Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1880.15

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12088

Introduction: This quire is part of a collection of fragments bought by Cambridge University Library from Constantin von Tischendorf's heirs in 1876. It contains a Fragment from a treatise on the Holy Spirit against the Latins. The text is written by an anonymous scribe, whose hand is also present in two other fragments in Tischendorf's collection, Cambridge, University Library, Add. 1880.13 and Cambridge, University Library, Add. 1880.16 , which, together with Cambridge, University Library, Add. 1880.17, derive from a single manuscript. Manuscripts Add. 1880.15, which bears a text related to the one contained in Add. 1880.13, and Add. 1880.16 (George Koressios's Dialogue with a Latin teacher), may also have originally been part of this book. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek and Latin

Fragment of a treatise on the Holy Spirit against the Latins

Incipit: || f. 1r …σιν καὶ ἰδίως ἐκπόρευσιν ἐνεργητικήν τε καὶ παθητικήν

Explicit: f. 5v ἔχει δὲ τὸ κτίζειν, τὸ δημιουργεῖν, τὸ ἀίδιον, τὸ εἶναι παντοκρά… ||

The text cites Anastasius, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, John Chrysostom, Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory, John Damascene, Justin Martyr and Theodoretus

This portion of text is present in Sinai, Saint Catherine Monastery, MS gr. 1787 , ff. 291r l. 15-293r l. 3; in the catalogue by V. Benešević ( Catalogus Codicum Manuscriptorum Graecorum qui in monasterio Sanctae Catherinae in monte Sina asservantur, III.1, St. Petersburg 1917 [reprint Hildesheim 1965], p. 196), this portion of text is comprised in George Koressios's Dialogue with a Latin teacher, however this part is not present in the printed edition of the text (ed. by N. Metaxas, presumably in Constantinople around 1627 Τοῦ μακαριωτάτου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Μελετίου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Ἀλεξανδρείας, Λιβύης, Πενταπόλεως, Αἰθιωπίας, καὶ πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου Περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ πᾶπα ὡς ἐν εἴδει έπιστολῶν, [Constantinople] [1627?])

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: ff. 1-5 Western paper, folded in octavo. Watermark: Traces of a motif in a circle in the upper margin

Extent: Fragment (quire) 6 leaves., 200 × 145 mm.

Foliation: Modern pencil foliation, in Arabic numerals, in the top right hand corner, recto (nr. 6 is written on a stub): 1-6.

Collation

The quire is a ternion. Only a stub remains of the last leaf, f. 6.

Quire 1⁶ ff. 1-6

Condition

The leaves are in good condition. There are worm holes throughout, yellow stains on all the leaves, and brown stains on ff. 4r-5v. On f. 5v there are blue stains on some passages of the text. Only a stub remains of f. 6. The quire is now sewn into a white paper cover.

Layout

A single column, 19/20 lines. ca. 170 × ca. 100 mm.

Hand(s)

ff. 1r-5v Hand A: the text has been written by a hand datable to the 17th c., a small informal minuscule, slightly slanting to the right, characterized by ornamental hooks at the end of uprights. The same hand is found on MSS Add. 1880.13 (hand A), and 1880.16 (identification already proposed by R.V. Kerr in an unpublished description kept in Cambridge University Library).

Decoration

A few very simple diagrams in red ink by the scribe accompany the text on ff. 1r and 3v.

Additions

On f. 1r, in the upper margin, left, is written the former classmark ‘T.32.2’ (i.e. Tischendorf 32.2); on the left is written the current classmark ‘ Add. 1880.15.’

History

Origin: The quire was written probably in 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

Description (2020) partly draws on an unpublished description by R.V. Kerr, under-Librarian at Cambridge University Library, and P. Easterling, Hand-list of the additional Greek manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge, in: Scriptorium 16, 1962, pp. 302-323: 316.

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

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1880.15

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