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 Ff.1.24

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12178

Contents

Introduction: This Greek manuscript, probably made in Constantinople in the late 10th or 11th century, was brought to England in the thirteenth century at the instigation of the scholar and bishop Robert Grosseteste (c.1179-1253). Twelfth and thirteenth-century scholars were aware that many important theological, philosophical and scientific texts unavailable in the West circulated in the Greek-speaking world. Only a tiny number went to the lengths that Grosseteste did to learn Greek with the aim of obtaining, reading and translating these works. The chronicler, Matthew Paris, tells how in the late 1230s, one of Grosseteste’s assistants, John of Basingstoke, recalled seeing a Greek manuscript containing a text called the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs in the library of the metropolitan Michael Choniates when he was in Athens some 40 years earlier. The bishop sent envoys to Athens and MS Ff.1.24, almost certainly Choniates’ copy, was brought to England for him. There are notes in Grosseteste’s hand throughout, demonstrating that he read the whole codex. He used the manuscript to prepare a Latin translation of the Testaments which was completed in 1242. Some early manuscripts of the translation contain a colophon recording how Grosseteste produced his text with the help of magister Nicholas Grecus, a native speaker and member of his household. Grosseteste and his contemporaries believed that the Greek text was a translation of a Hebrew original consisting of the genuine deathbed exhortations of the twelve sons of Jacob. They identified within the text various passages prophesying the coming of Christ. In translating the text, Grosseteste intended it to be used to convince Jews to convert to Christianity. Modern scholarship on the Testaments suggests that it was composed in the first or second centuries C.E. Opinion is divided as to whether it is a Christian work that draws on Jewish sources or a Jewish work with Christian prophetic passages inserted. Grosseteste’s translation was enormously popular; over eighty manuscripts survive and there were numerous printed editions. It was the source for vernacular translations into English, French, German, Anglo-Norman, Danish and Czech. Robert Grosseteste's copy of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs offers an insight into the working habits and library of a major intellectual figure of the thirteenth century and, more broadly, casts light on the tradition of Greek scholarship and transmission of Greek texts in the Medieval West. Dr Suzanne Paul

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: i + i + 263 leaves. 255-259 × 204 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript has been foliated in Arabic numerals, in pencil, in the top right hand corner of each recto, with the numbers [i-ii] + 1-263.
Foliation: Every tenth leaf is also numbered in pencil in the lower right hand corner of the recto.
Foliation: Pagination in pen in an early modern hand also in the top right corner of each recto, omitting the four leaves of the index.

Binding

The manuscript was rebound in 1980 at Cambridge University Library in quarter goatskin with marbled paper covers and plain pastedowns. 273 × 235 × 95 mm.

Accompanying Material

A fragment from the pastedown of the previous binding is attached to the front inner board.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Transferred to Athens c.1175 as part of the library of Michael Choniates (1138-approximately 1222) , archbishop of Athens.

Seen in Athens c. 1200 by the English scholar John of Basingstoke , according to the medieval chronicler, Matthew Paris (1200-1259) , and brought to England c.1240 under the orders of Robert Grosseteste (1175?-1253) , Bishop of Lincoln.

Contains numerous notes by the hand of Robert Grosseteste .

After Grosseteste's death in 1253, the manuscript passed into the library of Greyfriars, Oxford where it was consulted by Roger Bacon (1214?-1294) .

Presented to the University Library in 1574 by Matthew Parker (1504-1575), archbishop of Canterbury . No. 5 in the list of 25 'Libri Scripti in pergameno' published to commemorate Parker's gift (see Early catalogues of manuscripts, up to c. 1600. It is not known when or where Parker acquired it. M.R. James speculated that he may have obtained it from a monastery in Canterbury, perhaps St Augustine's.

Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.1.24, ff. 1-263]

Contents

1. ff. 1r-39r
First Book of Chronicles
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 1r Liber παραλειπομένων primus
Rubric: f. 1r Παραλειπομένων τῶν βασιλείων αʹ
Incipit: f. 1r Ἀδὰμ· Σὴθ· Ἐνὼς· Καϊνᾶν· Μαλαλεὴλ

On f. 25r, the text skips from 1 Chron. 12:31 to the second half of 1 Chron. 21:16. As James suggests, 'a quire of the archetype must have been missing'. This lacuna is noted by Grosseteste

Explicit: f. 39r καὶ ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς
Final rubric: f. 39r Παραλειπομένων αʹ τέλος· στίχων ͵βʹ

TLG 0527.015

2. ff. 39v-103v
Second Book of Chronicles
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 39v Παραλειπομένων βʹ
Incipit: f. 39v Καὶ ἐνίσχυσε Σαλομὼν υἱὸς Δαβὶδ ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ
Explicit: 103v ἔσται ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ μετ'αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀναμήτω
Final rubric: 103v Παραλειπομένων τῶν βασιλείων βʹ. στίχων τρισχιλίων. Ἔσδρας ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ γραμματεύς

TLG 0527.016

3. ff. 104r-196r, col. a, line 6
Hypomnēstikon biblion Iōsēppou Commonitorium Libellus memorialis Notebook of Josephus Hypomnesticum Hypomnēmata Ioseppou
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 104r ̔Υπομνηστικὸν βιβλίον αʹ Ἰωσήππου· ὅσαι γεγόνασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἕως τῆς τοῦ Σωτήρος παρουσίας γενεαί
Incipit: f. 104r αʹ Ἀδαμ· βʹ Σήθ· γʹ Ἐνώς· δʹ Καϊνᾶν· εʹ Μαλαλεὴλ
Explicit: f. 196r ἄνθραξ· ἀχάτης λιγύριος· ὀνύχειος

An anonymous text written in the early fifth century. The author was previously referred to as Joseppus or Josephus Christianus (to distinguish him from the Jewish historian Josephus). However, it is likely that the title does refer to the historian and the title means that the work is a notebook of information deriving from the works of Josephus.

4. f. 196r, col. a, lines 7-18
Epigram
Language(s): Greek
Incipit: f. 196r Τέρμα πτυκτίδων, ἐνταῦθα Ἰωσήππου
Explicit: f. 196r Εἰς αἶνον εὐχάριστον αὐτοῦ τοῦ λόγου
5. f. 196r, col. b-f. 197r, col. b, line 12
Leo VI the Wise (866-912), An enigma of the Emperor Leo
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 196r Στίxοι Λέοντος τοῦ βασιλέως, είς αἴνιγμα Χριστὸν καὶ κρῖνον δεδειγμένοι
Incipit: f. 196r Εἰ γῆν ἅπασαν καὶ θάλατταν καὶ πόλον
Explicit: f. 197r Ἵλεως ἔστω Χριστὸς ἐν ὥρα δίκης
6. f. 197r, col. b, line 13-f. 198r
Poem on the rich man and Lazarus
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 197r Στίχοι εἰς τὸν πλούσιον καὶ εἰς τὸν Λάζαρον
Incipit: f. 197r Ἀνήρ τις ἦν μέγιστος ἐξυφασμένην
Explicit: f. 198r Μηδ'ἐκεῖνοι περάναι ἐν τοῖς ἐνθάδε

f. 198v is blank.

8. ff. 203r-261v
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 203r Διαθῆκαι τῶν ιβʹ πατριαρχῶν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰακώβ
Incipit: f. 203r Διαθήκη Ῥουβὴμ περὶ ἐννοιῶν· Ἀντίγραφον διαθήκης Ῥουβὴμ
Explicit: f. 261v ἕως ἡμέρας ἐξόδου αὐτῶν ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου

A pseudepigraphic work purporting to be the deathbed exhortations of the twelve sons of Jacob. Probably composed in the first or second century C.E.

