BOOKS.
THE FAC-SIMILE OF THE CODEX ALEX.A.NDRINUS.*" Iv Fielding's Parson Adams were now alive, and not quite at- desperate grips with poverty, we may feel sure that he would, have scraped together, begged, borrowed, or anything short of stolen, the sum of fel, with which he would have procured for himself a Christmas present of a kind. admirably adapted to his personal satisfaction, and to produce bewilderment, not unmixed. with indignation, in the breasts of his female relatives. The man might have bought a good suit of clothes for the money, instead of the old garments, which look as if snails had. been crawling over them, in spite of the diligent use of the clothes— brush ; and he must needs spend it on a case full of photographs of old. writing, which nobody can read. And, quite unconscious of these comments on his proceedings, the good parson would. shut himself up with his new treasure ; and, literally in a world of shadows, learn with his own eyes how Egyptian scribes shaped Greek letters more than thirteen hundred. years ago.- To a few like him, the Trustees of the British Museum have given intense enjoyment this Christmas-tide, an enjoyment none the less keen, perhaps, because not many share in it. This autotype reproduction enables scholars to place on their own book-shelves a faithful copy of one of the most celebrated MSS.- of the New Testament, and this is an advantage which few but the students themselves will appreciate. There are, however,. other reasons for reproducing valuable MSS. which have had weight in inducing the authorities to undertake the work in other instances, as well as this ; for example, in that of the English Charters, which are now being published in the same way. Independently of the value which such reproductions have for scholars, antiquaries, and persons curious in the posses- sion of rare books, it is to be considered that a manuscript is not an imperishable article. The Alexandrine Codex has been repeatedly edited and collated; yet, were such a calamity as its destruction by fire to happen, the results hitherto obtained might be called in question, and could be no longer verified. The multiplication of the MS. by the reproductive process gives ns a security against accident which is very considerable, though not quite perfect. There are now in existence a large number of fac-similes of the MS., which, for many purposes, are as good as the original MS. itself. We imagine that another motive has had its share with these in moving to this undertaking those who are responsible for the security of sub valuable public treasures. Manuscripts of unique value are, of %bum, placed apart from the books of the library, and do not travel • Are-simile of the Codex Alexarebinms. Nese TeataflueRI and Clementine Hpislies._ Publleked by order of the Truste,a. London Sold at the British Musettm and. by Longmana and Co., B. Quariteh, Aeber and Co, and Trtibner and Co. 18711. out of the Manuscript Room. But the courtesy of the officials always places them at the service of those who really wish to use them, and of others also whose motive has been nothing more than curiosity. This liberality in granting inspection has been, in some instances, abused. Many persons, for example, have wished to see the place in the Alexandrine Codex where -the well known alteration of 1 Tim. iii., 16, was made by the pen of a later scribe ; and demonstrative fingers and thumbs have worn the ink of that passage. The reproductions will -greatly diminish, if not entirely remove, this danger. The -curiosity of ordinary visitors may now be reasonably con- tented with a sight of the fac-simile, and the use of the in- -estimably precious original may be strictly reserved for actual students of the text.
Before comparing the fac-simile with the original, it may be well to give some account of the manuscript now published in this form, with due apologies to those readers who know as much as or more than we can tell them. Of the three great manuscripts of the Greek Bible, the Codex Alexandrinus, or Codex A., is by far the best known, although its date is later -than that of either of its rivals. The oldest, probably, of all the existing Biblical manuscripts is the Codex Vaticanus, which has been in the Vatican library for more than four hundred years ; but the mistaken jealousy of its guardians has prevented critics from examining it with the minute care which has been bestowed upon the others. The publication of its text has been at last undertaken, and is now nearly completed, although it remains a question how far the result will be satisfactory. Next in order of time comes the Sinaitie manuscript, a portion of -which was found in a monastery on Mount Sinai by Tischendorf in 1944, and the remainder during a second visit, in 1859. Of -this, he says :—" God decreed by my means to increase sacred literature by a treasure greater than any of the kind that exist." Whether he was right in thus assigning -tk his great discovery a value even higher than that of -the Vatican manuscript, is a question that has been much debated. The difference, however, between his estimate and that ef some other authorities is only one of some fifty years ; and whether both had their origin in the middle of the fourth -century, or whether the Codex Sinaitions was written towards the -close of that or the beginning of the next century, there can -be no doubt as to the incomparable antiquity and worth of both. Next to these in date and value comes Codex A., the ananuseript with which we are at present concerned. For the purposes of scholars, its existence began in 1628, when it was sent to this country as a present to Charles I., by Cyrillus Lucaris, then Patriarch of Constantinople. It remained in the Royal Library until it was transferred to the British Museum, where it is now. Our original title to this treasure is of a very doubtful nature, and, indeed, the King seems to have been little better than a receiver of stolen goods. The manuscript belonged to "the Patriarchal Chamber in Alexandria," and was thence spirited away to Constantinople, probably by the Patriarch him- -self, who assumed its absolute ownership. Lucaris certified that the manuscript was written by St. Thecla, a tradition to which effect certainly existed. The reader may be left to determine for himself whether this story arose, as Tischendorf thinks, from the 'writing of the manuscript in the monastery of St. Thecla; or as Dr. Tregelles ingeniously conjectures, from thefakt that the loss of some leaves makes the New-Testament portion of the Codex begin at the gospel for the festival of St. Thecla ; or whether this is 4‘ one of those instances of ascribing, in the middle-ages, to a -venerated saint the origin of some manuscript of more than ordinary value," which is the explanation preferred by Mr. E. M. Thompson, in an account of Biblical Manuscripts which -recently appeared in the Sunday at Home. At any rate, there seems to be no reason to doubt that it was written in or about -the middle of the fifth century, and that it is one of the three great authorities for the text of the New Testament and of the Septuagint. Into the question of the comparative value of -each of these three authorities we cannot enter. When all three agree, the reading is almost certainly established. Where, as is often the case, two are on one side and one on the other, fresh weights must be placed in the scale, to ascertain the true balance. For the present purpose, it suffices to say that these three manuscripts are far more important than any others now in existence, and that taken singly, no one of them very far surpasses either of its two rivals.
