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 Dd.8.49

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12059

Contents

Introduction: This Gospel lectionary manuscript, complete apart from one lost folio, belongs to the briefer of the two main types, the "Saturday-Sunday" lectionary, giving the lections for Saturdays and Sundays only, except for Holy Week and the period from Easter to Pentecost, for which weekdays are also included. It seems to have spent much of its history in the south-eastern Mediterranean, either in the Levant or in Cyprus, and may have been produced there. It dates probably to the later 11th or earlier 12th century. The parchment used contains many holes created during the stretching and drying of the skin, which in manuscripts produced in the Byzantine mainstream would typically lead to a folio being rejected for use, or employed only if the holes could be kept to the margins. Here, however, they sometimes impinge on the written area, though only on its fringes, which may be an indication of production in a region on the periphery of the Greek-speaking world. There are also some eccentricities in the scribe's use of diacritics. Compound words in which the stem is preceded by a prefix have often been treated as though these were two separate words, with a breathing appearing on the initial vowel or diphthong of the stem, as at the beginning of a new word. Rather than merely showing ignorance or carelessness, this displays some understanding of the structure of the words in use, but a lack of familiarity with standard orthographic practice. This would also be consistent with production in a peripheral region, such as southern Italy or the Levant. Whatever its origins, there are clear indications that the manuscript spent time in a culturally diverse region on the eastern fringes of the Byzantine world. There are four different sequences of quire numbers, of which two are in Greek numerals, one of which is probably the set used when the manuscript was first bound. The other two, however, are in Armenian numerals, the second set apparently having been required to replace the first, as some of these had been cropped away or become faded. This indicates that the manuscript was rebound not once but at least twice by Armenian-speakers, suggesting a prolonged period in a region with a significant Armenian population. There is also a series of annotations in Arabic, some of which identify a deacon named Ibrahīm as owner of the manuscript (ff. 21v-22r, 59v). One is accompanied by a crudely written note in Greek, giving the same man's name in the Greek form Avraam (f. 59v). Other Arabic notes, seemingly in the same hand, give numbers for lections (ff. 138r, 139r), suggesting that the book was in at least occasional liturgical use by someone who could read the Greek text but was not very familiar with the Greek system of numerals, for whom such annotations would have been a helpful guide. Christian Arabic use of the book would suggest that it was at this time within the Arab world, or else in a neighbouring region where Christian Arab communities had become established, such as Cyprus. Both regions also contained substantial Armenian communities. The note on f. 21v identifies Ibrahīm's grandfather as a native of Baalbek in Lebanon. A further, more circumstantial indication that the book had spent time in the south-eastern Mediterranean comes from a few leaves of a later hymn book (Parakletike/Oktoechos) which were reused as endleaves in this manuscript on some occasion when it was rebound. The characteristics of the text found here, particularly the broad pen-strokes and very black ink, are consistent with those commonly found in manuscripts produced in the Levant, in Cyprus, or sometimes in other islands including Rhodes. The manuscript contains a single loose parchment leaf, which had previously been bound into it at the rear. It too contains Gospel lectionary text, similarly arranged to that in the main body of the manuscript, and in a very similar hand, which indeed may well be that of the same scribe. However, it does not originally belong to this manuscript, as the text it contains does not correspond to that of the only folio which the manuscript has lost. It therefore appears that this folio was at some point added to the manuscript by someone who assumed, on the basis of its very similar appearance and content, that it had originally been part of it. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: ii + 198 + v + ii leaves. 276 × 215 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers ii, i + 1-157, 159-199 + iii-vii + viii-ix, in pencil, in Arabic and Roman numerals, recto, upper right. Folio number 158 has been assigned to a leaf no longer present in the volume (as per historic foliation practices at Cambridge University Library). The numbers of the two front endleaves do not correspond to their current order.
Foliation: There is also earlier pagination in black ink in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right and verso, upper left.

