetis Oneirocriticon, Leipzig 1925, p. 1; the text is a paraphrase (see Drexl 1925, p. xiii; Mavroudi 2002, p. 121)
In this manuscript the text starts with the mention of the Caliph Mamoun, which is traditionally part of the title, see Mavroudi 2002, pp. 36-37
f. 8v is blank
The red ink of the title is very faint, it is almost completely unreadable
The books are preceded by a list of the chapters
TLG 3188.002
ff. ff. 99v-[iv] verso are blank
The text is preceded, on f. 9r ll. 1-19, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on ff. 22r l. 18-22v l. 5, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on ff. 32r l. 27-32v l. 23, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on f. 44v ll. 8-28, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on f. 60r ll. 6-27, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on f. 76r ll. 27-31, by a table of contents
The text is preceded, on ff. 88r l. 22-88v l. 13, by a table of contents
Physical Description
Modern pencil foliation, in Arabic numerals, in the upper margin right, from 1 to 99: [i]-[iii] + 1-99 + [iv].
Collation
The manuscript consists of quaternions. Ff. 97-99 seem to be today three single leaves. The first three later endleaves form a binion together with the left pastedown. The last, later, endleaf, f. [iv], forms a bifolium with the right pastedown.
- Quire 14 left pastedown-f. [iii] (18th c., later endleaves)
- Quires 2-138 ff. 1-96
- three paper leaves ff. 97-99
- Quire 142 ff. [iv]-right pastedown (18th c., later endleaves)
Condition
Layout
ff. 9r-99r A single column of 31 lines (32 lines on ff. 5r-8r). 133 × 85 mm.
Hand(s)
ff. 5r-7r, 8r Hand A: a minuscule Gebrauchsschrift, vertical, regular in size, which can be identified as the hand of Isidore of Kyïv (ca. 1385-1463) , (Ἰσίδωρος, on him see RGK I, 155; RGK II, 205; RGK III, 258), in the less calligraphic variant of his script (on the variants of Isidore's script, see A. Rollo, 'A proposito del Vat. gr. 2239: Manuele II e Guarino (con alcune osservazioni sulla scrittura di Isidoro di Kiev)', in: Νέα Ῥώμη, 3, 2006, pp. 373-388).
The text is written in a brown ink, titles in a brilliant red.
ff. 9r-99r Hand B: a minuscule Gebrauchsschrift, vertical, regular in size, but with a certain enlargement of oblique strokes (particularly evident in letters such as alpha, lambda, delta). The ductus is rapid and the script is traced with a 'nervous' movement. It is datable in the 15th century.
The text is written in a brown ink, titles in red.
Decoration
On f. 5r there is a frieze in a rope motif, in a brilliant red ink.
Hand B traced a series of small and simple friezes, formed of an undulated line with clover leaves at both ends, on ff. 9r, 44v, 60r, 88r.
Initials in ekthesis, in red ink, decorated with a vegetal motif, used by both hand A (see f. 8r), and B ( f. 9r). Hand B used also minor thick initials in red ink, see e.g. f. 87r.
Additions
On the left pastedown, in the upper left corner, is written, in brown ink, the present shelfmark, ‘ O.8.11’.
On f. 1r are written, in brown ink, the old marks ‘ C.18’ and ‘ O.14.18’, both erased with lines. Above, is written the number ‘ 149’.
On f. 4r a later hand wrote in Latin a title, ‘ Achmetis Oneirocritica, manuscripta, Graece’, and a note about the text, which allegedly contains parts of the text not present in the printed edition (Paris 1603), ‘ Excussus est hic liber Parisiis cum Artemidori Daldiani Oneirocriticis. Sed habentur in in[sic] hoc manuscripto nonnulla quae in impresso desunt, ut patet ex praefatione.’ The same hand added a title also in the upper margin of f. 9r, ‘ Actuarius de urinis’.
On f. 8r a later hand wrote in brown ink a note about works citing oneirocritai.
Binding
Western modern binding. Paper cover over pasteboards; parchment on spine, on which are glued three paper labels with the shelfmark ‘ O’, ‘ 8’, ‘ 11’. 215 × 150 × 25 mm.
The spine is damaged.
History
As the watermarks of the paper suggest, the manuscript was copied in the 15th century, probably in the first half. Since the first, defective, text was copied by Isidore of Kyïv (ca. 1385-1463), and since also the second text was written by hand B on the same kind of paper, the date of origin of the manuscript can be placed before the cardinal's death, in 1463.
Provenance and Acquisition
The manuscript was part of the collection of the antiquary Thomas Gale (ca. 1635-1702) . It appears among Thomas Gale's Greek manuscripts in E. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ, Oxoniæ 1697, p. 191: no. 6102 (268) ‘ Actuarius de urinis, Gr.’
It was donated to Trinity College by Roger Gale (1672-1744) in 1738. On f. 4v is pasted the Trinity College bookplate.
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)
Achmetis Oneirocriticon Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum
Teubneriana, (Lipsiae, In aedibus BG Teubneri, 1925)
Gli onirocritici del cod. Paris. Suppl. Gr.
690 Prometheus, Gigli, Daria (4, 65-86, 1978)
A Byzantine book on dream interpretation: the
Oneirocriticon of Achmet and its Arabic sources Medieval Mediterranean, Mavroudi, Maria V. (Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2002)
Byzantine medical manuscripts: towards a new
catalogue, with a specimen for an annotated checklist of
manuscripts based on an index of Diels' catalogue Byzantion: Revue internationale
des Études
Byzantines, Touwaide, Alain (79, 453-595, 2009)
Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
