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 Nn.3.13

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12243

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript, dated c. 1480, combines the so-called 'Euripidean dyad' with the translation of the Distichs of Cato (a collection of proverbs attributed to Dionysius Cato, 3rd or 4th century CE) from Latin into Greek by the Byzantine scholar Maximus Planudes (born c. 1255, died c. 1305). MS Nn.3.13 is manuscript J in Euripides' textual tradition. The dyad is a selection of two of the ten 'canonical' plays by Euripides (born c. 480, died 406 BC): Hecuba and Orestes. Identified by Turyn in 1957, this late Byzantine selection was not established before the 15th century, and derived from the 'Byzantine triad' (Hecuba, Orestes, and Phoenician Women: see, for example, MS Mm.1.11 or MS Nn.3.14 ). The dyad appears in two recensions: ψ (known as the Harley recension from the manuscript London, British Library, Harley MS 5725 ; siglum U in Euripides’ tradition), and the earlier δ recension. Nn.3.13 is the main representative witness for the family of the δ dyad-recension; therefore, it is known as Cambridge dyad. The manuscript bears some signs of the development of the composite commentary which accompanies Euripides’ texts, mixing old scholia with scholia by the Byzantine grammarians Manuel Moschopoulus and Thomas Magistros (13th-14th century), and unknown material. The manuscript appears to be part of a larger, but unfinished project: the text is written in a high quality minuscule script, with a sophisticated mise-en-page, but numerous leaves have been left blank, and some pieces have been repeated. Dr Matteo Di Franco

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-8v
Blank folios
2. ff. 9r-9v
Magistros Thomas, Thomano-Triclinian Vita Euripidis in δ abbreviation (see Schartau II 1973, Appendix I, b, p. 105-106; cf. n. 4 Dindorf, Scholia I 1863)
Rubric: f. 9r Γένος Εὐριπίδου τοῦ ποιητοῦ
Incipit: f. 9r Εὐριπίδη τῷ ποιητῇ πατρὶς μὲν ἀθῆναι· πατέρες δὲ μνήσαρχος κάπηλος καὶ κλειτὼ λαχανόπωλις
Explicit: f. 9v πάτρη δ’ Ἑλλὰς Ἀθῆναι· πλεῖστα δὲ Μούσας τέρψας ἐκ πολλῶν πάνυ καὶ τὸν ἔπαινον ἔχει σὺν δίκῃ

TLG 5023.010

3.1. ff. 9v-10r
Magistros Thomas, Hypothesis on Hecuba Thomano-Triclinian Argumentum Hecabae in δ abbreviation (see Schartau II 1973, Appendix I, b, p. 106-108; cf. Arg. 2 Dindorf, Scholia I 1863)
Incipit: f. 9v ⟨(Μ)⟩ετὰ τὴν Τροίας ἅλωσιν ἄραντες οἱ ἕλληνες, καθωρμίσθησαν ἐν τῇ ἀντιπέραν Χερρονήσω τῆς θράκης ἧς εἶρχε Πολυμήστωρ
Explicit: f. 10r ὁ δὲ χορὸς συνέστηκεν ἐκ γυναικῶν αἰχμαλωτίδων τρωϊάδων συμμαχησασῶν τῆ Ἑκάβῃ

TLG 5023.014

3.2. f. 10v
Characters of the play τὰ τοῦ δράματος πρόσωπα (see Schartau II 1973, Appendix I, b, p. 108)
Incipit: f. 10v ⟨(Π)⟩ολυδώρου εἴδωλον ⟨(Ἑ)⟩κάβη ⟨(Χ)⟩ορὸς ἐκ τρωϊάδων αἰχμαλωτίδων
Explicit: f. 10v τά τοῦ δράματος πρόσωπα
3.3. ff. 11r-68v
Euripides, Hecabe
Rubric: f. 11r προλογίζει τὸ τοῦ πολυδώρου εἴδωλον
Incipit: f. 11r Ἥκω νεκρῶν κευθμῶνα καὶ σκότου πύλας
Explicit: f. 68v τῶν δεσποσύνων πειρασόμεναι μόχθων· στερρὰ γὰρ ἀνάγκη
Final rubric: f. 68v τέλος τοῦ πρώτου του[sic] δράματος