Binding

18th-century reversed skin binding with brown full leather covering over couched-laminate boards, reused from a previous binding, with plain pastedowns. There is decorative blind tooling on the boards and gold tooling on the spine, along with the title ‘Evangelist. MS’ tooled in gold, and the classmark on labels.

The binding has been rebacked, and both outer joints are partially split, starting from the head.

290 × 236 × 93 mm.

Accompanying Material

A loose sheet of paper is inserted between f. 197 and f. 198, bearing a transcription of the text of f. iii recto.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the deacon Ibrahīm , as indicated by his Greek and Arabic notes on ff. 21v-22r and 59v. The presence of two sequences of quire signatures in Armenian numerals indicates repeated rebindings by Armenian-speakers. This combination of features, combined with those of the text reused in the endleaves, suggests that the manuscript spent a considerable part of its history somewhere in the Levant, or in Cyprus.

John Moore (b. 1646, d. 1714), bishop of Ely : no. 34 in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697).

Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I .

Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.8.49, ff. 1-199]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-199v
Gospel lectionary (Saturdays and Sundays)

Gregory-Aland l 4; Scrivener Evst. 4

Filiation: This manuscript was used in the production of John Mill's 1707 edition of the New Testament.
Incipit: f. 1r Ἐν ἀρχὴ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος
Explicit: f. 199v καὶ ὄλιγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὐρίσκοντες αὐτὴν:- Κύριε εὐχαριστῶ σοι:- Κύριε ἐδοξάζω σε
1.1. ff. 1r-38r
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of John
1.2. ff. 38r-61v
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Matthew
1.3. ff. 61v-85r
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Luke
1.4. ff. 85r-94r
Synaxarion: Lections for the weeks of Mark (Lent)
1.5. ff. 94r-138r
Synaxarion: Lections of Holy Week
1.6. ff. 138r-141r
Synaxarion: eothina lections
1.7. ff. 141v-153r
Menologion: Lections for September
1.8. ff. 153r-160v
Menologion: Lections for October
1.9. ff. 160v-163r
Menologion: Lections for November
1.10. ff. 163r-172r
Menologion: Lections for December
1.11. ff. 172r-179v
Menologion: Lections for January
1.12. ff. 179v-182r
Menologion: Lections for February
1.13. ff. 182v-184r
Menologion: Lections for March
1.14. ff. 184r-185v
Menologion: Lections for April
1.15. ff. 185v-187v
Menologion: Lections for May
1.16. ff. 187v-192v
Menologion: Lections for June
1.17. ff. 192v-194r
Menologion: Lections for July
1.18. ff. 194r-198r
Menologion: Lections for August
1.19. ff. 198r-199v
Lections for various occasions

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF), variable thickness, medium quality, with follicles only occasionally visible, but a significant number of holes dating to the time of production, which sometimes impinge on the written area (e.g. ff. 140, 186 ).

Collation

The main body of the manuscript consists of 25 quires, all quaternia.

  • Quires 1-198 ff. 1-152
  • Quire 208-1 ff. 153-160 The sixth folio has been lost, with loss of text.
  • Quires 21-238 ff. 161-184
  • Quire 248-1 ff. 185-191 The sixth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
  • Quire 258 ff. 192-199

There are early quire signatures in Greek numerals, in dark brown ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right, probably original to the production of the manuscript. Most have been lost to cropping. They survive on Quires 9-10 (θʹ-ιʹ) and 14 (ιδʹ).

There is a second sequence of signatures in large Greek numerals, in black ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, upper right, and on the last folio of each quire, verso, upper left. At the end of Quire 1 (f. 8v), the number 2 (βʹ) has erroneously been placed. Apparently as a result of this, the correctly placed number 2 on the first folio of Quire 2 (f. 9r> has been erased and replaced with the number 3 (γʹ). Thereafter the numbers in this sequence remain too large by one.

