University of Chicago Library, Goodspeed Manuscript Collection Ms. 828, New Testament. Gospels (Tetragram Gospels). Greg. 2411. 12th century.

Contents

Four gospels in Greek. Ammonian section numbers and lection apparatus in margins. Addition of 14th century paper lectionary tables. Formerly Goodspeed Ms. Grk. 32.

  1. fols. 1r-4r Canon tables II-IX (lacking).
    Note: Drawing of headpiece in ink (fol. 3r); Blank (fol. 4v).
  2. fols. 5r-110v Matthew. Subscription.
  3. fols. 111r-175v Mark. Subscription.
  4. fol. 175v
    Colophon: Signature of the scribe Joseph in tetragram form.
  5. fols. 176r-273v Luke. Subscription with ecphonetic notation.
  6. fols. 274r-362v John (ends with 20:29 at, μα[καριοι].
  7. fols. 363r-378v Lectionary tables, Synaxarion and Menologion (lacking).
  8. fol. 379r-379v Homily (based on 1 Timothy 6:8 and 6:10).

Decoration

Canon Tables

Citations of concordant gospel sections are framed by architectural columns which support tympana-shaped headpieces. Embellished with geometric motifs in red, blue, gold, and orange.

Headpieces

Headpieces infilled with foliate, floral, and quatrefoil designs in orange, gold, and black (fols. 5r, 111r, 176r, 274r).

Initials

Major initials (15-40 mm) of bead and foliate motifs.

Physical Description

Support

Parchment and paper. 150 x 115 mm.

Watermarks

Watermark of lectionary leaves, fols. 373-375, similar to Briquet, Arc, 786 (Lucques, 1372).

Number of Leaves

380 leaves of which 363 are parchment and 17 are 14th century paper (lectionary tables and 1 flyleaf).

Foliation

362 + 16 (paper foliated leaves) + 1 (unfoliated paper flyleaf) + 1 (foliated parchment leaf). Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil 1-379. Earlier numbering still extant on some leaves.

Collation

48 quires of parchment, 2 of paper, and each of 8 leaves, with the exception of quires 14 and 23 of 3 leaves, quire 16 of 6 leaves, and quire 36 of 9 leaves. Estimate of content lost: Eusebian Canon tables I, portions of II, and X, and possibly Eusebius's letter to Carpianus on the gospel canons; leaf 1 of quire 14 (after fol. 108, ends with Matthew 27:62 at, και οι Φα[ρισαιο], and begins on fol. 109r with 28:7 at, πορευθεισαι ειπατε τοις); leaves 1-3 of quire 31 (after fol. 231, ends with Luke 12:9 at, των ανθρωπων, and begins on fol. 232r with 12:42 at, [οι]κονομος και φρονιμος); leaves 5-8 of quire 31 (after fol. 232, ends with Luke 12:52 at, τρεις επι, and begins on fol. 233r with 13:34 at, απεσταλμενους προς αυτην); 3 or more leaves of quire Ι-12 (after fol. 362, ends with John 20:29 at, με πεπιστευκας μα[καριοι]; unknown number of leaves of the Menologion table (after fol. 378, ends with February 11).

Quires numbered 1-36 (α-λϛ), Matthew through Luke, and for John, I-1 to I-12 (α-ιβ) on the first leaf (recto, upper right margin) of each quire.

Dimensions

Written space 100 x 75 mm (fol. 53r).

Layout

1 column, 16-18 lines. Ruling with hard point. Pricking in the outer margins.

Writing

Written in minuscule script in dark brown ink (some fading).

Punctuation includes high point, comma, marks of elision and interrogation. Quotation marks in the left margins next to each line of quoted text.

Methods of correction consist of erasure and additions in and above the text, and in the margins. Alternations are sometimes marked with one of three diagonal arrangements of dots.

Text Divisions

Titles in red.

Condition

Leaves slightly cockled. Water stains on parchment and paper. Edges darkened. Several loose leaves. Trimming of margins. Minor insect damage. Part of leather binding extant only on front cover.

Binding Description

Dark brown blind-stamped leather lined with linen over boards. Fore-edge metal pegs and remnants of braided strap closures.

History

Origin

The manuscript is judged to have been written in the 12th century, and is the work of the scribe Joseph (his undated colophon, fol. 175v). A place of origin is unknown.

Provenance

Medieval to early 20th century provenance is unknown. The manuscript was acquired in 1932 in Greece by the bookseller Maggs Bros. (London).

Inscription with the name Kostanti Lola (fol. 77v); prayer (fol. 110v); notation (fol. 306v); jotting (fol. 61r); University of Chicago Libraries bookplate and stamp (inside front cover, back flyleaf).

Acquisition

Purchased by the University of Chicago from Maggs Bros. (London), 13 February 1933, with funds provided by Shailer Matthews, dean of the Divinity School.

Bibliography

  1. Otto F. Linn, "The Tetragram, Thomas, and Larissa Gospels" (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1935).
  2. Seymour de Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. (New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935), vol. 1, p. 599.
  3. Kenneth W. Clark, A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937), pp. 265-267.
  4. Harold Rideout Willoughby, "Greek Rebinding Colophons in Chicago Manuscripts," Annales de l'institut Kondakov 11 (1940), p. 29, pl. VIII.
  5. Merrill Mead Parvis, The Story of the Goodspeed Collection ([Chicago]: s.n., 1952), p. 21.
  6. 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. 16.