Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.9.22

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12042

Introduction: This manuscript, produced in 1489, contains the Greek grammar of Theodore Gaza or Gazes, a 15th-century Byzantine scholar from Thessalonike who had served as secretary to the Emperor John VIII Palaiologos (1392-1448, r. 1425-1448) before travelling to Italy to study Latin language and rhetoric in the 1430s. He became one of the leading figures in Greek studies in Renaissance Italy, working as a teacher and translator. His grammar was one of a number of such works written by Byzantine scholars teaching in Italy in this period. They were useful to western European scholars seeking to refine their understanding of Greek, but since they were typically written entirely in Greek, as this one was, they required a reasonable knowledge of the language to begin with. Gazes served as Professor of Greek at the University of Ferrara in 1440-1449, and wrote this textbook for the use of his students, drawing on a number of works by earlier authors. It became the most highly-regarded Greek grammar of the Renaissance. The manuscript was copied in Reading by Ioannes Serbopoulos, a Greek scribe born in Constantinople, who came to work in England and was apparently based at Reading Abbey in the years 1489-1500, as indicated by colophons on his manuscripts. This was one of at least four copies of Gazes's grammar which he produced. Most of his surviving manuscripts are now in the libraries of Oxford, and it is likely that the university there provided the principal market for his work. One of the owners of this manuscript, George Etheridge (1519-c. 1588), can be identified by the motto which he wrote on f. 1r. Etheridge was appointed Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford by Henry VIII and restored to the post by Mary, but was removed under Edward VI and again under Elizabeth I because of his adherence to Catholicism. The motto and the hand in which it is written match another note in a manuscript owned by Etheridge, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Antiq. c. GS. 1539/2. A subsequent owner in the early 17th century was the writer and diplomat Henry Wotton, who added extensive notes and glosses in Latin and Greek. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

ff. 1r-161v

Gazes, Theodoros, approximately 1400-approximately 1475 , Introduction to Grammar (Γραμματικῆς Εἰσαγωγή)

Rubric: f. 1r Θεορώρου γραμματικῆς εἰσαγωγῆς τῶν εἰς τέσσαρα, τὸ πρῶτον

Incipit: f. 1r Τῶν τεσσάρων καὶ εἴκοσι γραμμάτων

Explicit: f. 161v κατὰ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν τήνδε ἡμῖν μέθοδον, λέγομεν

Ed. Theodori grammatices libri IIII. De mensibus liber eiusdem. Georgii Lecapeni de constructione verborum. Emmanuelis moschopuli de constructione nominum et verborum. Eiusdem de accentibus (Venice 1525), ff. 1-144

1.1. ff. 3r-23r

Book 1

f. 22r-22v is blank.

1.2. ff. 23v-62v

Book 2

1.3. ff. 63r-115v

Book 3

1.4. ff. 116r-161v

Book 4

1.5.

Colophon: f. 161v Ἐτελειώθη διὰ χειρὸς ἐμοῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Σερβοπούλου· χρόνω τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ χιλιοστῶ τετρακοσιοστῶ ὀγδοηκοστῶ ἐνάτω· Ὀκτοβρίω ἐνάτη εἰς τὸ Ῥαδίγκ

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: ff. 1-16, 24, 27-30, 33-73, 80 Western paper, folded in quarto, with 5 chainlines per leaf. Watermark: Hand ( c. 100 × 22 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to PFES 375. This example is dated to 1489-1495. ff. 17-23, 25-26, 31-32, 74-79, 82--88 Western paper, folded in quarto, with 5 chainlines per leaf. Watermark: Hand ( c. 100 × 23 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to IVC+R ES-VLC-ACV-1484.11 and WIGB 214. These examples are dated to 1480-1493. ff. 97-104, 89-96, 105-161 Western paper, folded in quarto, with 6 chainlines per leaf. Watermark: Hand ( c. 70 × 26 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Briquet 11155. This example is dated to 1477-1490.

Extent: Codex: ii + 161 + ii leaves. 211 × 145 mm.

Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i-ii] + 1-88, 97-104, 89-96, 105-161 + [iii-iv], in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 20 quires, of which one is a binion, eight are quaternia and nine are quinia.

Quires 1-19⁸ ff. 1-152 Quires 12 and 13 are bound in reverse order. The foliation reflects their correct placement.
Quire 20^10-1 ff. 153-161 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.

