This manuscript of the Acts and Epistles was probably copied in the late 10th century or first half of the 11th. The various books are provided with introductory hypotheses, generally of standard type, although a more unusual supplementary note has been provided for the Second Letter to the Corinthians (f. [51]r, lines 7-15). It is a plain production with minimal ornament, without even the use of red ink for initial letters or headings. These, and the hypotheses and chapter lists, are visually marked out from the main texts only by the use of majuscule script.
Unusually, the manuscript probably reached western Europe during the Middle Ages. This is indicated by the presence of occasional Latin glosses in a medieval hand, written in an early form of pencil and now seriously blurred (e.g. ff. 109v, 110v). It probably passed into western hands no earlier than the 12th century, as suggested by a Greek annotation whose style of script suggests that it dates to that period (f. 128r). However, its specific provenance cannot be traced before the second half of the 16th century, when it was owned by one Samuel Wright, a former student of Emmanuel, who donated it to the college.
Dr Christopher Wright
The manuscript consists of 18 quires, all quaternia.
18th-century full leather binding over millboards, sewn on single raised supports, with boards attached by laced-in slips. There are separate sewn endleaves, the outermost of the same marbled paper as the pastedowns, the inner ones of plain paper. There is decorative gold tooling on the boards and their edges, and on the spine. The heading "Testamentum graecum MS" is tooled in gold on a red label on the spine, and the classmark appears on patches.
Binding height: 97 mm, width: 74 mm, depth: 35 mm.
Both endbands are split at f. [89]. The tail endcap is partially missing and there is damage to the head endcap. The left outer joint is partially split.The manuscript was copied in a small upright mixed minuscule script, in brown ink, with consistent letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are angular and mute iota is absent or adscript, sometimes reduced in size. Use of the double dot is functional only. Nomina sacra are usually unaccentuated, but occasionally accentuated when more than three letters long, or with enclitics. Circumflexes sometimes appear above breathings, and can be somewhat enlarged when they do. The double grave accent and marginal quotation marks are in use.
Majuscule forms in use in the mixed minuscule script include delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, kappa, mu, xi, pi, sigma, upsilon and omega.
Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points, lower commas, question mark and full stop.
Headings, hypotheses and chapter lists were copied by the same hand in Alexandrine majuscule script. In majuscule script (but not in the appearances of the majuscule form in the mixed minuscule), upsilon appears with a long, undulating tail.
The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i-iii], 1-2, [3-16], 17, [18-24], 25, [26-32], 33, [34-40], 41, [42-48], 49-50, [51-56], 57, [58], 59, 62-66, 60-61, 67, [68-72], 73, [74-75], [78-80], 81, [82-84], 85, [86-96], 97, [98-104], 105, [106-112], 113-116, [117-120], 121, [122-126], 127, [128], 129, [130], 131, 76-77, 132, [133-136], 137, [138-143], 144 + [iv-v] in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.
Additional text has been inserted in the margins of f. [128]r, relating to Timothy, although the text to which it has been added is a hypothesis to Hebrews, by a hand possibly of the 12th century. There has been some overwriting of abraded text here, probably by the same hand.
There are occasional marginal Latin glosses in pencil by a medieval hand (e.g. ff. [109]v, [110]v).
There is a severely abraded note recording the donation of the manuscript to Emmanuel College by Samuel Wright on f. [iii] verso. This has been copied below by a later hand: "Collegio Emmanuelis in Testimonium grati animi D.D. Samuel Wright eiusdem Collegii Alumno Anno 1598 pridie nonas Iulias.".
Notes in Latin have been added in the margins, identifying books and the beginning of chapters.
A Latin list of the Epistles present has been added to f. [iii] recto.
The former classmark 1.2.33 has been added to f. [iii] verso and later cancelled, and 1.5.35, later changed to 1.4.35, on f. [ii] verso and f. 1r.
There is a note by F.H.A. Scrivener regarding his collation of the manuscript in 1855 on f. [ii] verso: "Collatus integer hic codex 1855 F. H. Scrivener".
A quotation regarding the manuscript has been added on f. [ii] recto: "Liber praestans ob antiquitatem et minimis characteribus exaratus etc. Le Long, V.1.400".
Under the 'More' menu you can find metadata about the item, and information about sharing this image.
The manuscript consists of 18 quires, all quaternia.
18th-century full leather binding over millboards, sewn on single raised supports, with boards attached by laced-in slips. There are separate sewn endleaves, the outermost of the same marbled paper as the pastedowns, the inner ones of plain paper. There is decorative gold tooling on the boards and their edges, and on the spine. The heading "Testamentum graecum MS" is tooled in gold on a red label on the spine, and the classmark appears on patches.
Binding height: 97 mm, width: 74 mm, depth: 35 mm.
Both endbands are split at f. [89]. The tail endcap is partially missing and there is damage to the head endcap. The left outer joint is partially split.The manuscript was copied in a small upright mixed minuscule script, in brown ink, with consistent letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear only at the end of lines. Breathings are angular and mute iota is absent or adscript, sometimes reduced in size. Use of the double dot is functional only. Nomina sacra are usually unaccentuated, but occasionally accentuated when more than three letters long, or with enclitics. Circumflexes sometimes appear above breathings, and can be somewhat enlarged when they do. The double grave accent and marginal quotation marks are in use.
Majuscule forms in use in the mixed minuscule script include delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, kappa, mu, xi, pi, sigma, upsilon and omega.
Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points, lower commas, question mark and full stop.
Headings, hypotheses and chapter lists were copied by the same hand in Alexandrine majuscule script. In majuscule script (but not in the appearances of the majuscule form in the mixed minuscule), upsilon appears with a long, undulating tail.
The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i-iii], 1-2, [3-16], 17, [18-24], 25, [26-32], 33, [34-40], 41, [42-48], 49-50, [51-56], 57, [58], 59, 62-66, 60-61, 67, [68-72], 73, [74-75], [78-80], 81, [82-84], 85, [86-96], 97, [98-104], 105, [106-112], 113-116, [117-120], 121, [122-126], 127, [128], 129, [130], 131, 76-77, 132, [133-136], 137, [138-143], 144 + [iv-v] in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.
Additional text has been inserted in the margins of f. [128]r, relating to Timothy, although the text to which it has been added is a hypothesis to Hebrews, by a hand possibly of the 12th century. There has been some overwriting of abraded text here, probably by the same hand.
There are occasional marginal Latin glosses in pencil by a medieval hand (e.g. ff. [109]v, [110]v).
There is a severely abraded note recording the donation of the manuscript to Emmanuel College by Samuel Wright on f. [iii] verso. This has been copied below by a later hand: "Collegio Emmanuelis in Testimonium grati animi D.D. Samuel Wright eiusdem Collegii Alumno Anno 1598 pridie nonas Iulias.".
Notes in Latin have been added in the margins, identifying books and the beginning of chapters.
A Latin list of the Epistles present has been added to f. [iii] recto.
The former classmark 1.2.33 has been added to f. [iii] verso and later cancelled, and 1.5.35, later changed to 1.4.35, on f. [ii] verso and f. 1r.
There is a note by F.H.A. Scrivener regarding his collation of the manuscript in 1855 on f. [ii] verso: "Collatus integer hic codex 1855 F. H. Scrivener".
A quotation regarding the manuscript has been added on f. [ii] recto: "Liber praestans ob antiquitatem et minimis characteribus exaratus etc. Le Long, V.1.400".