A sequence of signatures in Armenian numerals, in pale red ink, has been placed on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower centre. Some of these have been lost to cropping.

Another sequence of signatures in Armenian numerals, in dark brown ink, has been placed close to these, and occasionally also on the last folio of each quire, verso, lower centre.

Modern quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, have been added to the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right.

Condition

The outer part of f. 136 has been cut away, without loss of text. There is a significant tear across f. 97 and occasional smaller tears (e.g. ff. 125, 130, 137, 151 ). The leaves are moderately cockled. There is mild discoloration around the edges of most leaves and occasional water stains drops of wax and areas of dirt. The text is significantly faded in places, and faded areas have sometimes been overwritten. The left endleaves have become detached, but are still attached to each other.

Layout

Two columns of 23-27 lines. 195-232 × 155 mm. Pricking survives in places in the upper and outer margins, but has mostly been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 32C2. Text hangs from the lines. The number of lines ruled and written tends to increase slightly through the course of the manuscript, though not consistently.

Hand(s)

The main text has been copied by Hand A in mixed minuscule script, upright or slanting very slightly to the left, in dark brown ink. There is only slight variation in letter size. Tails are occasionally flourished into the lower margin (e.g. f. 81v), and these are sometimes decorated with an X-shape (e.g. f. 50r). There are deletions by erasure (e.g. f. 120r, col. b, lines 10-11), and by expunctuation (e.g. f. 125r, col. b, line 18), which has on occasion been followed by an attempt at erasure (e.g. f. 143v, col. b, lines 23-24. Words omitted have sometimes been inserted by the scribe, in position (e.g. 119v, col. b, lines 8-9) or by the use of a reference mark (f. 143r, col. b, line 25).

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the ends of lines, and extremely rarely, apart from the use of a horizontal stroke for nu. Breathings are angular and mute iota is in an early transitional form, in the adscript position but sometimes reduced in size. The double dot is used only functionally, and nomina sacra are accentuated only when more than three letters long or with enclitics.

There are some irregularities in the use of breathings. In compound words where the main part of the word after the prefix begins with a vowel, breathings are sometimes placed on this (e.g. ‘ἐἂν’, f. 7v, col. a, line 6; ‘ὅτἂν’, f. 8r, col. b, line 19).

The words or prefixes πρό and πρός generally appear with an upward diagonal stroke from the foot of the tail of the rho (e.g. f. 52r, col. a, line 23-col. b, line 1, f. 52r, col. b, lines 8-9 ). Majuscule lambda often appears in a distinctive form with the right-hand descender bent down parallel to the left-hand one (e.g. f. 10v, col. a, line 9).

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

Headings for lections are by the same hand, in Alexandrine majuscule script, in red ink. The headings at the start of the synaxarion (f. 1r) and of the menologion (f. 141v) are by the same hand in epigraphic display majuscule, also in red ink.

Musical Notation: There is ekphonetic notation throughout, in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the synaxarion (f. 1r) is marked by a pyle, outlined in red ink with partial green paint infill, and the beginning of the menologion (f. 141v) by another pyle in red ink. Small rectangular headpieces mark the beginnings of the main sub-sections of the synaxarion and most of the months of the menologion:-

  • f. 38r weeks of Matthew
  • f. 61v weeks of Luke
  • f. 85r weeks of Mark (Lent)
  • f. 153r October
  • f. 160v November
  • f. 163r December
  • f. 182v March
  • f. 184r April
  • f. 185v May
  • f. 192v July
  • f. 194r August

A few of these have been partially infilled with paint in a single colour, either grey (f. 38r), red (f. 61v), or yellow (f. 163r). It seems possible that additional colours were intended to be added later, and the other headpieces to receive similar treatment.