9. 262r-263r
Commentary on the Oracles of Leo the Wise (fragment)
Language(s): Greek
Incipit: f. 262r καὶ χειραγωγήσει τοὺς πένητας· καὶ θρίψει ὁρφανοὺς
Explicit: f. 263r καὶ ἐν τ⟨ῷ⟩ τέλ⟨ει⟩ τοὺς δύο ἐνιαὐτοὺς[sic]· φανήσεται ὁ υἰ⟨ὸ⟩ς[sic] τῆς ἀπολείας[sic]

f. 263v is blank apart from some notes.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF), of medium thickness and poor quality. There are numerous holes formed during the production of the parchment.

Collation

The orirginal body of the manuscript consists of 33 quires, of which 11 are quinia, one is either a quaternion or a ternion, and the rest are quaternia. As two folios of each quinion have been cancelled, it is likely that these quires were originally quaternia, to which an extra bifolio was added to replace cancelled leaves. A later binion, Quire 25a, comprising ff. 199-202, was inserted between Quires 25 and 26, described in Part II.

  • Quires 1-48 ff. 1-32
  • Quire 510-2 ff. 33-40 The third and seventh folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 610-2 ff. 41-48 The second and eighth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 78 ff. 49-56
  • Quires 8-910-2 ff. 57-72 The second and eighth folios of each quire have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quires 10-118 ff. 73-88
  • Quire 1210-2 ff. 89-96 The second and eighth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 138-1 ff. 97-103 The eighth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quires 14-168 ff. 104-127
  • Quires 17-1810-2 ff. 128-143 The second and eighth folios of each quire have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 198 ff. 144-151
  • Quire 2010-2 ff. 152-159 The second and eighth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 218 ff. 160-167
  • Quires 22-2410-2 ff. 168-191 The second and eighth folios of each quire have been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quire 258-1 ff. 192-198 The eighth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text
  • Quires 26-328 ff. 203-258
  • Quire 336-1 ff. 259-263 The last folio has been cancelled, without loss of text; alternatively, this may be a quaternion in which the fourth, fifth and eighth folios have been cancelled

There are quire signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, on the first folio of each quire, recto, upper right, probably original to the production of the manuscript. Some have been lost to trimming. They survive in whole or in part on Quires 4, 6-7, 10-11, 13-22, 24, 26, 28-29, 31-33 (δʹ, ϛʹ-ζʹ, ιʹ-ιαʹ, ιγʹ-κβʹ, κδʹ, κϛʹ, κηʹ-κθ, λαʹ-λγʹ). Modern quire signatures, in Arabic numerals, in pencil, have been added throughout the manuscript on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right (1-33).

Condition

The lower margins of ff. 261-263 have been cut away. There are occasional holes torn in folios, e.g. ff 70, 142, 147. A tear in f. 170 has been repaired with stitching. Significant pest damage is present in the outermost folios at each end of the manuscript. There is cockling and some creasing. Occasional areas of pale discoloration with dark edges may be due to the erasure and replacement of lines of text during the original production process (e.g. ff. 122r, 169v). There is some water damage, areas of dirt and ink-blots.

Layout

ff. 1r-198v, 203r-261v Two columns of 20-22 lines. 160 × 140 mm. Pricking survives in the upper and lower margins, but much has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 24E2o. Text hangs from the lines, but often does not follow them closely.

ff. 262r-263v A single column of 19-24 lines. 153-183 × 190 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, type Leroy 00C1. Text ignores the lines. The ruling is very faint.

Hand(s)

ff. 1r-261v were copied by Hand A, in mixed minuscule Perlschrift, slanting slightly to the right, in brown ink, with little variation in letter size and some flourishing of tails into the lower margin. There are deletions by expunctuation.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are angular and mute iota is absent. Use of the double dot is functional only. There is accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra . The double grave accent is in use. Circumflexes do not appear above breathings.

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

Headings are written in Alexandrine majuscule script in red ink.

ff. 262r-263v were copied by Hand B in a scholarly mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in brown ink, with moderate variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is absent. Use of the double dot is functional only. There is accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra . Circumflexes do not appear above breathings.

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

Headings are written in Alexandrine majuscule script in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the first text is preceded by a pyle outlined in red, with gold infill (f. 1r).

