The British Library 2020: Manuscript Index

            The British Library houses Codex Sinaiticus (most of it, at least) and Codex Alexandrinus.  As reported at the British Library’s website, 905 Greek manuscripts in the British Library’s large collection of Greek manuscripts have been digitized.  This includes not only Codices À (Sinaiticus) and A (Alexandrinus), and assorted works by secular authors, and by patristic writers, but also the following New Testament manuscripts – 115 continuous-text manuscripts, and 62 lectionaries.

            Each link should take you to a page where each manuscript is briefly described, and where access to page-views of each manuscript is provided.

GA 011 (Codex Seidelianus I, Gospels, 800s, damaged)

GA 027 (Codex Nitriensis, 500s, palimpsest)

GA 0121a (900s)

GA 0133, 0269, 0271, 0272, 0273, 0297, Lect 334 (Codex Blenheimius, 700s lower writing, palimpsest)

GA 44 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 65 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 72 (Gospels, 1100s, interesting marginalia)

GA 81 (Acts, 1044)

GA 104 (New Testament, 1087)

GA 109 (Gospels, 1300s/1400s)

GA 110 (New Testament, 1100s)

GA 113 (Gospels, 1100s, illustrated)

GA 114 (Gospels, 1000s or later.  quatrefoil Ad Carpianus)

GA 115 (Gospels, 1000s, heavily damaged)

GA 116 (Gospels, 1100s/1200s)

GA 117 and Lect 1357 (Gospels and Acts, early 1500s)

GA 201 (New Testament, 1357)

GA 202 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 203 (New Testament except for Gospels, 1108)

GA 272 (Gospels, 1000s/1100s)

GA 308 (Acts and Epistles, 1300s)

GA 312 (Vol. 1) (Acts and Epistles, 1000s-1100s)

GA 312 (Vol. 2) (Epistles, 1000s-1100s)

GA 321 (Acts and Epistles, 1100s or later)

GA 322 (Acts and Epistles, 1500s)

GA 384 (Acts and Epistles, 1200s)

GA 385 (Acts, Epistles, Revelation, 1407)

GA 438 Vol. 1 (Mt & Mk, 1100s) (The Askew Gospels)

            Golden Canon Tables (500s or 600s – in situ with 438)

GA 438 Vol. 2 (Lk & Jn, 1100s)
GA 439 (Gospels, 1149)

GA 444 (Matthew-Jude, 1300s)

GA 445 (Gospels, 1506)

GA 446 (Gospels, 1400s)

GA 447 (Gospels, 1500s)

GA 448 (Gospels, 1478)

GA 449 (Mt & Mk), 1300s)

GA 449 (Lk & Jn), 1300s)

GA 476 (Gospels, 1000s)

GA 478 (Gospels, 900s-1000s)

GA 480 (Gospels and part of Hebrews, 1366)

GA 481 (Gospels, 900s-1100s, Evangelists portraits) (Burney Gospels 19)

GA 482 (Gospels, 1285, Evangelists’ portraits)

GA 484 (Gospels, 1291, quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 485 (Gospels, 1100s, semi-quatrefoil Ad Carpianus)

GA 490 (Gospels, 1000s, quatrefoil Ad Carpianus and quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 491 (New Testament except Revelation, 1000s)

GA 492 (Gospels, 1325)

GA 493 (Gospels, 1400s)

GA 494 (Gospels, 1300s)

GA 495 (Gospels, 1100s, Evangelists’ portraits)

GA 496 (New Testament except Revelation, 1200s)

GA 497 (Gospels, 1000s)

GA 498 (New Testament, missing some pages, 1300s)

GA 499 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 500 (Gospels, 1200s)

GA 501 (Gospels, 1200s, some later supplements)

GA 502 (Gospels, 1200s)
GA 503 (John, 1200s)

GA 504 (Gospels, 1033)

GA 505 (Gospels, 1100s, quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 547 (New Testament except Revelation, 1000s)

