Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4166.24

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 77234

Introduction: This fragment is a single folio from a manuscript that was probably copied in the 15th or early 16th century. It contains the last three items in a list of 33 texts, presumably the contents list of the manuscript; all those mentioned here are religious in content. A number of notes have been added by different hands, including a note dated 16 December 1529, which appears to record the purchase of the manuscript by the priest Kallistos Baruch from a monk named Niphos, and refers to a hieromonachos (priest and monk) named Maximos, perhaps as a witness to the transaction. Below, Niphos has written a note in a much less elegant hand, confirming what has been stated above, giving the same date and recording the place where the transaction occurred as the village of Sagoudi. This was perhaps the place of that name in Crete. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Contents list

Incipit: || Recto Λόγος εἰς τὴν ὑπαπαντὴν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτηρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

Explicit: Recto καὶ εἰς τὸ μη[sic] κρίνατε κατ'ὄψιν||

The verso is blank apart from annotations.

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Eastern paper

Extent: Fragment (scrap) 1 leaves. 188 × 111 mm.

Condition

There is water staining and areas of dirt.

Layout

One surviving column of at least 16 lines. 170 × 100 mm.

Hand(s)

The main text was copied in a mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in black ink, with moderate variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round. There is decorative use of the double dot, and accentuation of all nomina sacra . Accents are sometimes joined to nomina sacra strokes.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points and full stop.

Additions

There are annotations by a number of different hands. One has copied the text of the portion of the contents list on the recto.

Among the notes on the verso is a note of ownership of the manuscript from which the fragment came by the priest Kallistos Baruch, and of a payment by him to the monk Niphos, probably for the purchase of the book, dated 16 Dec 1529; the hieromonachos Maximos is also mentioned, perhaps as a witness to the transaction: ‘͵αφκθʹ μηνι Δικεμβρίω εἰς· ιϛʹ τούτο το βιβλίον ἔνε τοῦ παπᾶ Κάλιστου του Βαρούχ· τα μισσὰ τορνέσα· ἔχω δίδοντα καὶ ἄλαμου φίκαιε ψιχικὸν ὁ κυρ Νύφος· μταρ ὁ πνευματικὸς ὁ κὺρ ἱερομόμαχος Μάξιμος’. This is followed a note written by Niphos confirming the above, giving the same date and the location as the village of Sagoudi: ‘Εγὼ ὁ καλόγερος ο Νίφος· ομολγὸ ος ανόθεν ριτε Δικεβριος ητζι ιϛʹ εις το χοριο Σαγούδι’.

History

Origin: The manuscript from which this fragment came was probably produced in the 15th or early 16th century, as suggested by the style of script and the presence of a note dated 1529.

Provenance and Acquisition

Probably owned by the monk Niphos .

Owned by the priest Kallistos Baruch , who probably bought the manuscript from Niphos, as indicated by his note on the verso.

Part of an album of fragments (MS Add. 4166) owned by the antiquarian Thomas Bateman (1821-1861) .

The album went by descent to Bateman's son, Thomas .

The album was bought at Sotheby's in May 1893 by the bookseller Bernard Quaritch at the auction of the Bateman collection, for £10 (lot 1528).

The album was bought from Quaritch by the collector Samuel Sandars (1837-1894) .

The album was bequeathed to the University Library by Samuel Sandars (1837-1894) in 1894.

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

The Barrow knight, the Bristol bibliographer, and a lost Old English prayer Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Rushforth, Rebecca (13, 372-392, 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. 4166.24

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