Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1880.14

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12088

Contents

Introduction: This fragment is a quire containing lines 78-229 of Michael Psellus' Poem on grammar, addressed to the emperor Constantine Monomachus. The verse are in decapentasyllabic and written continously as prose; the lines are separated by mid points. 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

ff. 1r-4v
Psellus, Michael, Poema 6, Grammatica
Incipit: || f. 1r αὕτη κοινὴ ἐξήγησις καὶ καθ' ὁμηλιμένη (l. 117)
Explicit: f. 4v τὸ Δημοφῶν γάρ δέσποτα καὶ Ξενοφῶν κατ’ ἴσον (l. 192) ||
(ll. 78-229 ed. Westernik 1992)

The order of the conjugated bifolios has been inverted: ff. 2r-v: γὰρ τοῦ τέτυμμαι πρὸς δὲ τοῦ ἐτετύμμην - τὰ μέσα μέσον πνεύματος τὴν ὁρμὴν προσλαμβάνει (ll. 78-116); ff. 1r-v: αὕτη κοινὴ ἐξήγησις καὶ καθ' ὁμηλιμένη - ὥσπερ καὶ πρὶν εἰρήκαμεν, ἑνὶ τῶν (ll. 117-155); ff. 4r-v: εἰρημένων - τὸ Δημοφῶν γάρ δέσποτα καὶ Ξενοφῶν κατ’ ἴσον (ll. 155-192); ff. 3r-v: ὁμοίου τις παράθεσις κατὰ ἀναλογίαν - ὀφείλει γὰρ δισύλλαβος (ll. 193-229)

TLG 2702.015

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1r-4v paper, folded in quarto. No watermark is visible.
Extent: Fragment (quire) 4 leaves. 202 × 148 mm.
Foliation: The quire is foliated in Arabic numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.

Collation

One binion.

Condition

There are extensive water and brown stains on the upper margin, and worm-holes in exterior margins. The fragment is now sewn into a white paper cover.

Layout

One columns of 16 lines. 140 × 85 mm.

Hand(s)

The text was copied in a mixed minuscule script, in black ink. Slanting to the right, this hand shows cursive-like ductus without marked variation in letter size. It is characterized by the tall majuscule gamma , the round phi and the sigma telikon in small Z-shape. Tau and rho are linked by superposition. Breathings are curved; accents do not join to letters or breathings.

Additions

The current classmark and former classmark "T.32.1" have been added on the upper margin.

Binding

The fragment is sewn into a white paper cover.

History

Origin: The style of script suggests that the fragment was written probably in the late 15th 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: 320-321, 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)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

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