The beginning of texts on ff. 104r and 203r are preceded by decorative bars in red ink with reserved white ornament.

Plain two-line red minor initials placed in the margins throughout mark the beginning of sections of text.

The beginning of sections on ff. 207r, 219r, 228v, 231v, and 236r are preceded by simple vignettes in red ink.

The rubric heading for the first text (f. 1r) is gilded.

Additions

Medieval Latin Marginalia

  • f. 25r Note in plummet in the hand of Robert Grosseteste in the left hand margin at 1 Chron. 12:31: Hic deficit o#o. At the foot of the same folio, the corresponding note, specifying the missing potion of text, reads: Hic terminatur continuacio duodecimi capituli et est versus ultimus iste ex dimidia parte tribus mana[sse] / decem & octo milia singuli per nomina sua venerunt ut constituerent regem david. versus autem scrip[tus] / est et ceciderunt tam ipse quam maiores natu vestiti ciliciis proni in terram &c. cap. xxi circa nae[dium] / enim deficiunt hic fere .ix. capitula o#o
  • f. 41r Pen note in 13-century hand in right hand margin: arkeuth[...], glossing ἀρκεύθινα.
  • f. 42v Pen note in the hand of Robert Grosseteste in the left hand margin commenting on φοίνικας (2 Chron. 3:5 'palm trees'): Deauravit [e]am auro mundissimo. Nomen katha[r]os sumitur hic pro mundo et obrizo. In latine habetur palmas sed non sunt manus hominis sed palmas, id est arbores, quia hic habetur phoinicas [corr. from phenicas], id est arbores palmarum nam grece phoinix [corr. from phenix] est arbor et latine phenix proferimus sicut comedia pro comoidia propter racionem diphthongi.
  • f. 45r Pen note in the hand of Robert Grosseteste in the lower margin: 5m capitulum secundi paral. quod incipit sic. Postquam congregauit.
  • Brief marginal Latin notes in pen in a medieval hand indicating the start of chapters on ff. 35r, 42r, 43v, 45r, 46r, 48r, 49v, 51r, 52v, 53v(?), 67v and 68v.

Other annotations

  • Brief notes in Greek, largely effaced, appear on ff. 87r, 92r. There are occasional marginal corrections in a crude hand, e.g. f. 180v.
  • There are Latin notes in pencil regarding content on f. [i] recto. Marginal notes by the same hand in Latin and Greek, regarding citations, appear on ff. 104r-127r
  • A Latin note on f. [ii] verso in red crayon claims former ownership of the manuscript by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (602-690) .
  • There are Latin notes in ink by different hands on f. [ii] verso. Some of these identify content and attribute the copying of the manuscript to the same scribe responsible for a certain small Psalter. The current classmark and the former classmark 243 also appear here. On f. 1r, the classmark 243 appears again, along with a heading, a note of the number of pages and an ownership note of Matthew Parker: ‘Matthaeus Cantuar’. Hand C has added notes regarding the index to f. [ii] verso and f. 104r. A heading in Latin has been added to f. 203r.
  • Running headers in Latin have been added to ff. 104r-117r and 203v-261r, identifying the current text. Some of these have been partially lost to cropping, suggesting that they may have been present on other folios but entirely lost for the same reason.
  • Arabic numerals in brown ink have been added to ff. 104r-195v, converting the Greek numerals identifying the sections of the text of Josephus Christianus.

History

Origin: The manuscript was probably copied in the late 10th to mid-11th century, as suggested by the characteristics of the script. Most features are consistent with a late 10th-century date, but the accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra is suggestive of a later date. It was probably copied in ; Constantinople (H. J. De Jonge 1975).

Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.1.24, ff. 199-202]

Contents

7. ff. 199r-202v
Index
Language(s): Latin and Greek

Index to whole volume, added in the sixteenth century, listing (in Latin) the 166 chapters of the Hypomnēstikon biblion Iōsēppou and the twelve sections of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment, thin and of good quality.