GA 548 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 549 (Gospels, 1000s, commentary)

GA 550 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 551 (Gospels, 1100s-1400s)

GA 552 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 553 (Gospels, 1200s)

GA 640 (James, fragment, 1000s-1100s, commentary)

GA 641 (Acts and Epistles, 1000s, commentary)

GA 643 (Vol. 1) (Pauline Epistles, 1300s, Chrysostom commentary)

GA 643 (Vol. 2) (Pauline Epistles w/Chrysostom comm., and General Epistles, 1300s)

GA 644 (Pauline Epistles, incomplete, 1300s)

GA 645 (Gospels, 1304)

GA 686 (Gospels, 1337)

GA 687 (fragments of Matthew, 1000s)

GA 688 (Gospels, 1179)

GA 689 (Gospels, 1200s)

GA 690 (Gospels, 1200s-1300s)

GA 691 (Gospels, 1200s-1300s)

GA 692 (Gospels, 1200s-1300s, quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 693 (Gospels, 1200s-1300s)

GA 694 (Gospels, 1400s)

GA 695 (Gospels, 1200s)

GA 696 (Gospels, 1300s)

GA 697 (Gospels, 1200s) (decorated, fox & snake initial)

GA 698 (Matthew, Mark, Luke, 1300s)

GA 699 / GA 699 (Guest-Coutts NT) (Gospels, Acts, Epistles, 900s)

GA 700 (Gospels, 1000s) (Hoskier’s Codex)

GA 714 (Gospels, 1100s-1200s)

GA 715 (Gospels, 1200s, quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 716 (Gospels, 1300s, quatrefoil headpiece)

GA 892 (Gospels, 800s with later supplements)

GA 910 (Acts and Epistles, 1009)

GA 911 (Acts and Epistles, 1000s)

GA 911(2040) (Revelation, 1000s)

GA 912 (Acts and Epistles, 1200s)

GA 913 (Acts and Epistles, 1300s)

GA 1268 (Gospels, 1200s, commentary)

GA 1274 (Vol. 1) (Palimpsest – parts of Matthew and Mark, 1100s/1400s)

GA 1274 (Vol. 2) – Luke, Matthew, Mark) and GA 2823  and GA 2822 (Palimpsest – part of James and Jude, 1100s/1400s)

GA 1279 (Gospels, 1100s-1200s)

GA 1280 (Gospels, 1100s-1400s)

GA 1765 (Acts and Epistles, 1300s)

GA 1911 (Romans-Jude, 1500s.  This is Harley MS 5552, likely a transcript of Erasmus’ first edition)

GA 1956 (Pauline Epistles, 1200s, catena)

GA 2041 (Revelation, 1300s)

GA 2099 (Gospels, 1200s)

GA 2277 (Gospels, 1000s-1300s)

GA 2278 (Gospels, 1314)

GA 2279 (Acts and Epistles, 1300s)

GA 2280 (Gospels, 1100s)

GA 2290 (Gospels, 900s with supplements from 1600s)

GA 2291 (Vol. 1) (Matthew and Mark, 1200s)

GA 2291 (Vol. 2) (Luke and John, 1200s)

GA 2484 (Acts and Epistles, 1312)

LECTIONARIES

Lect 25a and 25b (partly palimpsest)

Lect 150 (995, uncial)

Lect 151 (1100s, quatrefoil headpiece)

Lect 152 (800s-900s, uncial)

Lect 169 (1200s, Acts and Epistles)

Lect 181 (980-1052.  uncial) (Parham XX – Cappadocian Lectionary)
Lect 182 (800s.  uncial.)