Extensive scholia and interlinear glosses in red ink accompany the text

ll. 715-1295 repeated on ff. 165r-186v

TLG 0006.040

4.1. ff. 69r-70v
Hypothesis on Orestes Triclinio-Moschopoulean Argumentum Orestis in δ abbreviation (Arg. 4 Dindorf, Scholia II 1863; cf. Schartau II 1973, p. 38-39)
Rubric: f. 69r ὑπόθεσις τοῦ δευτέρου δράματος
Incipit: f. 69r Ὅτε κατὰ τῶν Τρώων ἡ Ἑλλὰς ὥρμησεν Ἀγαμέμνων στρατηγὸς ᾑρέθη παντὸς
Explicit: f. 70v ἐκ συμφορῶν εἰς εὐθυμίαν κατηντηκός· ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία γέλωσι καὶ εὐφροσύναις ἐνύφανται

Repeated on ff. 187r-188v

TLG 5023.015

4.2. f. 70v
Hypothesis on Orestes (Arg. 2 Dindorf, Scholia II 1863) Hypothesis of Aristophanes of Byzantium
Incipit: || f. 70v ⟨(ἡ)⟩ μὲν σκηνὴ τοῦ δράματος ὑπόκειται ἐν Ἄργει. ὁ δὲ χορὸς συνέστηκεν ἐκ γυναικῶν Ἀργείων ἡλικιωτίδων Ἠλέκτρας
Explicit: f. 70v ⟨Τ⟩ὸ δρᾶμα τῶν ἐπὶ σκηνῆς εὐδοκιμούντων· χείριστον δὲ τοῖς ἤθεσι· πλὴν γὰρ Πυλάδου πάντες φαῦλοι ἦσαν

Followed by the list of characters of the play

repeated on f. 188v

TLG 5023.015

4.3. ff. 71r-72v
Euripides, Beginning of Orestes (ll. 1-42)
Incipit: f. 71r ⟨(Ο)⟩ὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ’ εἰπεῖν ἔπος οὐδὲ πάθος οὐδὲ συμφορὰ θεήλατος
Explicit: f. 72v ὧν οὔτε σῖτα διὰ δέρης ἐδέξατο, οὐ λούτρ’ ἔδωκε χρωτί· χλανιδίων δ’ ἔσω||

ff. 71r-72v are the last folios of quire 9. The rubricator left these folios without initials and supralinear glosses. The plays restart from f. 73r

TLG 0006.049

4.4. ff. 73r-138r
Euripides, Orestes
Incipit: f. 73r Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν δεινὸν ὧδ’ εἰπεῖν ἔπος οὐδὲ πάθος οὐδὲ συμφορὰ θεήλατος
Explicit: f. 138r ὦ μέγα σεμνὴ νίκη τὸν ἐμὸν βίοτον κατέχοις καὶ μὴ λήγοις στεφανοῦσα

Extensive scholia and interlinear glosses in red ink accompany the text

TLG 0006.049

5. f. 138r
Metrical epigram DBBE type 2110
Language(s): Greek
Incipit: f. 138r Τῷ συντελεστῇ τῶν καλῶν Θεῷ χάρις
(cf. DBBE type 2110)
6. ff. 138v-157v
Blank folios
7. ff. 158r-164v
Maximus Planudes, Distichs of Cato translated into Greek

Ending at 4.11 (ed. Ortoleva 1992)

Rubric: κάτωνος ῥωμαίου. γνῶμαι παρανετικαὶ· ἅς τινας μετήνεγκεν ἐκ τῆς τῶν λατινῶν γλώττης. μάξιμος μοναχὸς ὁ πλανούδη
Incipit: f. 158r Ἀναπολήσας ἐγὼ κατὰ νοῦν· ὡς πλεῖστοι δὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῆς τῶν ἠθῶν ὁδοῦ παρατρέπονται
Explicit: f. 164v Ἢν προκέηται θηρία πάντα σ’ ἔχειν διὰ δείμων||

  • Breves sententiae ff. 158r-158v
  • Liber primus ff. 159r-161r
  • Liber secundus ff. 161r-162v
  • Liber tertius ff. 162v-164r
  • Liber quartus ff. 164r-164v

scholia and interlinear glosses in red ink accompany the text

TLG 4146.013

8. ff. 165r-186v
End of Hecabe (ll. 715-1295) Euripides

Repeated (see ff. 11r-68v)

Incipit: || f. 165r οὐχ ὅσι’ οὐδ’ ἀνεκτά· ποῦ δίκα ξένων· ἰὼ κατάρατ’ ἀνδρῶν, ὡς διεμοιράσω
Explicit: f. 186v τῶν δεσποσύνων πειρασόμεναι μόχθων· στερρὰ γὰρ ἀνάγκη

extensive scholia and interlinear glosses in red ink accompany the text

TLG 0006.040

9.1. ff. 187r-188v
Hypothesis on Orestes Triclinio-Moschopoulean Argumentum Orestis in δ abbreviation (Arg. 4 Dindorf, Scholia II 1863; cf. Schartau II 1973, p. 38-39)

Repeated (see ff. 69r-70v).

