Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1879.1

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 77951

Introduction: This fragment is composed of four folios from a Prophetologion, or Old Testament lectionary, in majuscule script, probably copied in the 11th century. Although by this time the majority of Greek manuscripts were written in minuscule script, some continued to be produced in the majuscule form, mainly liturgical manuscripts and especially lectionaries. In this instance, the main text was copied in the ogival style, which was commonly used in medieval manuscripts written wholly in majuscule script, while headings for lections were added in the Alexandrine majuscule style. Before the introduction of minuscule script for the copying of books in the 9th century, the Alexandrine style had been little used outside of Egypt. In minuscule manuscripts, headings and marginal rubric were typically written in majuscule to present a visual contrast, and Alexandrine majuscule became the style most commonly used for this purpose. Its use here is thus a manifestation of a norm drawn from minuscule copying practice employed in a majuscule manuscript. The bulk of the manuscript from which this fragment came is Sinai, Monastery of St Catherine, MS gr. 8. The original Quires 1 and 19 are missing from this, and fragmented, but all portions of these have been identified. This fragment is composed of the two outer bifolios of the nineteenth quire; the two inner bifolios are now St Petersburg, Rossijskaja Nacional'naja biblioteka, MS gr. 52, the whole quire having been taken from Sinai by Constantin von Tischendorf. The parts of the first quire are now Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, MS graec. fol. 30 and St Petersburg, Rossijskaja Nacional'naja biblioteka, MS gr. 324, acquired by the egyptologist Heinrich Brugsch (1827-1894). Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Prophetologion

The fragment begins during the lection for vespers on Thursday of the 4th week of Lent (Gen 11:4) and ends during the heading for Monday of the 5th week, with a lacuna due to the loss of the inner leaves of the quire

Incipit: || f. 2r ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ποιήσω ἑαὐτοῖς ὄνομα

Explicit: f. 5v προκείμενον βʹ ψαλμὸς πδʹ ἦχος δʹ||

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Extent: Fragment (quire) 4 leaves. 288 × 210 mm.

Foliation: The quire is foliated with the numbers 2-5, in Arabic numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right. It was previously bound with two endleaves, which were included in the foliation as folios 1 and 6.

Collation

The fragment comprises the first, second, seventh and eighth folios of Quire 19 of the source manuscript.

The quire is marked with the signature 19 (ιθʹ) on f. 2r, upper right.

Condition

There is mild water staining and some areas of dirt.

Layout

Two columns of 18 lines each. 205 × 135 mm. Pricking survives in all three margins. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 20E2. Text is bounded by lines above and below.

Hand(s)

The text was copied in an upright ogival majuscule script, in dark brown ink, with breathings and accents, and some expansion of letters. There are deletions by erasure and correction by overwriting.

The horizontal stroke for nu appears at the end of lines. Mute iota is absent. Breathings are sometimes omitted. There is decorative use of the double dot. When it appears on the first letter of a word, the breathing is omitted. The word υἱός appears on occasion uncontracted.

Psi appears with both diagonal and horizontal bars. The ligatures ΑΥ, ΗΝ, ΜΗ, ΟΥ, ΤΗ are present.

Headings and lection information are written in Alexandrine majuscule script, in red and brown ink. There are deletions by strikethrough. Breathings are both angular and round.

The only punctuation to appear is the middle point.

Musical Notation: The text is supplied with ekphonetic notation in red ink.

Decoration

Lections begin with large initials in red ink, with some ornamentation. Sections of headings begin with smaller, simpler initials in red ink.

Sub-sections of the main text are marked by simple, enlarged initials in brown ink.

The end of a lection is accompanied by a line-filler in red ink (f. 3v).

Additions

There are corrections and alterations by a later hand, in black ink. A modern chapter and verse reference has been added for the beginning of the text. The fragment is marked with the current classmark and the former classmark T.2.

Binding

The fragment has a modern card binding reinforced with cloth inside the spine.

History

Origin: The style of script suggests that the manuscript from which this fragment came was copied in the 11th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the Monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai.

Acquired there by the Biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874) .

Bought by the University Library from Tischendorf's executors, 23 February 1876.

Additional Information

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library). For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

Hand-list of the additional Greek manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge Scriptorium, Easterling, Patricia E. (16, 2, 302-323, 1962)

Sinai, Tischendorf and the Greek manuscript fragment Cambridge University Library Add. 1879.1 Classica et mediaevalia, Engberg, Sysse Gudrun (39, 253-258, 1988)

Membra disiecta Cantabrigiensa: two Tischendorf fragments identified Scriptorium. Revue internationale des études relatives aux manuscrits, Tchernetska, Natalie (56, 119-126, 2002)

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, University Library, MS Add. 1879.1

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