University of Chicago Library, Goodspeed Manuscript Collection Ms. 229, New Testament. Acts. Epistles of Paul. Catholic Epistles. Revelation (Step‛anos Praxapostolos). Cyprus, 1284-1312.

Contents

Praxapostolos in Armenian. Chapter titles and numbers in the margins. The present manuscript, according to the principal colophon, was originally a New Testament, containing, "...the holy Gospels, also the acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles, including the fourteen Epistles of Paul...as well as the...Revelation of the Evangelist John...." Formerly Goodspeed Ms. Arm. 58.

  1. fols. 1r-1v, 3r-6v Table of contents (lacking). Preface.
  2. fol. 7r Inscription concerning the exemplar used by the scribe Step‛anos.
  3. fols. 7r-8r Itinerary of the Apostle Paul.
  4. fols. 8v-56r Acts.
  5. fols. 56r-57r Introduction to the Epistles.
  6. fols. 57r-58r Preface of James. Table of contents of the Catholic Epistles. Chapter list of James.
  7. fols. 58v-63v James.
  8. fols. 63v-64v Preface and chapter list of 1 Peter.
  9. fols. 64v-70r 1 Peter.
  10. fols. 70r-71r Preface and chapter list of 2 Peter.
  11. fols. 71r-74v 2 Peter.
  12. fols. 74v-76r Preface and chapter list of 1 John.
  13. fols. 76r-81r 1 John.
  14. fols. 81r-81v Preface and chapter list of 2 John.
  15. fols. 81v-82v 2 John.
  16. fol. 82v Preface and chapter list of 3 John.
  17. fols. 82v-83v 3 John.
  18. fols. 83v-84r Preface and chapter list of Jude.
  19. fols. 84v-86r Jude.
  20. fols. 86r-87r Plea of Euthalius.
  21. fols. 87v-94v Preface of the Epistles of Paul.
  22. fols. 94v-95r Martyrology of the Holy Apostle Paul.
  23. fols. 95r-108v Table of contents of the Epistles of Paul.
  24. fols. 108v-110v Preface of Romans.
  25. fols. 111r-130r Romans.
  26. fols. 130r-131v Chapter list and preface of 1 Corinthians.
  27. fols. 131v-148v 1 Corinthians.
  28. fols. 148v-149v Chapter list and preface of 2 Corinthians.
  29. fols. 149v-161r 2 Corinthians.
  30. fols. 161r-162r Chapter list and preface of Galatians.
  31. fols. 162r-168r Galatians.
  32. fols. 168r-169r Chapter list and preface of Ephesians.
  33. fols. 169r-174v Ephesians.
  34. fols. 175r-175v Chapter list and preface of Philippians.
  35. fols. 175v-180r Philippians.
  36. fols. 180r-181r Chapter list and preface of Colossians.
  37. fols. 181r-185r Colossians.
  38. fols. 185r-186r Chapter list and preface of 1 Thessalonians.
  39. fols. 186r-189v 1 Thessalonians.
  40. fol. 189v Chapter list of 2 Thessalonians (lacking).
  41. fols. 190r-191v 2 Thessalonians (lacking).
  42. fols. 191v-194r Chapter list and preface of Hebrews.
  43. fols. 194r-208r Hebrews.
  44. fols. 208r-209v Chapter list and preface of 1 Timothy.
  45. fols. 209v-214v 1 Timothy.
  46. fols. 214v-215v Chapter list and preface of 2 Timothy.
  47. fols. 215v-219v 2 Timothy.
  48. fols. 219v-220r Chapter list and preface of Titus.
  49. fols. 220r-222v Titus.
  50. fol. 222v Chapter list and preface of Philemon.
  51. fols. 223r-223v Philemon: Epistle to Philemon and deacon Archippus and Apphia.
  52. fols. 223v-224v Philemon: Epistle to Philemon, Onesimus, and deacon Archippus of the church of the Colossians, written by the servant Onesimus from Rome.
  53. fols. 224v-227v 3 Corinthians.
  54. fols. 227v-230r Chapter list and preface of Revelation.
  55. fols. 230r-252v Revelation.
  56. fols. 252v-256r Repose of St. John.
  57. fols. 256r-256v fols. 2r-2v fols. 257r-257v Principal colophon bound out of order (lacking).
    Colophon: The scribe Step‛anos Goyneric‛anc‛ (undated). A certain honorable priest by the name of T‛oros expressed a fervent desire [for this book]. He was a native of the eastern land [Armenia] and arriving in Cilicia from his ancestral canton, he thence came to Cyprus. And, he found me the humble Step‛anos surnamed Goyneric‛anc‛ who also had arrived in the same island of Cyprus at the home of pious people after tempestuous strife and a wavering in agitation as though caused by stormy winds, and born in most wretched times. Although I was old and doting and feeble in eyes, at the strong pleading of the above named brother and honorable priest T‛umay, I ignored my old age on account of the pious request, and putting my trust in the power of the omnipotent God and in his help...I began [the writing of] this [book], and he gave me the power to bring it to an end with my trembling hands....