Incipit: f. 187r Ὅτε κατὰ τῶν Τρώων ἡ Ἑλλὰς ὥρμησεν Ἀγαμέμνων στρατηγὸς ᾑρέθη παντὸς
Explicit: f. 187v ἐκ συμφορῶν εἰς εὐθυμίαν κατηντηκός· ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία γέλωσι καὶ εὐφροσύναις ἐνύφανται

TLG 5023.015

9.2. f. 70v
Hypothesis on Orestes (Arg. 2 Dindorf, Scholia II 1863) Hypothesis of Aristophanes of Byzantium

Repeated (see f. 70v)

Incipit: || f. 188v ⟨(ἡ)⟩ μὲν σκηνὴ τοῦ δράματος ὑπόκειται ἐν Ἄργει. ὁ δὲ χορὸς συνέστηκεν ἐκ γυναικῶν Ἀργείων ἡλικιωτίδων Ἠλέκτρας
Explicit: f. 188v ⟨(Τ)⟩ὸ δρᾶμα τῶν ἐπὶ σκηνῆς εὐδοκιμούντων· χείριστον δὲ τοῖς ἤθεσι· πλὴν γὰρ Πυλάδου πάντες φαῦλοι ἦσαν

followed by the list of characters of the play

TLG 5023.015

10. ff. 189r-200v
Blank folios

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1r-200v Western paper, folded in quarto. Watermarks: Balance ( 80 × 35 mm. ) on the gutter comparable to Piccard, Waage VI 662-3 ; Balance ( 60 × 35 mm. ) on the gutter comparable to Piccard, Waage V 247-8 ; Hand ( 100 × 30 mm. ) near the spine comparable to Briquet, 11154 . The majority of those examples are dated to the end of the 15th century.
Extent: Codex: iii + 200 + iii leaves., 213 × 155 mm.
Foliation: [i-iii] + 1-200 + [iv-vi]. Modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in the top right-hand corner, recto.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 25 quires: 23 quaternions, one ternion and one sexternion.

  • Quires 1-158 ff. 1r-120v
  • Quire 168-1 ff. 121r-127v
  • Quire 178 ff. 128r-135v
  • Quire 186 ff. 136r-141v
  • Quires 19-208 ff. 142r-157v
  • Quire 218-1 ff. 158r-164v
  • Quires 22-248 ff. 165r-188v
  • Quire 2512 ff. 188r-200v

Three discontinuous sequences of non-related signatures are present in the manuscript; all these are written in brown ink or pencil, in Greek numerals on the outer corner of the lower margin on the first recto.

First sequence: quires 3-7 from βον to ϛ:

  • 17r βον
  • 25r Γ'
  • 33r δ'
  • 41r ε'
  • 49r ϛ

Second sequence: quires 14-18 from ιβ' to ιϛ:

  • 105r ιβ'
  • 113r ιΓ'
  • 121r ιδ'
  • 128r ιε'
  • 136r ιϛ'

Third sequence: quires 21-24 from αον to δ; signatures from β to δ are written in pencil by a later hand:

  • 158r αον
  • 165r β (repeated on f. 166r)
  • 173r γ
  • 180r δ

Condition

In generally fair condition. Leaves have yellowed slightly with age; there are occasional stains, and worm holes.

Layout

ff. 1r-188v: written space 175 × 115 mm. Hecuba (ff. 11r-68v): 11 lines per page; Orestes and Hecuba's repetition (ff. 71r-138r, 165r-186v): 13 lines per page; Disticha Catonis (ff. 158r-164v): 20 lines per page. Scholia and prefatory materials that accompany the main texts have a very variable number of lines per page, and are arranged in an orderly manner.

Hand(s)

Hand A: ff. 1r-188v

The main text and scholia are written in a mixed minuscule in an upright, scribal hand, in brown ink script.

There is a marked variation in letter size. Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings are absent in main text, but used in argumenta and scholia, usually appearing only at the end of lines. Breathings are curved and mute iota is regularly used.