Lect 183 (nice uncial lectionary)

Lect 184 (late 900s)

Lect 187 (1100s-1200s)

Lect 188 (Vol. 1) (1032)

Lect 188 (Vol. 2) (1032)

Lect 189 (1100s)

Lect 190 (1000s, fragment)

Lect 191 (1100s)

Lect 192 (1200s)

Lect 193 (1334)

Lect 233 (1100s, cruciform text)

Lect 237 & Lect 2310 (1100s and 1600s)

Lect 238 (1000s-1100s)

Lect 257 (1306, Acts and Epistles)

Lect 318 (1000s)

Lect 319 (1100s-1200s, quatrefoil headpiece)

Lect 320 (1300s, damaged)

Lect 321 (1100s-1200s)

Lect 322 (1000s)

Lect 323 (1100s-1200s)

Lect 324 (1200s)

Lect 325 (1200s)

Lect 326 (1100s)

Lect 327 (1300s)

Lect 328 (1300s)

Lect 329 (900s-1000s)

Lect 330 & 331 (1272)   

Lect 332 (1300s)

Lect 333 1200s)

Lect 335 (1100s)

Lect 336 (1100s-1300s)

Lect 337 (1200s)

Lect 338 (900s lower writing, palimpsest)

Lect 339 (1100s)
Lect 340 (1200s) 

Lect 344 (1100s-1300s)

Lect 346 (1100s-1300s)

Lect 927 (1200s-1300s)

Lect 930 (1200s)

Lect 932 (1200s)

Lect 939 (1100s)

Lect 940 (1200s)

Lect 941 (1100s)

Lect 1053 (1000s-1100s, fragment)

Lect 1234 (1300s)

Lect 1317 (800s and 1400s, palimpsest)

Lect 1490 (1100s)

Lect 1491 (1008)

Lect 1492 (late 1000s)

Lect 1493 (1000s)

Lect 1494 (1100s-1200s)

Lect 1495 (1200s)

Lect 1496 (1413)

Lect 1742 (late 1300s)

Lect 1743 (1256)

Lect 2376 (1000s, quatrefoil headpiece)

Also of interest:

Collation of Codex A (Harley MS 1837)

Psalter with Odes (Rahlfs 1656) (includes selections from Luke 1-2)

Collation of GA 71 (Codex Ephesinus), made in 1679

Add. MS 34186 – Wax Tablets  (Probably similar to what Zachariah used in Luke 1:63)

In addition, the British Library’s website offers several essays on subjects relevant in one way or another to the field of New Testament textual criticism, including the following:

● Scribes and Scholars in Byzantium (Georgi Parpulov)

● Manuscripts of the Christian Bible (Scot McKendrick)

● Ancient Books (Cillian O’Hogan)

● Ancient Libraries (Matthew Nicholls)

● Book Illumination in Antiquity (Cillian O’Hogan) (featuring Codex N)

● Biblical Illumination (Kathleen Doyle)

● Byzantine Bookbindings (Ann Tomalak)

● Byzantine Book Epigrams (Julie Boeten and Sien De Groot)

● Illuminated Gospel-books (Kathleen Maxwell)

● The Earliest Greek Bibles (David C. Parker) (featuring Papyrus 5)



Readers are invited to double-check the data in this post.

Minuscule 490: Remarkably Unremarkable!

            One of the most ordinary Gospels-manuscripts you will ever see is minuscule 490, housed at the British Library (catalogued as B.L. Additional MS 7141 – formerly listed as minuscule 574).  It has some decoration – all in red pigment – and headpieces before the beginning of each Gospel, but there are no Evangelists’ portraits; no multi-color initials – nothing particularly eye-catching.  Let’s take a closer look, though, to see if there is GA 490 has anything interesting textually.

            Like a lot of other medieval Gospels manuscripts, 490 does not begin immediately with the Gospels’ text:  first there is Eusebius’ letter Ad Carpianus, explaining how to make use of the Eusebian Canon-tables and Sections.  (in 490, the letter is framed within a quatrefoil frame, on four pages, sort of like the format in GA 114.  The quatrefoil is barbed on the first and last page of Ad Carpianus (written in red).  On the second and third pages of Ad Carpianus, the quatrefoil is accompanied by drawings of four birds.  The next eight pages contain the Canon-tables themselves.  Next comes the list of 68 kephalaia (chapters) for the Gospel of Matthew. 

