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.9.17

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12025

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript, probably copied in the 11th century, contains a series of homilies attributed to the patristic theologian and hymnographer Ephraem Syrus. A native of Nisibis in Roman Mesopotamia, Ephraem wrote in Syriac, but a large number of texts in Greek were later attributed to him, a corpus of uncertain authorship known as Ephraem Graecus. An incomplete quire from a Gospel lectionary manuscript, probably copied in the 12th century, has been reused to provide endleaves for this manuscript. In the 16th or 17th century the manuscript was owned by a priest named Tranos from a place called Tabria, who donated it to a monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity, as recorded by a note on p. 11. This note was originally dated, but abrasion of the ink has resulted in this information being lost. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: ii + vi + 249 + iii leaves.
Foliation: The left endleaves begin with two unnumbered folios [a-b], followed by folios foliated 1, 3-6, 8, in Arabic numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right. The discontinuous numbers of the left endleaves appear intended to reflect the loss of two folios of the original quire.
Foliation: The left endleaves ff. 1-8 are also foliated in Roman numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right, with the numbers I-III, IX, V-VI. The number IX appears to be an error for IV.
Foliation: The main body of the manuscript is paginated with the numbers 1-130, 139-498, in Arabic numerals, in brown ink, recto, upper right and verso, upper left.
Foliation: The right endleaves are foliated with the numbers i-ii, in Roman numerals, recto, upper left, followed by the unnumbered folio [c].

Collation

Part I consists of one quire, Part II of 32. Right endleaves with contents list: 18-2, 28-1, 3-108, 116, 1210-1, 13-188, 198-1, 20-328, 332

Condition

There have been losses from the edges of some folios, notably pp. 1-2, p. 1 and 419-422. The outer margins of pp. 465-468 have been cut away. Damage to pp. 1-4 has been repaired with parchment patches. There has been severe abrasion to the text and ornament on p. 1, and some abrasion to text on other folios. There is water staining, quite extensive to pp. 473-495, which has caused some slight fading of text. There is cockling, creasing and areas of dirt.

Additions

A contents list to the manuscript has been added to the right endleaves, ff. i recto-ii verso.

Binding

18th-century binding with grey paper covering over couched-laminate boards, with a white parchment spine and plain pastedowns. The classmark appears on the spine on patches.

260 × 250 × 98 mm.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by a priest named Tranos , from Tabria, and donated by him to a monastery of the Holy Trinity, probably in the 16th or 17th century.

Owned by the antiquary Thomas Gale (c. 1635-1702) , Fellow of Trinity and Dean of York. It appears in the 1697 catalogue of Gale's collection contained in Trinity College MS O.5.38 (p. 156).

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

Part 1 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.9.17, ff. 1-8]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-8v
Gospel lectionary

Fragment, with lacunas: begins during Wednesday of the 4th week of John, ends during Thursday of the 5th week of John

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1r-8v Parchment (FHHF), quite thick and of medium quality.

Collation

This part consists of a single quire, a quaternion.

  • Quire 18-2 ff. 1, 3-6, 8
    • The second and seventh folios have been lost, with loss of text.

Layout

ff. 1r-8v Two columns of 23-25 lines. 204 × 135 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, type Leroy X 00E2, ruled for only 13 double-spaced lines. Text hangs from the first line but otherwise largely ignores them.

Hand(s)

ff. 1r-8v were copied by Hand A in a somewhat inelegant mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in brown ink, with modest variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are both angular and round and mute iota is absent. Use of the double dot is functional only. Nomina sacra are unaccentuated.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower and middle commas, full stop and frequent use of a small cross as a normal punctuation mark.

Majuscule lambda is often in an unusual form with a short lower left-hand stroke and a long lower right-hand one.

Headings are written Alexandrine majuscule script in brown ink.

Decoration

Lections and lines of headings begin with minor initials in red ink.

Additions

The present classmark has been marked on f. 1r, along with a number of former classmarks including O.16.29 (cancelled) and two which are not clearly legible, the first being probably B.39, the other probably comprising a letter followed by the number 105. The former classmark O.16.29 has also been marked on f. 3r

History

Origin: The manuscript from which these folios, reused here as endleaves, originate was probably copied in the 12th century, as suggested by the style of script.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.9.17, pp. 1-498]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. pp. 1-97
Ephraem Graecus, Sermones paraenetici ad monachos Aegyptii (Paerenses quinquaginta

TLG 4138.036

CPG 3942

2. pp. 97-100
Ephraem Graecus, De caritate

TLG 4138.079

CPG 3980

3. pp. 100-113
Ephraem Graecus, Capita centum quomodo quis humilitatem sibi comparet

TLG 4138.031

CPG 3936

4. pp. 141-142
Ephraem Graecus, Paraenesis

TLG 4138.043

CPG 3964

5. pp. 143-151
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo alius compunctorius

TLG 4138.013

CPG 3918

6. pp. 152-160
Ephraem Graecus, Quod non oporteat ridere et extolli, sed plangere potius ed nos ipsos deflere

TLG 4138.027

CPG 3933

7. pp. 160-179
Ephraem Graecus, Ad correctionem eorum qui vitiose vivunt et honores appetunt