Other sections are marked with simple vignettes in red ink:-

  • f. 117r lections of the Passion
  • f. 138r eothina lections
  • f. 172r January
  • f. 179v February
  • f. 187v June

The text of each lection begins with an enlarged ornamental initial, outlined in red ink (e.g. ff. f. 3v, 7r, 13r, 34v, 36r, ). Epsilon often incorporates a blessing hand (e.g. f. 117r) A few of these initials have been partially infilled with paint in a single colour, either green (ff. 1r-2r) or grey (ff. 37v-38r, 47v-49r . As with the headpieces, this may represent the beginning of an unfinished process of adding paint to these initials in general.

Minor initials in red ink sometimes appear in the main text at the beginning of lines, and at the beginning of lection headings in the menologion.

Additions

Occasional marginal corrections, using reference marks, have been added by an early Greek hand (e.g. ff. 17r, 138v).

There are a number of annotations in Arabic (1r, 21v-22r, 59v, 136v, 138r, 139r). An ownership note, on f. 21v, names the deacon Ibrahīm, listing a lineage of priests from whom he was descended: ‘قرى النجيل المقدس بسم الشماس ابرهيم ابن القسيس موسى ابن القسيس ابرهيم المعروف بالبعلبكي ابن القسيس يعقوب ابن القسيس جرجس ابن القسيس نور المعروف بالدليوري (…) وقع في الله بذكره’ (This holy Gospel was read in the name of the deacon Ibrahīm, son of the priest Mūsá, son of the priest Ibrahīm, known as al-Baʿlabakī , son of the priest Yaʿqūb, son of the priest Jirjis, son of the priest Nūr, known as al-Dalyūrī (…) that he may be remembered by God). The toponyms identify Ibrahīm's grandfather as a native of Baalbek in Lebanon and his great-great-great-grandfather as coming from a place called Dalyūr, possibly a small town near Tanta, Egypt. A facing note on f. 22r, curses anyone who stole the manuscript: ‘بالذي يقدر الله عليه والله المكلله في كل ما يعمل الحسنات وايمن استعاره وما بدله كان المسيح خصمه يوم الحساب امين امين امين’ (… by that which God has determined for him, and God is crowned by every performance of good deeds, and if anyone borrows it [this book] and does not replace it, then let Christ be his enemy on the Day of Reckoning, Amen, Amen, Amen).

Another note, containing a prayer for Ibrahīm, appears on f. 59v: ‘اذكر يا رب الشماس ابرهيم في الكوار السماوية’ (Oh Lord, remember the deacon Ibrahīm in the celestial spheres). This is accompanied by a very crudely-written note in Greek by the same man, giving his name in its Greek form as Avraam (‘Μνιστιτι Κύριε ο διακο Αβρααμ’).

Other Arabic notes identify the manuscript as a Byzantine Bible (1r), and provide numbers for the first few eothina lections (ff. 138r, 139r).

A later hand has added frequent annotations in English, Latin and Greek regarding lections and variant readings.

Notes in English, in pencil have been added regarding lost and cancelled folios, by Henry Bradshaw (1831-1886) , on f. ii recto, University Librarian 1867-1886.

History

Origin: The erratic use of diacritics and inclusion of holes in the written surface of the parchment suggest a possible peripheral origin, perhaps in southern Italy, but more probably the Levant, given the later addition of Armenian quire signatures and Arabic annotations, and the lack of distinctive south Italian features. The characteristics of the script suggest that it was produced during the second half of the 11th or first half of the 12th century. If it is a product of a peripheral region, this would tend in favour of a date in the latter part of this range, given the tendency in such areas to lag behind metropolitan trends.

Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.8.49, ff. iii-vii]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. ff. iii recto-vii verso
Parakletike/Oktoechos (fragment)

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Eastern paper.
Extent: This part is a fragment consisting of five reused folios bound in as endleaves; ff. iv-vii are bound in upside-down.
Foliation: The reused endleaves are foliated iii-vii, in Roman numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.

Condition

All leaves are severely frayed and torn to their edges, with significant loss of text, and in fragile condition; most of f. v and about half of f. vii has been lost. The leaves are marked by a considerable amount of dirt.