 

The first headpiece in 490.

On fol. 8, the text of Matthew begins, written in two columns (27 lines per column), below a leafy headpiece that fills about half the page.  There is a sketch of an antelope in the margin alongside the headpiece.  Except for the initial “B,” which is drawn in red, resembling a stylized vine, the changed when the Scriptural text begins; everything up to this point is red; the text after this point (except initials) is brown.  (Section-numbers and Canon-numbers, titloi, chapter-numbers, and the lectionary apparatus (dividing the text into lections for the Synaxarion) are in the margins in red.) 

On 10r, Matthew 2:11 reads εἰδον (“saw”), like most manuscripts, disagreeing with Stephanus’ ευρον (“found”). 

On 10v we see that sacred names are not contracted with 100% consistency; in Matthew 3:2, ουρανων (“of heaven”) is spelled in full.  On 58r, κυριε (“Lord”) is written in full in Matthew 27:63, where the Pharisees address Pilate.

On 11r, “and fire” is not included at the end of Matthew 3:11.  

On 14r, an incipit-phrase, ειπεν ο Κς (“The Lord said”) is written in the margin alongside the beginning of Matthew 5:31.

On 15v, Matthew 6:13 includes the doxology of the Lord’s Prayer.

On 21v, a small cross has been drawn in the margin alongside Matthew 9:36.
On 26r and 26v, the copyist worked around a hole in the parchment.  (Similarly, the copyist avoided writing on a small tear in the parchment later in Matthew 12:45 and 12:50, and on folio 36.)  More small holes and tears appear further along in the manuscript.

On 40v, Matthew 20:16b is included in the text, at the end of a lection.

On 47v, alongside Matthew 24:1, the small cross (with dots, arranged ⁜) appears again.

On 53v, the lectionary apparatus (written in this instance in different ink) includes, after Matthew 27:39, instructions for the lector to jump to Luke.

On 57r, Matthew 27:35b is not in the text.

On 59v, the text of Matthew ends in the first column; the closing title is written in red.

After Mark’s kephalaia-list, the text of Mark begins on 61r; a red headpiece fills part of the first column.  Mark 1:2 reads “in the prophets.”
On 61v, Mark 1:16 reads αμφίβληστρα 

On 64r, Mark 2:17 ends with “to repentance,” at the end of a lection.

On 73v, Mark 7:16 is in the text, at the end of a lection.

On 78r, Mark 9:29 includes “and fasting.”

On 83r, a cross is sketched in the margin alongside Mark 11:27.

On 92r, Mark 15:28 is not included.  On 92v, a note in the lower margin introduces the tenth of the 12 Passion-lections.

On 93v, Mark 16:9 includes ο Ις (“Jesus”) after Αναστας (“Rising”).

The text of Mark ends on 94r; the kephalaia-list for Luke begins in the second column of the page.

The text of Luke begins on 95r. 

On 106r, a cross is sketched in the margin alongside Luke 5:27. 

On 106v, Luke 6:1 includes δευτεροπρώτω.

On 111r, Luke 7:31 does not include “And the Lord said.”

On 116v, Luke 9:23 includes “daily” (καθ’ ἡμέραν)

On 118v, ως καὶ Ἡλίας ἐποίησε (“as Elijah also did”) is included in Luke 9:54, filling exactly one line.  In Luke 9:55-56, the last part of verse 55 and all of verse 56 are present.

On 124r, Luke 11:54 includes ζητουντες and ινα κατηγορήσωσιν αυτου.

On 128r, Luke 13:19 includes μέγα (agreeing with P45 Byz A W Pesh).

On 134r, Luke 17:9 includes ου δοκω.

On 136v, in Luke 18:24, περίλυπον γενόμενον is included.

On 140v, in Luke 20:23, τί με πειράζετε is included.

On 144v, in Luke 22:31, ειπε δε ο Κς is included.

