University of Chicago Library, Goodspeed Manuscript Collection Ms. 902, New Testament. Gospels (Gamma Gospels). Greg. 2751. Greece or Asia Minor, 13th century.

Contents

Four gospels in Greek. Ammonian section and Eusebian canon numbers in the margins. Lectionary headings and incipits in the text. Formerly Goodspeed Ms. Grk. 36.

The manuscript is commonly known as the Gamma Gospels because of the uncial form of the letter Gamma ( Γ ) found throughout the text.

  1. fols. 1r-2v Matthew (begins at 27:23 with εφη, το 27:38 with ευωνυμων. Continues at 28:4 with εσεισθησαν and ends at 28:20 with παν[τα]).
  2. fols. 3r-50r Luke (begins at 7:47 with ολιγον). Subscription and stichoi (2,800).
  3. fols. 50v-51r Eusebius, Hypothesis of John.
  4. fols. 51r-51v Kephalaia of John.
  5. fols. 51v-52r Death of the holy apostle and evangelist John (η μεταστασις του αγιου αποστολου και ευαγγελιστου Ιωαννου).
  6. fols. 53r-94v John (ends at 17:26 with με εν).
    Note: In the text after 7:52, verse 8:12 was inserted before the pericope of the woman taken in adultery (7:53-8:11).

Decoration

Miniatures

  1. fol. 52vEvangelist, John, Portrait: John holds book, seated in high-backed chair before writing table.
    Note: The single miniature, thought to be a later addition, has been embellished with a small line drawing of a bird (eagle?), upper left.

Headpieces

Headpieces (John) of foliate and abstract motifs in red and black (fols. 50v, 53r).

Initials

Major initial for John (40 mm), geometric design of red and black, set off from the text. Minor initials in red.

Physical Description

Support

Parchment. 182 x 130 mm.

Number of Leaves

94 leaves.

Foliation

1-94. Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil.

Collation

Portions of 13 quires extant.

Dimensions

Written space 120 x 75 mm (fol. 48r).

Layout

1 column, 23-25 lines (variants of 26-28 lines). Frame ruling with hard point.

Writing

Written in minuscule script in dark brown ink (fading and flaking).

Punctuation includes high point, comma, and marks of interrogation and elision.

Methods of correcting text consist of erasure, and marginal additions marked with asterisks in red or the scribal sign γρ. Several interlinear corrections.

Text Divisions

Titles in red. Lection indicators αρχε (beginning) and τελος (end).

Condition

Leaves moderately cockled, several broken or torn. Water and mold damage.

Binding Description

Covers lost. Quires stitched together with cord.

History

Origin

The manuscript is dated to the 13th century, and is judged to have been written in either Greece or Asia Minor.

Provenance

Medieval to early 20th century provenance unknown. Before 1934, the manuscript was in Caesarea, the present-day Kayseri, Turkey where it was purchased by an agent of the American numismatist Daniel Kellad (1893-1986).

Acquisition

Acquired by the University of Chicago in 1935 from Mr. Kellad with funds provided by Dr. James M. Stifler, John S. Miller, and the Friends of the Library.

Bibliography

  1. Hermann von Soden, Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt (Berlin: Alexander Duncker, 1902), vol. 1, pt. 1, pp. 315-316 (120).
  2. Seymour de Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada (New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935), vol. 2, p. 2282, addenda for p. 600.
  3. Kenneth W. Clark, A Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937), pp. 268-269.
  4. Merrill Mead Parvis, The Story of the Goodspeed Collection ([Chicago]: s.n., 1952), pp. 22-23.
  5. 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. 63.