TLG 4138.007

CPG 3912

8. pp. 180-218
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo de virtutibus et vitiis (capita XXII)

TLG 4138.001

CPG 3905

9. pp. 219-225
Ephraem Graecus, De conversatione fratrum mutua in concordia et dilectione

TLG 4138.098

CPG 4032

10. pp. 225-310
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo asceticus

TLG 4138.005

CPG 3909

11. pp. 310-315
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo de iudicio et resurrectione

CPG 4014

12. pp. 315-325
Ephraem Graecus, De timore animarum

TLG 4138.019

CPG 3925

13. pp. 325-348
Ephraem Graecus, De paenitentia

TLG 4138.010

CPG 3915

14. pp. 348-420
Ephraem Graecus, Oratio in vanam vitam et de paenitentia

TLG 4138.075

CPG 4031, 4622

BHG 2103n

15. pp. 421-432
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo de virginitate

TLG 4138.090

CPG 4002

16. pp. 433-450
Ephraem Graecus, De iudicio et compunctione

TLG 4138.033

CPG 3940

17. pp. 451-459
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo in patres defunctos

TLG 4138.015

CPG 3921

BHG 2103tc

18. pp. 459-467
On the death of a brother

Attributed here to Ephraem

Rubric: p. 459 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ λόγος εἰς ἀδελφὸν κοιμηθέντα
Incipit: p. 459 Ὅταν ἀποστολῆ ἄγγελος ἐπὶ ψυχὴν ἀσκητοῦ τοῦ παραλαβεῖν
19. pp. 468-478
Ephraem Graecus, In secundum aduentum Domini nostri Iesu Christi

TLG 4138.048

CPG 3920

20. pp. 478-485
Ephraem Graecus, Sermo compunctorius

TLG 4138.004

CPG 3917

21. pp. 485-498
Ephraem Graecus, Beatitudines aliae, capita viginti

TLG 4138.030

CPG 3935.2

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: pp. 1-498 Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

This part consists of 32 quires, all quaternia.

  • Quire 28-1 pp. 1-14 The eighth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
  • Quires 3-98 pp. 15-126
  • Quire 108-1 pp. 127-130, 139-148 The eighth folio has been lost, with loss of text.
  • Quires 11-188 pp. 149-276
  • Quire 198-1 pp. 277-290 The second folio has been lost, with loss of text.
  • Quires 20-328 pp. 291-498

There are quire signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower left, and the last folio of each quire, verso, lower right, original to the production of the manuscript. Some have been overwritten in black ink. They survive on Quires 3-32 (βʹ-λαʹ). There are modern quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right, ignoring the added first quire to begin with the main body of the manuscript, and therefore corresponding to the original signatures. They appear on Quires 3-30 (2-29).

Layout

pp. 1-498 A single column of 24 lines. 190 × 140 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 34C1. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

pp. 1-498 were copied by Hand B in mixed minuscule Perlschrift, in brown ink, slanting slightly to the right, with little variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings are not used apart from the horizontal stroke for nu, which appears only at the end of lines. Breathings are both angular and round, and mute iota is absent. Use of the double dot is functional only. Nomina sacra are accentuated only when more than three letters long or with enclitics. Nomina sacra strokes are sometimes decorated with an X-shaped mark. Circumflexes appear above breathings, and are sometimes somewhat enlarged when they do so. The double grave accent is in use.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower and middle commas, question mark and full stop.

Headings are written in Alexandrine majuscule script in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the text on p. 1 is preceded by a pyle outlined in red ink, with blue and green infill. Transitions between some texts are marked by thin rectangular headpieces in red ink (e.g. pp. 160, 180).

Texts and sections begin with minor initials in red ink.

Transitions between some texts are marked by line-fillers or vignettes in red ink (e.g. pp. 33-34, 39, 184-185).

Additions

A note of ownership on p. 11 records the donation of the manuscript to a monastery of the Holy Trinity by the priest Tranos, from Tabria: ‘Ἐτους [....] τὸ ἀφηἔξοσε· ὁ παπὰ κῦρ Τρανος· ἀπὸ Ταβία· ἐν τῆ μον⟨ῆ⟩ ⟨τῆ⟩ς Αγίας Τριἄδος, ὑπερ ψυχης καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας· καὶ ἡ τῆς βουθὴ ποταὶ τά [....] πὸστερίσε, ἐκ τῆς ρισε μονῆς κεχορισμένος ἔσε τοῦ Τριάδος τῆς ἉΓΊΑς’. The date has been lost to damage, but the style of script suggests that it was added in the 16th or 17th century.

Marginal notes have been added at the beginning of some texts identifying the date of the liturgical calendar on which they should be read, while another hand has marked a cross with two cross-bars alongside the beginning of some texts (e.g. pp. 57, 485).

History

Origin: The main body of the manuscript was probably copied in the 11th century, as suggested by the style of script.

Additional Information

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) Ephraem's 'On Repentance' and the Translation of the Greek Text into other Languages The British Library Journal, Pattie, T.S. (16, 174-186, 1990)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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