On 145r, Luke 22:43-44 is included.  A lectionary note in 22:45, after μαθητας, in different writing, mentions the jump to Matthew (cf. 53v).

On 147r, Luke 22:17 is included.

On 147v, Luke 23:34b is included.  In the lower margin, there is a note to introduce the eighth Passion-lection (Lk. 23:32-49).  

On 148v, in Luke 24:1, καί τινες συν αυταις is included.

On 150r, before Luke 24:36, ⁜ appears in the text.

The text of Luke concludes on 151r in the first column.  The chapter-list for John, in red, occupies the second column.

The text of John begins on 152r.  A three-sided frame surrounds the book’s title in the headpiece in the first column.

On 153r, John 1:29 has ὁ Ιωάννης after βλεπει.

On 158v, John 4:42 includes ὁ Χς.

On 159v, John 5:3b-4 is included.  Verse 4 begins αγγελος γαρ κυ, agreeing with A K L Δ.

On 162v, in John 6:22, εκεινο εις ὁ ενέβησαν οι μαθηται αυτου is included.

On 166v, in John 7:46, ως ουτος ὁ ανος is included, occupying a single line.

On 167r, John 8:12 follows 7:52 without interruption on the same line.  The pericope adulterae is completely absent.

On 169r, in John 8:59, διελθων δια μέσου αυτων και παρηγεν ουτως is included.

On 175r, John 12:1 includes ὁ τεθνηκώς.

On 182v, in John 16:16, οτι υπάγω προς τον πρα is included.

On 188v, before John 19:25, ⁜ appears in the text. 

On 192v, the text of John ends in the first column.  In John 21:23, τι πρός σε is included. The line-length slightly decreases, vortex-style, for 12 lines.  There is a simple decoration to indicate the end of the book but there is no closing book-title or subscription. 

            The text of GA 490 is an exceptionally pure – that is, unmixed – Byzantine Text.  It was skillfully written.  (Perhaps it was made “in house” at a monastery; there are no stichoi-notes.)  Except for the non-inclusion of the pericope adulterae, it is very similar to the Gospels-text in the 1982 Hodges-Farstad Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text.  Movable-nu is very often dropped.  At random, I picked page 270 of the Hodges-Farstad text (containing Luke 21:7-18) to compare to 490.  In Luke 21:7-18, I found exactly one difference between Hodges-Farstad and 490:  in verse 7, 490 has μέλλει instead of μέλλη. 
            Incipit-phrases are not present in the main lectionary apparatus, but some have been added in secondary, scrawled margin-notes for the 12 Passion-time lections.

            Because 490’s text is so similar to the standard Byzantine text, the most unusual thing about it may be the titles of the four Gospels:  the headpiece to Matthew introduces all four Gospels in its central quatrefoil:  ΣΥΝ ΘΩ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΤΕΣΣΑΡΩΝ  ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΣΤΩΝ.  Four circles, within the four corners of the headpiece, contain four segments of the title for the Gospel of Matthew:  ΕΚ ΤΟΥ + ΚΑΤΑ + ΜΑΤ + ΘΑΙΟΝ.

            Mark’s title:  ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ

            Luke’s title:  ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΛΟΥΚΑΝ

Claudius James Rich

            John’s title:  ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΕΚ ΤΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ ΑΓΙΟΥ

           

            It is unusual to see ΕΚ ΤΟΥ in the titles in a continuous-text manuscript.  It is not unique – Codex L also has “ΕΚ ΤΟΥ” in its title for Matthew, and 1241’s title for Matthew includes ΣΥΝ ΘΕΩ.  Chief members of family 13 (and 1071) also have εκ του in at least one Gospel-title.  It is not easy to intuit the reason for these unusual titles.  Perhaps the person who added the titles in the headpieces was used to putting titles in lectionaries.

           

            Another thing about 490 worth noticing is that it came to light back in the 1820’s as part of the collection of antiquities left by Claudius James Rich (1787-1821), a notable British scholar who traveled widely in the Middle East.