Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.6.32
Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12189
Contents
Language(s): Greek
The text contains only the statements of the propositions, numbered for each book
The sequence of the propositions does not always match that of the edition (post L. Heiberg ed. E.S. Stamatis, Euclidis Elementa, 1-5, Leipzig 1969-19772)
For book 14 the propositions end with no. 6 of the edition (ed. Heiberg-Stamatis vol. 5.1, p. 10 linn. 1-3), which in the manuscript in numbered δ΄ (4)
TLG 1799.001
- ff. 2r-10r Book 1
- ff. 10r-12v Book 2
- ff. 13r-18v Book 3
- ff. 19r-20v Book 4
- ff. 21r-25v Book 5
- ff. 26r-30v Book 6
- ff. 30r-36v Book 7
- ff. 37r-40r Book 8
- ff. 40v-44v Book 9
- ff. 44v-59v Book 10
- ff. 60r-67v Book 11
- ff. 67v-70r Book 12
- ff. 70r-72v Book 13
- ff. 73r-75r Book 14 (book 14 of Euclid's Elements is considered spurious and is attributed to Hypsicles, of Alexandria Hypsicles of Alexandria )
Physical Description
Modern foliation in pencil, in Arabic numerals, in the top right hand corner, recto: 1-82
The main scribe wrote running heads in red ink in the upper margin of each verso ‘ Βιβλίον’, and in the upper margin of each recto, where he indicates the book number.
Collation
The manuscript consists of 10 quaternions.
- 1 paper endleaf (16th century)
- Quires 1-108 ff. 2-81
- 1 paper endleaf (16th century)
Condition
Layout
A single column of 18 lines. 105 × 60 mm.
Hand(s)
The text was written by Angelos Bergikios (Ἄγγελος Βεργίκιος, 16th c., first quarter-1569, RGK I, 3; on the scribe see also RGK II, 3; RGK III, 3) in an elegant and accurate minuscule script, with "baroque" features, slanting slightly to the right. The script shows many ligatures and ornamental features, such as curling flourishes at the strokes' end.
The text is written in brown ink; titles and initials in red.
The scribe also wrote additions to the text in the margins.
Hand a: a hand datable to the 16th c. added two marginal notes in brown ink. The script is an informal minuscule, slanting to the right, with regular features, probably by a western European hand. It appears to be the same hand that wrote ff. 36r and vii recto in MS Cambridge, University Library, Kk.5.31
Decoration
Initials in ekthesis in red ink are decorated with a vegetal motif with scrollworks, see e.g. f. 2r.
Thick minor initials written in red ink see e.g. f. 6r.
Pearls and small crosses in brown and red ink are traced at the end of the prepositions and of books, see e.g. f. 10r. Small crosses in brown ink are present in the upper margins of all leaves.
Additions
On the left pastedown, in pencil, letter ‘ G’, a modern annotation by a librarian.
On f. 1v there is a title, ‘ Euclidis geometria’ by a hand recurring in the manuscripts owned by J.-B. Hautin (see Provenance).
On ff. 21r-22v, in the left margin, the definitions of Book 5 are numbered in Arabic numerals from 1 to 20 in brown ink. Judging by the ink, it could be an addition by Hand a.
Binding
Modern binding. Paper over couched-laminate boards. Spine covered in leather, tooled in gold with title ‘ Euclid M.S.’; leather labels with the shelfmark are pasted on it. 175 × 110 × 18 mm.
History
The manuscript was written by the Greek scribe Angelos Bergikios (16th c., first quarter-1569). It is not dated. The same type of watermark found in this manuscript recurs also in MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, gr. 1836, which was copied by Bergikios in Venice in 1536 (see the description of the manuscript by J. Groisard (2006-2009), in BnF, Archives et manuscrits). Moreover, Bergikios copied the same text contained in MS Ff.6.32 in the MS Par. Suppl. gr. 186, completed in Rome in 1537. Therefore it is probable that also this manuscript was written around the 1530s.
Provenance and Acquisition
The manuscript was owned by a certain J.B. Hautin, probably to be identified with Jean Baptiste II Hautin, son of the French scholar and numismatist Jean-Baptiste Hautin (ca. 1580-1640) : on f. 1v there is a title by the hand, which occurs in almost all Hautin's manuscripts: ‘ Euclidis geometria ’ (see Jackson 2006, p. 33 no. 5).
John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 1043 in the handwritten supplementary list of Moore's manuscripts, now MS Oo.7.50(2), compiled by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735) after the publication of C. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697) (see also McKitterick 1986, p. 142, and Jackson 2006, p. 33 no. 5).
Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I : donation bookplate engraved by John Pine (1690-1756) in 1736 on f. 1v.
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.
Bibliography
-
A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the
library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge, 2: Ee-Ff, Cambridge University Press, 1857)
Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten,
800-1600. I. Grossbritannien Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für
Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie
der
Wissenschaften, 1981)
Cambridge University Library: a history [2],
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, McKitterick, David (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986)
The Greek Manuscripts of John Moore and Etienne
Baluze Codices Manuscripti, , (56/57, 29-42, 2006)
Funding of Cataloguing
The Polonsky Foundation
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