Layout

ff. 199r-202r A single column of 19-23 lines. 207-212 × 150 mm. Ruled in red crayon, arrangement usually similar to Leroy 10D1m. Text stands on the lines.

Hand(s)

Written by Hand C in a sixteenth-century Latin hand.

Additions

Another Latin hand has added a note to the end of the index on f. 202v, identifying the work of Leo the Wise.

History

Origin: This quire was added to the manuscript in the 16th century, as indicated by the style of script.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on unpublished MS notes by M. R. James.

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

    A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge, 2: Ee-Ff, Cambridge University Press, 1857) Il Simbolo del Giglio in una Poesia di Leone il Sapiente Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia. Reconditi, Mercati, S. G. (12, 65-73, 1936) Robert Grosseteste, scholar and bishop; essays in commemoration of the seventh centenary of his death, Callus, D. A. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1955) Observations sur l'Ύπομνηστικον Βίβλιον Ίωσήππου Byzantion, Moreau, Jacques (25-27, 241-276, 1955) Die Textüberlieferung der Testamente der zwölf Patriarchen Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der Älteren Kirche, De Jonge, Henk Jan (63, 1/2, 27-44, 1972) La bibliothèque de Michel Choniates et la tradition occidentale des Testaments des XII Patriarches Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis / Dutch Review of Church History, De Jonge, Henk Jan (53, 2, 171-180, 1973, 2014-01-23T11:34:27Z, http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/002820373x00032) Additional notes on the history of MSS. Venice Bibl. Marc. Gr. 494 (k) and Cambridge Univ. Libr. Ff.1.24 (b) Studies on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: text and interpretation Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigrapha, De Jonge, Henk Jan (Leiden, 107-115, Brill, 1975) Die Patriarchentestamente von Roger Bacon bis Richard Simon, mit einem Namenregister Studies on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: text and interpretation Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigrapha, De Jonge, Henk Jan (Leiden, 3-42, Brill, 1975) The earliest traceable stage of the textual tradition of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs Studies on the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: text and interpretation Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigrapha, De Jonge, Henk Jan (Leiden, 63-86, Brill, 1975) Robert Grosseteste and his work of Greek Translation The Orthodox Churches and the West: papers read at the fourteenth summer meeting and the fifteenth winter meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society Studies in church history, Hill, K. (Oxford, 213-222, Basil Blackwell, 1976) Before palaeography: notes on early descriptions and datings of Greek manuscripts Studia Codicologica, Easterling, P.E. (124, 179-88, 1977) The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: a critical edition of the Greek text The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece, (Leiden, Brill, 1978) Review of M. De Jonge, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs: a critical edition of the Greek Text, Leiden 1978 Analecta Bollandiana, Halkin, F. (97, 184, 1979) Robert Grosseteste and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs The Journal of Theological Studies, De Jonge, M. (42, 1, 115-125, 1991, http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/1/115) The Transmission of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs by Christians Vigiliae Christianae, De Jonge, M. (47, 1, 1, 1993, 2014-01-23T10:57:01Z) Another MS of the Alexander-Dindinius Debate: London, Lambeth Palace Library, 499 Scriptorium, Pritchard, T. (47, 48-52, 1993) From Britain to Byzantium: the study of Greek manuscripts Through the looking glass: Byzantium through British eyes. Papers from the twenty-ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, March 1995 Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies publications, Easterling, Patricia E. (Aldershot, 107-120, Ashgate, 2000) Byzantium through illustrated manuscripts Through the looking glass: Byzantium through British eyes: papers from the twenty-ninth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, London, March 1995, Lowden, John (Aldershot, 85-106, Ashgate, 2000) Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments Bible. Old Testament. Supplementum. Greek. Septuagint. 1931, Rahlfs, AlfredRahlfs, Alfred (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2004) A Romance of the Jewish East: The Ten Lost Tribes and The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs in Medieval Europe A Romance of the Jewish East Medieval Encounters, Nisse, Ruth (13, 3, 499-523, 2007, 2014-04-15T13:47:41Z, http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/157006707x222759)

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