University of Chicago Library, Goodspeed Manuscript Collection Ms. 899, New Testament. Gospels (Gregory Matthew-Mark). 9th or 10th century.

Contents

Gospel of Matthew and of Mark in Armenian. Eusebian section numbers in the margins against the text. Concordance in the lower margins; and Pentecostal lection numbers. Formerly Goodspeed Ms. Arm. 35.

1. fols. 1r-12v Matthew (contains 21:21-25:9; 27:65-28:13).
2. fols. 13r-28v Mark (1:1-6:20; 9:14-10:14).

Decoration

Foliate vignettes in blue, red, and green (fols. 12r, 28v).

Physical Description

Support

Parchment. 420 x 297 mm.

Number of Leaves

28 leaves.

Foliation

1-28. Modern foliation in Arabic numerals in pencil.

Collation

Quire numbers extant in the lower margins are those of quire 8 (fol. 1); quire 9 (fol. 9); quire 20 (fol. 13); quire 30 (fol. 21).

Dimensions

Written space 330 x 215 mm (fol. 8r ). Each column is 330 x 95 mm with a space of 25 mm between.

Layout

2 columns, 21 lines. Ruling with hard point. Pricking in the inner and outer margins.

Writing

Written in erkat’agir script in dark brown ink (some fading).

Condition

Leaves moderately cockled. Inner edge of several leaves taped. All edges dry and corners damaged. Bottom portion of fol. 22 broken or cut off. Several section numbers overwritten. Additional numbers and frames in ink added on some leaves (see fol. 28v). Random dirt and grease stains.

Binding Description

Bound in dark brown cloth over pasteboard. Spine and corners covered in tan leather. Pastedowns of paper.

History

Origin

The manuscript to which the present leaves belonged is judged to have been written in either the 9th or 10th century. A place of origin is unknown.

Provenance

Medieval to 19th century provenance unknown.

Belonged to author and New Testament text critic Caspar René Gregory (1846-1917), and his brother, Professor William J. Gregory of Westminster, Colorado. Purchased by Chicago businessman Frederick T. Haskell (1854-1935) from William Gregory, ca. 1934.

Signature of Caspar René Gregory; content notation dated 1886; University of Chicago bookplate (front pastedown).

Acquisition

Gift of Frederick T. Haskell to the University of Chicago, February or March 1935.

Bibliography

1. Caspar René Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1900-1909), vol. 3, p. 572. no. 45.
2. Merrill Mead Parvis, The Story of the Goodspeed Collection ([Chicago:] s.n., 1952), p. 22.
3. Erroll F. Rhodes, An Annotated List of Armenian New Testament Manuscripts, Annual Report of Theology 1 (1959), p. 134 (1037).
4. 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. 37.
5. Avedis K. Sanjian, A catalogue of medieval Armenian manuscripts in the United States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), pp. 225-226.
6. Treasures in heaven: Armenian illuminated manuscripts, edited by Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library; Princeton, N.J.: distributed by Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 163 (cat. 23).