Layout

A single column of 18-23 lines. 215-235 × 195 mm. No ruling.

Hand(s)

This text, by Hand B, is written in a large, upright mixed minuscule script, in black ink, with a thick pen. There is moderate variation in letter size.

Syllabic abreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are round, mute iota is absent. The double dot is occasionally used decoratively and nomina sacra are intermittently accentuated, regardless of length.

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

Minuscule zeta and xi appear in a distinctive form, tilted sharply to the left, so that xi resembles sampi

Headings are by the same hand, in red ink.

Decoration

Hymn sections begin with minor initial letters in red ink.

History

Origin: The darkness of the ink, thickness of the pen used and style of script suggest that the manuscript from which these leaves were taken was written in Cyprus or the Levant. The characteristics of the script suggest that it dates to the 13th century.

Part 3 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.8.49, fragment]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

3.
Gospel lectionary fragment (Mt 27:48-61)
Incipit: καὶ λαβὼν σπόγγον· πλήσας τε ὅζους καὶ περιθεὶς καλάμω ἐπότιζεν αὐτὸν
Explicit: ἦν δὲ ἐκεὶ Μαρία ἡ Μαδαλήνη καὶ ἄλλη Μαρία καθήμεναι ἀπέναντι τοῦ τάφου

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment, medium thickness, medium quality.
Extent: Fragment (leaf) 1 leaves.
Dimensions (leaf): 276 × 215 mm.
Foliation: The folio is paginated 397-398, in black ink in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right, and verso, upper left, upside down, in the same hand and sequence as the pagination of the main body of the manuscript.

Condition

A detached folio, with numerous small holes in the margins, significant discoloration and faded text.

Layout

Two columns of 26 lines each. 216 × 155 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, type Leroy 30C2. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

The text is by Hand A, in the same style as the main body of the manuscript.

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

History

Origin: As with the main body of the manuscript, the characteristics of the hand suggest that the manuscript from which this folio came was produced during the second half of the 11th or first half of the 12th century.

Provenance

Having become detached from its original manuscript, the folio seems to have been erroneously bound into the rear of this one, to which it appeared to belong because of the similarity of its script and other characteristics, upside down. It was later paginated as part of it. It was still attached when the manuscript was catalogued in 1856, but has since become detached.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Transcription and translation of Arabic notes by Rosemary Maxton, Faculty of History, Oxford University.

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

    Hē Kainē Diathēkē = Novum Testamentum : cum lectionibus variantibus MSS exemplarium, versionum, editionum, SS patrum & scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, Mill, JohnMoore, JohnBowles, W.Middleton, Francis WilloughbyMiddleton, Thomas Willoughby (Oxford, E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1707) A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge Catalogue of manuscripts (Dd), (Cambridge, 1: Dd, Cambridge University Press, 1856) Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose (Cambridge, 1, Deighton, Bell, 1874) Novum Testamentum Graece: ad antiquissimos testes denuo recensuit apparatum criticum apposuit Constantinus Tischendorf, Gregory, Caspar René (Leipzig, 3: Prolegomena, J.C. Hinrichs, 1894) Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes, Gregory, Caspar René (Leipzig, J. C. Hinrichs, 1900) Synopsis of the first three Gospels, with the addition of the Johannine parallels, Huck, Albert (Tubingen, Mohr, 1981) Cambridge University Library: a history, McKitterick, David (Cambridge, 2: The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cambridge University Press, 1986) The letters of Humpfrey Wanley: palaeographer, Anglo-Saxonist, librarian, 1672-1726: with an appendix of documents The letters of Humpfrey Wanley, (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989) The Greek Manuscripts of John Moore and Etienne Baluze Codices Manuscripti, Jackson, Donald F. (56/57, 29-42, 2006)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Study at Cambridge

About the University

Research at Cambridge