Decoration

Marginal vignettes of birds, arabesques, and flowers.

Headpieces

Headpieces of floral, foliate, and geometric motifs in brown ink (faded).

Initials

Major initials (20-45 mm) of floral and foliate design.

Physical Description

Support

Parchment. 208 x 140 mm.

Number of Leaves

257 leaves.

Foliation

1-257. Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil.

Collation

Originally 38 numbered quires. Estimate of content lost: quires 1-16 (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John); 1 leaf (between fols. 189 and 190, beginning of 2 Thessalonians, table of contents, chapter list ending, preface); 1 leaf (between fols. 251 and 252, Revelation).

Dimensions

Written space 150 x 90 mm (fol. 11r). Each column is 150 x 40 mm with a space of 10 mm between.

Layout

2 columns, 27 lines. Ruling with ink (intermittent). Pricking in outer margins.

Writing

Written in bolorgir script in black ink. Later inscriptions in notragir (fols. 80v, 215v).

Text Divisions

Titles in red paired with marginal motifs and minor initials.

Condition

Some tearing and cockling. Text is rubbed and illegible in several places. Portions of fols. 109 and 110 have been cut out or have broken off. Occasional grease and ink stains. Water damage.

Binding Description

Bound in stamped dark brown leather over boards. Nail holes are present. Doublures of red and gold cloth (fragmentary).

History

Origin

Written on Cyprus by the scribe Step‛anos Goyneric‛anc‛ or Goynerean, a student of the scholar Gēorg Skewrac‛i (his colophon, fols. 256r-256v, 2r-2v, 257r-257v, and prayers, fols. 43v, 227v). The manuscript was commissioned by the priest T‛oros or T‛umay, whose name is recorded in the colophon and three prayers (fols. 56r, 86v, 227v).

The exemplar Step‛anos copied was created by the vardapet Gorg Lambruc‛i (inscription, fol. 7r). The completion date of the manuscript is unknown, and the given range of 1284-1312 corresponds to the period in which the scribe flourished, one delimited by the dates extant in the colophons of other manuscripts he wrote.

Provenance

Medieval to mid-20th century provenance unknown. May have belonged to by Hamatanc‛i of Tabrīz, (his undated inscription, fol. 80v).

A second inscription (fol. 215v) by an unknown author dated 1784 (Armenian Era 1233) refers to the manuscript as an Acts of the Apostles, thus the four gospels within the initial 16 quires were lost presumably before the third quarter of the eighteenth century.

Acquisition

Acquired by the University of Chicago in 1948 on the recommendation of Ernest Cadman Colwell, professor and university president.

Bibliography

  1. Merrill Mead Parvis, The Story of the Goodspeed Collection ([Chicago:] s.n., 1952), p. 28.
  2. Erroll F. Rhodes, An Annotated List of Armenian New Testament Manuscripts, Annual Report of Theology 1 (1959), p. 135 (1044 and 1046).
  3. New Testament manuscript traditions. An exhibition based on the Edgar J. Goodspeed Collection of the University of Chicago Library, the Joseph Regenstein Library, January-March, 1973. University of Chicago. Library. Dept. of Special Collections. Exhibition catalogs ([Chicago: s.n., 1973]), 36, no. 13.
  4. Avedis K. Sanjian, A catalogue of medieval Armenian manuscripts in the United States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), pp. 191-200.