Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Gg.6.10

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12194

Introduction: The manuscript contains two small philosophical treatises by the Byzantine polymath Michael Psellos: the first deals with the creation of the souls in Plato; the second with the Chaldaean Oracles, a set of texts belonging to the mystical tradition, which carry revelations from the Gods. The manuscript was copied by the Greek scribe Iakobos Diassorinos, who was librarian of Fontainebleau Palace library around the middle of the 16th century. He made several copies of these texts: both texts are present in manuscripts Cambridge, Trinity College, O.1.32 and Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. gr. 38 ; and the Expositio brevis de dogmatis Assyriorum was transcribed by him in MS El Escorial, Real Biblioteca, Φ.II.11. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 4r-36r

Michael Psellus, In psychogoniam Platonicam

Rubric: f. 4r Μιχαὴλ τοῦ Ψελλοῦ εἰς τὴν ψυχογονίαν τοῦ Πλάτωνος

Incipit: f. 4r Τὸ μὲν λεγόμενον[sic] ἐστιν· ὅτι οὐ μάτην ἡ τῶν ἐφεξῆς λόγων εὕρεσις

Explicit: f. 36r ἀναφέρει τὰς περατώσεις τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρότητα.

The text is accompanied by some diagrams

P. Moore, Iter Psellianum, Toronto 2005, phi. 72a; ed. G.C. Linder, Τοῦ Ψελλοῦ Μιχαὴλ εἰς τὴν ψυχογονίαν τοῦ Πλάτωνος, Michaelis Pselli in Platonis De animae procreatione praecepta commentarius, Uppsala 1854, pp. 1-49 nr. 1; PG 122, 1077-1101

ff. [i] recto-[i] verso, 2r-3r are blank

2. ff. 36v-39r

Michael Psellus, Expositio brevis de dogmatis Assyriorum

Rubric: f. 36v Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔκθεσις κεφαλαιώδης καὶ σύντομος τῶν παρ' Ἀσσυρίοις δογμάτων

Incipit: f. 36v Μετὰ τὸ ἕν τὸν πατρικὸν φασὶ[sic] βυθὸν ἐκ τριῶν τριάδων πληρούμενον

Explicit: f. 39r καὶ ὡς θείας φωνὰς ταῦτα ἐδέξαντο.

TLG 2702.011; P. Moore, Iter Psellianum, Toronto 2005, phi. 114; ed. D.J. O'Meara, Michaelis Pselli Philosophica minora, vol. 2: Opuscula Psychologica, Theologica, Daemonologica, Leipzig1989, op. 41

ff. 39v-42v, [ii] recto-[ii] verso are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: ff. 1-42 Western paper, folded in octavo. Circle surmounted by a four-leaf clover ( 20 × 15 mm. ) in the upper or lower part of the leaf, cut and incomplete, near the gutter, without exact correspondence in the main repertoires. ff. [i], [ii] Western paper, folded in quarto. Pitcher with letters DA surmounted by a four-leaf clover ( 90 × 38 mm. ) in the gutter, without exact correspondence in the main repertoires.

Extent: Codex: i + 42 + i, 185 × 115 mm.

Foliation: Modern pencil foliation in Arabic numerals, in the top right hand corner recto: [i] + 1-42 + [ii].

Collation

The manuscript consists of a binion, 5 quaternions and two later endleaves, one at the beginning, one at the end of the manuscript. The manuscript was rebound: at present the leaves which formed the first bifolium of the first quaternion (ff. 3 and 10) are detached; f. 3 is glued to f. 2.

Quire 1² ff. 1-2
Quires 2-6⁸ ff. 3-42 Quires numbered 1-5 by a later hand

Vertical catchwords in the scribe's hand on the last verso, lower part, near the gutter; very short, written from the top down. Modern pencil signatures in Arabic numerals on the first folio recto of each quire, lower right, probably by a later librarian, from 1 ( f. 3r) to 5 ( f. 35r).

Condition

The codex is in good condition. The leaves are slightly yellowed and there are a few humidity stains (see e.g. ff. 1r-1v, 34r-40v, lower edge).

Worm holes in the upper edge of ff. 1r-3v.

Layout

ff. 4r-42v A single column of 14 lines. 125 × 75 mm.

Hand(s)

ff. 4r-39r Hand A: the texts have been written by Iakobos Diassorinos (16th c., 2nd quarter-1563) , ( Ἰάκωβος Διασσωρινός, RGK I, 143. See also RGK II, 191; RGK III, 241), in the more calligraphic variant of his script.

The text is written in black ink; titles and initials in red.

Decoration

Small friezes in red ink are present at the beginning of the texts: on f. 4r scrollworks with a vegetal motif; on f. 36v interlace frieze divided in two parts, with title at the centre.

Initials in ekthesis in red ink are decorated with a vegetal motif, see e.g. ff. 4r and 36v.

Thick red-ink initials in ekthesis , see e.g. ff. 31r-31v.

The first text is accompanied by some diagrams, see e.g. ff. 10r, 27v-29v.

Additions

On f. 34v, on the leaf's upper border, there is an annotation traceable to Jean-Baptiste Hautin (see History).

On the upper edge of f. 1r, the classmark is written in pencil.

On the left pastedown there are modern pencil notes on the manuscript, presumably by a librarian.

Binding

Western modern binding. Bookcloth over millboard; author and classmark tooled in gold on the spine.

196 × 125 × 16 mm.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was copied by Iakobos Diassorinos (16th c., 2nd quarter-1563) between the second quarter of the 16th century and 1563.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by J.-B. Hautin, probably to be identified with Jean-Baptiste II Hautin, son of the French scholar and numismatist Jean-Baptiste Hautin (c. 1580-1640) . On f. 34v, on the leaf's upper border, there is an annotation by the hand that occurs in almost all Hautin's manuscripts: ‘ Psellus in Platonis psycogoniam’ (see also Jackson 2006, p. 33).

John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 1016 in the handwritten supplementary list of Moore's manuscripts, now MS CUL Oo.7.50(2), compiled by Thomas Tanner after the publication of Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697).

Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I donation bookplate engraved by John Pine (1690-1756) in 1736 on the left pastedown.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2019) partly draws on A catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1858, p. 218.

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, 3: Gg-Kk, Cambridge University Press, 1858)

Specimen eines Repertoriums der griechischen Kopisten. Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (27, 293-322, 1978)

Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, 800-1600. I. Grossbritannien Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981)

Michaelis Pselli Philosophica minora, vol. II: Opuscula Psychologica, Theologica, Daemonologica Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, , (Leipzig, 2, Teubner, 1989)

Iter Psellianum: a detailed listing of manuscript sources for all works attributed to Michael Psellos, including a comprehensive bibliography Iter Psellianum Subsidia mediaevalia, Moore, Paul (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2005)

The Greek Manuscripts of John Moore and Etienne Baluze Codices Manuscripti, , (56/57, 29-42, 2006)

El copista griego Jacobo Diasorino (s. XVI): estudio paleográfico y codicológico de sus manuscritos, García Bueno, Carmen (2017, http://hdl.handle.net/10803/456128)

Jacobo Diasorino en Italia ΠΗΓΗ/Fons, García Bueno, C. (3, 51-69, 2018)

The evolution of Jacobos Diassorinos’ handwriting in context Griechisch-byzantinische Handschriftenforschung : Traditionen, Entwicklungen, neue Wege, , C.Brockmann, C.Harlfinger, D.Valente, S.Deckers, D. (Berlin ; Boston, 201-210, De Gruyter, 2020)

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 Gg.6.10

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