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. 4489

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12127

Contents

Introduction: This fragment consists of unbound folios of a Gospel lectionary palimpsest, with Menologion undertext. The original manuscript, in majuscule script, was probably produced in the late 8th century and converted into a palimpsest in the late 13th or 14th century. The original bifolios were cut into their component folios, of which 15 and a half survive here, which were turned onto their side and folded into bifolios of the overwritten manuscript. The undertext survives in a readily legible state. The folios are now arranged to reflect the order and orientation of the more important undertext. The original manuscript was a Menologion, a term which can refer to various types of liturgical text with a calendrical structure, in this case denoting the book containing brief Lives of the Saints to be read on the feast day of each saint. The surviving folios are discontinuous but contain all or part of various entries from 9 May to 11 July. The most important of these are an apparently unique text of the Life of St Hyacinthus, a distinctive version of the Life of Theophanes and Pansemne, and the Passion of Justin Martyr, a text for which this is the oldest surviving witness, though it is not believed to represent the oldest surviving recension (Lanata, Atti dei martiri, p. 117). These leaves were converted into a palimpsest for the purpose of replacing losses to an existing Gospel lectionary, itself probably created in the 12th century. They were arranged for this purpose in a haphazard sequence bearing no particular relationship to their original order, while some were placed the opposite way up from others. The remainder of the lectionary manuscript is now Athens, Ethnike Bibliotheke tes Hellados (EBE), MS 4079. (It had in the past been erroneously identified as London, British Library, Egerton MS 3154.) When described by former owner F.H.A. Scrivener, at some point before his death in 1891, the manuscript still included these palimpsest folios, but they had been removed by 1909, when they were sold to Cambridge University Library by Scrivener's daughter Frances. The identity of the Athens manuscript as the one from which they came is confirmed by the fact that, while 31 of the 32 lectionary folios here are palimpsest material, the other is an original folio of the lectionary, whose script and other details match those of the Athens manuscript, a good-quality production with gilded headings and initials. Their content also fits into the gaps in the sequence of lections left by that manuscript's incomplete condition. (Tchernetska, 'Cambridge UL Add. 4489') The leaf from the original lectionary, f. 25 in the order of the palimpsest leaves and one half of f. 14 in the reconstituted sequence of the Menologion leaves, was formerly attached by a paper strip to the other half of f. 14, which is f. 32 of the lectionary leaves. It forms the first folio of a quire whose original first folio, the conjoint leaf of f. 32, had been removed. Presumably it was the sole survivor of its own original quire, and was deliberately incorporated into a quire of the replacement palimpsest material when this was used to repair the lectionary. Following its repair, but before its description by Scrivener, the lectionary evidently suffered further losses, resulting in the incomplete condition of the quires whose leaves are preserved here. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Fragment (leaves) 16 leaves. ff. 1-9, 11-16 410 × 255 mm. f. 10 360 × 235 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is arranged in the order of the lower text and foliated with the numbers 1-16, in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right, in the orientation of that text. The upper text has been foliated with the numbers 1-32, in pencil, in Arabic numerals surrounded by a circle, in what was the upper right-hand corner of each folio of the palimpsest and in the orientation of that text.

Condition

The upper half of f. 14 has been cut away and replaced by a later folio (Part III). Areas of the margins of ff. 13 and 15 have been cut away. There is water staining and areas of dirt.

Binding

The leaves are unbound. There are surviving fragments of stitching thread.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

The lectionary manuscript containing these folios was acquired in a collection of manuscripts bought from a dealer in Ioannina in 1870 for Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906) .

These folios, detached from that manuscript, were bought from Burdett-Coutts by Frederick H.A. Scrivener (1813-1891) , probably before 1883, at which time they were not available to Caspar René Gregory when he examined the Burdett-Coutts collection.

By descent to Scrivener's daughter, Frances Emily Scrivener .

Purchased by the University Library from Frances Emily Scrivener on 6 August 1909, with money from the Rustat Fund (see also MS Add. 4490 and MS Add. 4491).

Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4489, lower text]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-13v, f. 14r-14v (lower half), ff. 15r-16v
Menologion

Defective at the beginning and end, with lacunas; contains readings from 9 May to 11 July, including all or part of excerpts from the Lives of Christopher (9 May) (ff. 1r-5v) (BHG 309), Isidore (14 May) (ff. 5v-6v) (BHG 961), Constantine and Helena (21 May) (ff. 6v, 7r) (BHG 365z), and Hermias (31 May) (f. 6v) (BHG 744), the Passion of Justin Martyr (1 June) (ff. 8r-9v) (BHG 973), with hypothesis (f. 8r), the Passion of the Ten Martyrs of Egypt (2 June) (ff. 9v-10r) (BHG 1194), the Lives of Theophanes and Pansemne (5 June) (f. 10r) (BHG 2448), and of Nicander and Marcian (8 June) (ff. 10r-11v) (BHG 1330), the Acts of Peter and Paul (29 June) (f. 12r-12v) (BHG 1490), an Encomium by John Chrysostom (f. 12v) (unidentified, as only part of the heading is present), and the Lives of Hyacinthus (3 July) (ff. 13r-13v), Cosmas and Damian (1 July) (f. 14r-14v) (BHG 372-372e), and Procopius Dux (8 July) (ff. 15r-16v) (BHG 1577)

Filiation: The text of the Passion of Justin Martyr is quite closely related to those in Jerusalem, Patrarchike Vivliotheke, MS Panagiou Taphou 6 (ff. 305v-307) and Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Vat. gr. 1667 (ff. 3r-5r).
Incipit: || f. 1r παισουσας τῶν τριων παίδων σου
Explicit: f. 16v αυτον εἰ σῦν ἐν δὲ ταις||

Gregory-Aland l 1989

f. 7v is blank of lower text

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment, of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

The collation cannot be reconstructed, due to the separation of the bifolios when the manuscript was made into a palimpsest and the loss of folios. The order of the contents indicates that ff. 13 and 14 have been incorrectly numbered and their order should be reversed.

Layout

Two columns of 39 lines. 312 × 193 mm. Pricking survives in the outer and lower margins, but some has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, type Leroy 20C2. Text stands on the lines.

Hand(s)

The lower text was copied by Hand A in a slanting ogival majuscule script, in brown ink. Accents and breathings are in use.

Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points.

Decoration

The beginning of texts and sections is marked by simple minor initials in brown ink.

Simple vignettes in brown ink precede the beginning of each day. A plait in brown ink on f. 8v precedes the beginning of a month.

Additions

There are marginal notes in pencil, in English, identifying texts and occasional incidents within them, and giving occasional page references to editions. The text immmdiately preceding that on f. 11r has been added in pencil.

History

Origin: The manuscript was probably copied in the last quarter of the 8th century, as indicated by the style of script (Ehrhard, Überlieferung und Bestand, p. 98).

Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4489, upper text]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. ff. 1r-13v, f. 14r-14v (lower half), ff. 15r-16v
Gospel lectionary

Defective at the beginning and end, with lacunas; the earliest fragment begins during the first lection of the Passion, the last ends with the lection for 30 July. Arranged out of order because the leaves have been arranged in the order of the lower text

Incipit: || f. 12v οὕτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ μείνητε
Explicit: f. 14v Τῆ αὐτοῦ ἡμέρᾳ μνήμη τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ στρατηλάτου· ζήτητε Μαΐω ηʹ||

Gregory-Aland l 1988

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

The quire fragments from the palimpsest can be reconstructed thus (giving the foliation of the overtext rather than that for the undertext used elsewhere in this record).

  • Quire 18-4 ff. 1-4 Supposing that this was originally a quaternion, the first, second, seventh and eighth folios have been lost.
  • Quire 28 ff. 5-12
  • Quire 38-2 ff. 13-18 The first and last folios have been lost.
  • Quire 48-2 ff. 19-24 The first and last folios have been lost.
  • Quire 58-1+1 ff. 25-32 The first folio has been cancelled and substituted with the present f. 25, the folio described under Part III.

Layout

Two columns of 15-25 lines. 190-195 × 160-180 mm. There is no ruling for the upper text.

Hand(s)

The upper text was copied by Hand B in a Metochites style mixed minuscule script, with variable slant and modest variation in letter size, in brown ink. Some diacritics and punctuation marks have been supplied or corrected in red ink (e.g. f. 12r).

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript or in a late transitional form, placed below and to the right of the letter. There is decorative use of the double dot, and accentuation of all nomina sacra . Accents are sometimes joined to breathings and nomina sacra strokes. Horizontal strokes are placed above proper names.

Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points, lower and middle commas, question mark and full stop.

Headings were copied in the same style in brown or red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the lections of the eothina (f. 13r) is preceded by a rectangular plaited headpiece, outlined in brown ink with red ink infill.

The beginnings of lections are occasionally preceded by simple vignettes (e.g. f. 6v).

The beginnings of lections are marked by crude minor initials in red ink. These include an omicron in the form of a fish on f. 13r. Some words in lection headings begin with slightly enlarged letters in red ink.

The ends of lections are occasionally accompanied by simple line-fillers (e.g. f. 3r).

Additions

There are occasional marginal ἀρχή and τέλος marks indicating the beginning and end of shorter lections within those present.

There are brief notes on content in pencil on f. 1r.

History

Origin: The manuscript was probably transformed into a palimpsest and this text copied in the late 13th or early 14th century, as indicated by the style of script.

Part 3 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4489, upper text, f. 14 (upper half)]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

3. f. 14r-14v (upper half)
Gospel lectionary (menologion)

Defective at the beginning and end; contains the lections from 1 April-11 May

Incipit: || f. 14v Μηνὶ Ἀπριλλίω: αʹ
Explicit: f. 14r Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος εἰς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς||

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment, of medium thickness and quality.

Collation

There is a Greek quire signature on f. 14r, lower right, probably original to the production of the manuscript from which this leaf originally came, identifying it as belonging to the twentieth quire (κʹ).

Condition

There are holes and tears in the folio, with repairs using Japanese paper. There are water stains and purple stains from mould.

Layout

Two columns of at least 23 lines. 180 × 160 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, type probably Leroy 00D1. The ruling is extremely faint. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The lower text was copied by Hand C in an upright mixed minuscule script in black ink.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings are not present. Breathings are round, and mute iota is absent. There is decorative use of the double dot, and nomina sacra are unaccentuated.

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

Lection headings were copied in Alexandrine majuscule script in brown ink, with date numbers and cross-references in red. Headings identifying Gospels and the first lection of April are also gilded, while the heading for the first lection of May is written in slanted ogival majuscule script in red ink, gilded.

Musical Notation: The text is accompanied by ekphonetic notation in red ink.

Decoration

The beginnings of lections are marked by minor initials in red ink, gilded. Lection headings begin with slightly enlarged letters in red ink, gilded.

Major headings are also gilded.

History

Origin: This folio was probably copied in the first half of the 12th century, as indicated by the style of script.

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 oldest MS. of St Justin's martyrdom Journal of Theological Studies, Burkitt, F. C. (11, 1909) Catalogus codicum hagiographicorum graecorum Germaniae, Belgii, Angliae, van de Vorst, CharlesDelehaye, Hippolyte (Brussels, Société des Bollandistes, 1913) Überlieferung und Bestand der hagiographischen und homiletischen Literatur der griechischen Kirche: von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts Überlieferung und Bestand der hagiographischen und homiletischen Literatur der griechischen Kirche Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, Ehrhard, Albert (Leipzig, 1, 1937) Hand-list of the additional Greek manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge Scriptorium, Easterling, Patricia E. (16, 2, 302-323, 1962) Die vormetaphrastischen Vitae Constantini magni Actes du XIIe Congrès international d'études byzantines: Ochride 10-16 Septembre, 1961, Winkelmann, Friedhelm (Belgrade, 405-414, Comité yougoslave des études byzantines, 1963) L'homilétique de Proclus de Constantinople: tradition manuscrite, inédits, études connexes, Leroy, François Joseph (Città del Vaticano, 1967) Gli atti dei martiri come documenti processuali, Lanata, Giuliana (Milano, Giuffrè, 1973) Hand-list of the Greek palimpsests in Cambridge libraries I manoscritti greci tra riflessione e dibattito: Atti del V Colloquio Internazionale di Paleografia Greca (Cremona 4-10 ottobre 1998) Papyrologica Florentina, Tchernetska, Natalie (Florence, 733-739, Edizioni Gonnelli, 2000) Cambridge UL. Add. 4489, Athens EBE 4079, and the Burdett-Coutts collection of Greek manuscripts Codices Manuscripti, Tchernetska, Natalie (52/53, 21-30, 2005) The acts of the Christian martyrs: introduction, texts and translations, Musurillo, Herbert (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2019)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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