Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1880.1

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12088

Introduction: This fragment is a single folio from an Evangelion, containing one of the few known copies of Marcus Mamunas' Symbolon paraphrase. Little is known about this individual, who probably lived between the 15th and 16th centuries (PLP no. 16574). The text was found by I. Sakkelion in Cos in a 15th-century manuscript, now lost. The other witnesses to the text are two 16th-century manuscripts in Mount Athos ( Hagion Oros, Mone Iberon 535 (4655 Lambros) , Hagion Oros, Mone Megistes Lauras Ω 130 (1942 Eustratiades ) ). The text of the Symbolon or Creed, in 30 verses of 16 syllables, does not take into account the principles laid down by the Union of Churches of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-45). The fragment was acquired by Constantin von Tischendorf and bought from his heirs by Cambridge University Library in 1876. Dr Matteo Di Franco

Language(s): Greek

1. f. [1]r

Marcus Mamunas, after 1430 - before 1528 , Paraphrase of Symbolon Symbolum fidei versibus expressum

Rubric: f. [1]r Μετάφρασις τοῦ ἁγίου συμβόλου ἐπὶ τῆς τὸ ἔμμετρον μετὰ ποιήσεως Μάρκου Μαμουνᾶ

Incipit: f. [1]r πιστεύω εἰς ἕνα καὶ πατέρ' αὐτογέννεθλον[sic]

Explicit: f. [1]r παντὸς αἰῶνος αἰώνων ἔστι θεῶ χάρις ἀμήν

Creed edited by S.K. Oikonomos, Μάρκου Μαμουνᾶ τοῦ Κρητός, Μετάφρασις διὰ στίχων τοῦ Ἱεροῦ Συμβόλου τῆς Πίστεως, in Pandora 22 (1871), pp. 166-168 and G. Th. Zoras, Ἔμμετροι διασκευαὶ τοῦ Συμβόλου τῆς Πίστεως, in Χαριστήριον εἰς Ἀναστάσιον κ. Ὀρλάνδον, Athens 1966, vol. iii pp. 186-197, at 189-191

2. f. [1]r

Epigram (cf. Anth. Graeca I, 29 v. 1)

Incipit: f. [1]r Χριστέ· δίδου πονέοντι, τεὴν πολύολβον ἀρρωγήν[sic] ἀμήν

DBBE Type 2255

3. f. [1]r

Donation note

Incipit: f. [1]r τὸ παρὸν θεῖον καὶ ἱερὸν εὐαγ(γέλιον) ὑπῆρχε τοῦ πν(ευματ)ικοῦ π(ατ)ρ(ὸ)ς κυρὸς Θεοδούλ(ου), ὅ καὶ τῆς Γεθσιμανῆς, καὶ δέδοκεν αὐτῶ εἰς τὸ θεῖον καὶ ἱερὸν καὶ θεοβάσιστον ὄρος Σινᾶ ὑπερψυχηκῆς σωτηρίας. καὶ ὁ ἱστερηων(?) (ὑστεριῶν ?) αὐτῶ τῆς εἰρημένης μονῆς ὁ μὴ ἐκφύγη τοὺς ἀλλήτου ἀφωρισμοῦ τῶν π(ατέ)ρων

Physical Description

Form: sheet

Support: f. [1]r paper, folded in quarto. No watermark is visible.

Extent: Fragment (leaf) 1 leaves. 307 × 210 mm.

Condition

There are water and brown stains on the leaf, small holes and a large loss towards the bottom left corner of the leaf. The fragment is now sewn into a white paper cover.

Layout

Two columns; the first of 39 lines. 220 × 140 mm.

Hand(s)

The main text was copied in small-format mixed minuscule with many majuscule letters, ligatures and inclusions, in dark brown ink and with dense text distribution. Accents are small and modestly executed; ascenders and descenders are restrained within the line but more prominent in the outer margins.

Decoration

Seven crosses outlined in red ink at the beginning of the text and the final epigram and to fill the empty space on the second column.

Additions

The current classmark and and former classmark "T.21" have been added in the upper margin. A different hand wrote "398" at the right-hand of the last line.

Binding

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

History

Origin: The style of script and the attribution of the text to Marcus Mamunas suggest that the manuscript from which this came was copied not before the mid-16th century, probably between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

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

Bought by the University Library from Tischendorf's executors in 1876.

Additional Information

Record Sources

P. Easterling, Hand-list of the additional Greek manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge, in: Scriptorium 16, 1962, pp. 302-323: 316, and unpublished description by R. V. Kerr, Under-Librarian of CUL († 1987).

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)

La biblioteca di Marco Mamuna Scritture, libri e testi nelle aree provinciali di Bisanzio. Atti del seminario di Erice (18-25 settembre 1988), Cataldi Palau, Annaclara (Spoleto, 2, 521-575, Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, 1991)

La vita di Marco Musuro alla luce di documenti e manoscritti Italia medioevale e umanistica, Cataldi Palau, Annaclara (45, 295-369, 2004)

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. 1880.1

Contents