Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4166.25

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 77234

Introduction: This fragment is a single leaf, containing the Table of contents of a Homiliary, attributed in the manuscript to Xiphilinus, who must probably be identified as John Xiphilinus (ca. 1010-1075), nomophylax of the law school in Constantinople, monk and later patriarch of Constantinople (1064-1075). The indication of each homily is accompanied by a reference to a specific leaf number. The homiliary comprises the Sundays of the ecclesiastical year from the Sunday before the birth of Christ, until the 11th Sunday of Luke. The attribution to Patriarch John VIII Xiphilinus is disputed and generally rejected, in favour of his nephew John Xiphilinus or other authors as, for example, Theophylaktos of Bulgaria (see A. Ehrhard, Überlieferung und Bestand der hagiographischen und homiletischen Literatur der griechischen Kirche von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts, I. Teil : Die Überlieferung. I-III, Leipzig-Berlin, 1937-1952, III, pp. 525-559; H.-G. Beck, Kirche und theologische Literatur im byzantinischen Reich, München 1959, pp. 629-630). The fragment is currently housed in an album as part of a collection of fragments of medieval manuscripts, probably compiled in the 19th century. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

Table of contents of a Homiliary

Rubric: f. [1]r Πίναξ τοῦ παρόντος βιβλίου τοῦ ὀνομαζομένου Ξιφηλίνου[sic]

Incipit: f. [1]r Τῇ Κυριακῇ πρὸ τῆς Χριστοῦ γεννήσεως ὁμιλία εἰς τὸ βίβλος[sic] Γενήσεως

Explicit: f. [1]v Κυριακῇ ια΄ τοῦ Λουκᾶ

The homiliary is attributed in the MS, and in the tradition, to John VIII Xiphilinus (ca. 1010-1075) , but the attribution is discusssed by scholars

Ed. of homilies 1-25 S. Eustratiades, Ὁμιλίαι εἰς τὰς κυριακὰς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, Triest 1903

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: f. [1] Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: f. [1] Angel in a circle surmounted by a six-point star ( 70 × 40 mm. ) , comparable (but it is not possible to see an eventual countermark) to Sosower Ange 29-30 , which are dated to ca. 1570

Extent: Fragment (leaf) 1 leaves., 226 × 165 mm.

Foliation: The leaf has no foliation: [1]

Condition

There are stains and tears on the leaf. The leaf has been glued on a paper leaf bound in a codex with other fragments.

Hand(s)

ff. [1]r-[1]v Hand A: the list is written in an irregular informal minuscule script, slanting to the right, datable to around the second half of the 16th c. The ink is black; intials are in red, but the color is oxidized.

ff. [1]r-[1]v Hand a: another hand added a few annotations and possibly the number of the leaves of the manuscript near the titles of the homilies.

Decoration

On the recto, before the text, there are a few geometrical motifs in red ink, forming a sort of headpiece.

Thick initials in ekthesis in red ink.

Additions

The leaf is marked on the recto, in pencil, ‘25’ (the current classmark is Add. 4166.25).

History

Origin: The text was written probably in the second half of the 16th century.

Provenance and Acquisition

The fragment was part of the Bateman collection (see the bookplate on the left pastedown of the binding of the album of fragments Add. 4166: ‘Bateman of Middleton Hall (by Youlgrave) in the County of Derby’ ); the album was probably owned, in particular, by Thomas Bateman (1821-1861) (see R. Rushforth, The Barrow Knight, the Bristol Bibliographer, and a Lost Old English Prayer, in: Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 13.1, 2004, pp. 112-131: 112-114). It was sold among the "Bateman heirlooms" by Sotheby's on 25th May 1893 (Lot 1528). MS Add. 4166 was acquired by Quaritch (on the sale see Rushforth 2004 : 115), and afterwards came into the possession of the bibliographer Samuel Sandars (1837-1894) , whose family originated in Derbyshire.

MS Add. 4166 was bequeathed to the University Library by Samuel Sandars (1837-1894) , M.A. of Trinity College, in 1894 (see a book-plate on the left pastedown of the binding of the album Add. 4166).

Additional Information

Record Sources

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.

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. 4166.25

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