In the main text the scribe uses a larger script, but the style is the same as in the main text, scholia and hypothesis. The small majuscules beta, gamma, eta, phi are present. Gamma is often high. The sigma telikon is used along with regular or lunate sigma in end of words. Chi presents a stretched-out shape, with a long stroke from right to left

Phi-rho ligature is in two strokes and overlapping. Double majuscule lambda are overlapped.

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

Tails in the scholia are rarely flourished into the outer margins.

The same hand has written the interlinear glosses in red ink.

Hand B: ff. 9v-10v.

Hand B displays a minuscule based on the model of Hand A, but slanting slightly to the right, smaller size, in dark brown ink. There is only moderate variation in letter size. Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings are not limiteted to the end of lines.

Breathings are curved, circumflex accent is normaly not link to vowels. Mute iota is largerly used.

Hand C: ff. 73v-80v.

Hand C, a minuscule based on the model of Hand A, added few scholia in a pale brown ink and some of them are lost in trimming displays.

Günther (1995) designated this hand as Ja.

Decoration

The beginnigs of Orestes and Disticha Catonis are preceded by rectangular headpieces or vegetative ornament in red ink (ff. 69r, 158r, 159r).

The thick red-ink major initials in floral pattern mark the start of a new work or argument, and of most of the scholia.

Additions

An ownership note in Latin is added on f. 188v: ‘ Antonii Seripandi et amicorum ’.

Binding

Binding with pale brown full skin covering over couched-laminate boards. A split in the spine corresponds to the opening at f. 105.

There is decorative tooling on boards and spine; traces of decorative tooling are present on the board edge.

Tailband is partially detached. The headband has one break in it.

The title (Euripidis Hecuba et Orestes Catonis Sententiae MS) is tooled in gold on the spine.

Marbled paper is used as pastedowns with blank leaves. Edges are marbled as well.

224 × 172 × 40 mm.

History

Origin:

The watermarks suggest that the manuscript was produced at the end of the 15th century, likely after 1470.

The characteristics of the scripts confirm that it was produced during the later 14th or earlier 15th century.

On the textual basis of scholia of dyad-recension, Günther (1995), supposed an origin related to the circle of the Cretan Ioannes (Moschus) of Corone (see RGK I 203 = II 279), scribe of ff. 75r-397r of Par. gr. 2598.

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was owned by the Neapolitan humanist Antonio Seripando (1476-1531) , who inscribed ‘ Antonio Seripandi et amicorum ’ on f. 188v). Seripando inherited the library of the humanist Aulus Janus Parrhasius (1470-1522) .

At Seripando’s death, his books passed on to his brother, Cardinal Girolamo Seripando (1493-1563) .

Cardinal Seripando bequeathed his library to the Augustinian convent of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples. The library was declared the 'Royal Library' by the King, Ferdinand IV of Naples in 1792, and incorporated into the Borbone Library. Before the royal decree of 1792, the convent library was predated on several occasions. In some instances manuscripts and books were sold by the monks themselves.

The manuscript entered into the collection of Johan de Witt (1625-1672) .

The manuscript was later part of the library of Anthony Askew (1722-1774) , physician and book collector. After his death, the manuscript was sold by G. Leigh and J. Sotheby in the auction of his library in 1785 (lot. 568).

The manuscript entered into the Cambridge University Library after the Askew sale, and the University of Cambridge general bookplate (engraved by William Jackson in 1706-1707) was added on inside front board.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2019) draws on A catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, vol. 4 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1861), pp. 481-482.

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, 4: Ll-Oo, Cambridge University Press, 1861) The Byzantine manuscript tradition of the tragedies of Euripides, Turyn, Alexander (Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1957) Observations on the activities of the Byzantine grammarians of the Palaeologian era. II, the impact of Thomas Magistros's introductory matter (Vita, hypotheseis) to the Euripidean Triad (including an excursus on Copenhagen, Gamle Kongelige Samling 3549, 8°), Schartau, Bjarne (Odense, Odense University Press, 1973) Studien zur Textüberlieferung der Hekabe des Euripides, Matthiessen, Kjeld (Heidelberg, C. Winter, 1974) Griechische Kodikologie und Textüberlieferung, Harlfinger, Dieter (Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1980) Cambridge University Library: a history, McKitterick, David (Cambridge, 2: The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cambridge University Press, 1986) The textual tradition of Euripides' Orestes, Diggle, James (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1991) The manuscripts and the transmission of the Paleologan scholia on the Euripidean triad, Günther, Hans Christian (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1995)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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