There are original quire signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right, and the last folio of each quire, verso, lower right. There are original leaf signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, recto, lower right, on each of the other folios of each quire. There are original catchwords on the last folio of each quire, verso.

Condition

There are occasional small tears to the edge of folios, and some areas of dirt.

Layout

A single column of 23 lines. 150 × 90 mm.

Hand(s)

The text was copied by Ioannes Serbopoulos, in a mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in brown ink, with modest variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscription of word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent or subscript. There is decorative use of the double dot. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings. There is frequent merging of words using the hyphen.

The modern nu and sigma telikon are present.

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

The same hand has added headings and other rubric in the same style in red ink.

Decoration

Minor initials in red ink, sometimes with simple ornament, begin each sub-section.

Additions

Ioannes Serbopoulos has included marginal notes indicating the content of the adjacent text in red ink.

On ff. 51v-64v Serbopoulos has largely omitted the rubric, including these annotations, headings, subscriptions and initials. These omissions have been supplied by Henry Wotton in bright red ink. Wotton has also added marginal commentary in Greek and Latin and interlinear Latin glosses, in red and black ink. He has also added a note with his initials and motto in the lower margin of f. 1r: ‘H. Spes non confundit. W’. A note in red ink in the upper margin gives his surname and a faded date which appears to be 1614.

George Etheridge has added his motto in black ink on f. 1r: ‘Aut disce aut morere’.

A note indicating content, subsequently supplemented with the date of completion, has been added to f. [i] recto (‘Theodori Grammatica Linguae Graecae. scripta A.D. 1489’), and a note recording Wotton's name and motto has been added to f. [ii] recto.

Binding

Brown leather with blind- and gold-tooled frames and the armorial bookstamp of George Wilmer (1583/84-1626) gold-stamped on the centres of the outside covers: his heraldic achievement consists of a coat of arms with a chevron between three eagles displayed, helmet esquire, crest out of a mural coronet with an eagle displayed, and motto (‘EXPERTVS CREDO’) (see also Provenance and 'Wilmer, George (1582-1626)', in British Armorial Bindings ). The classmark appears on labels on the spine. The number 28 is written on the fore-edge.

216 × 157 × 56 mm.

The binding has been rebacked.

Accompanying Material

Two stubs of a parchment wrapper marked with vertical lines surround the bookblock.

A loose slip of printed paper is inserted loose inside the left cover, recording information from Micha Lazarus regarding the evidence for the ownership of the manuscript by George Etheridge, dated 16 January 2019.

History

Origin: The manuscript was copied by Ioannes Serbopoulos (RGK I 180, II 240) in Reading and completed on 9 October 1489, as indicated by his colophon on f. 161v.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by George Etheridge (1519-c.1588) , Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford.

Owned by Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639) .

George Wilmer (1583/84-1626) of West Ham, Essex, Fellow of Trinity College and collector of customs revenues under James I. His armorial bookplate gold-stamped on the outsides of the front and rear covers (see Binding).

Donated to Trinity College by Wilmer : the College's armorial bookplate pasted on the inside of the left cover together with inscriptions of its previous classmark ‘R.8.9’ [ink, crossed out] and current classmark: ‘R.9.22’ [ink].

Additional Information

Record Sources

Incorporates information from the note by Micha Lazarus referred to above.

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, Cambridge : a descriptive catalogue, James, M. R. (Cambridge, 2, Cambridge University Press, 1900)

Die griechischen Schreiber des Mittelalters und der Renaissance, Vogel, MarieGardthausen, Victor (Leipzig, O. Harrassowitz, 1909)

Humanism in England during the fifteenth century Medium ævum monographs, Weiss, Roberto (Oxford,, 4, Blackwell, 1967)

Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, Ker, N. R. (Oxford, Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press, 1969)

Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, 800-1600. I. Grossbritannien Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981)

The Greek Grammar of Theodore Gaza (d. 1475/6) in early Tudor Wales The Bodleian library record, Breeze, Andrew (16, 3, 281-284, 1998)

À propos d'un catalogue récent: Remarques philologiques et historiques sur quelques manuscrits grecs conservés à la Bibliothèque de la Bourgeoisie de Berne ou ayant appartenu à Jacques Bongars Scriptorium. Revue internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, Augustin, P. (63, 121-141, 2009)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.9.22

Contents