The Codex Alexandrinus is bound in four volumes, all of which are to be reproduced by the autotype process. The fourth volume, containing the New Testament and the Epistles of Clement, is now finished and given to the public ; and to this, therefore, we shall confine what remains to say. The ori- ginal has suffered some mutilation, several leaves having been lost at some unknown date, including St. Matthew up to chap. xxv., 6; St. John, vi., 50, to viii., 52; a gap in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians ; a portion of the Epistles of Clement and the "Psalms of Solomon," which stood at the end of the manuscript. In this state it arrived in England, to undergo further mutilation at the hands of the binder, who trimmed the edges, thus de- stroying many of the head-lines, written in red on the top of each page. The writing is beautifully clear, and with the ex- ceptions noted, the manuscript remains in excellent condition, and easily legible. The autotype process has reproduced the original, line for line and letter for letter, with an accuracy which, as far as it goes, cannot be questioned. A few remarks, how- ever, on the differences between the reproduction and the origi- nal may be useful to those who have no previous experience in ancient Greek writing, especially if they possess the fac-simile, and are unable to compare it with the Codex itself. The purchaser, if he be accustomed only to Greek as now printed, will spend some little time in educating his eye to these uncial letters, written continuously, without any space between the words. This will not detain him long ; and he will then, in all probability, turn to certain passages which he had marked for comparison. Accustomed, as we may suppose him to be, to the study of Tischendorf's and other critical editions of the New Testament, he will be eager to see for himself how the " first hand" is distinguished from the alterations of later correctors. He will see, with much interest, that the added letters or words are sometimes superscribed, sometimes squeezed into the margin, while at other times the scribe has erased and rewritten a passage. The question remains, however, whether this was done by the original scribe, or by the second or a later hand. This will not be clear from an inspection of the repro- duction. Let us take, for example, Acts xvfi., 23, 24, in the former of which verses two, and in the latter, one, letter has been written in, above the text. Of these alterations, according to Tischendorf, the first two were made by the second hand, the last by the first scribe. But unless the reader of the fac- simile is sharper-eyed than the present writer, he will not be able to see the difference in the colour of the ink on which this verdict is based. The three letters might, so far as he can tell, have been written at the same time, and all by the same pen which inscribed the body of the text. If the superscribed letters be a shade paler, this shade does not seem sufficient to establish the theory of a different hand ; and certainly the difference between the three is invisible. A visit to the British Museum will explain the difficulty. The autotype process has reproduced the exact shape, but not the exact colour, of the letters ; and the difference between the writing of the original and that of the later corrector, which is plain enough in the manuscript, does not appear in the fac-simile. Besides, the photograph has, of course, exaggerated defects, such as gall. stains and the like ; and gives a black shadow where the edge of the vellum has been creased or doubled, in which many words are lost. On the other hand, the letters, though less fine and delicate, are blacker, and often much more distinct, in the fac- simile than in the original. For example, the words in 1 Tim., 16, which, as stated above, have been defaced in the Codex, come out clear and distinct in the reproduction. This darker distinct- ness givesrise to a curious appearance on many leaves, which may at first puzzle the reader. Turning to any leaf which is not covered with writing—as, for example, the back of that num- bered 29—it will be seen that fainter letters appear on the blank portions, and a closer inspection will show that the same character runs under the text. The first impression is that our manuscript is, at least in parts, a palimpsest,—that the original scribe had wiped former writing off his vellum, turned each leaf, and then written upon it. Of course, this is not the case ; and we mention the appearance only to save here and there a pos- sible reader from disappointment, and the waste of time and eyesight in the endeavour to make out the under-writing. Here, again, an inspection of the Codex itself removes the delu- sion. The manuscript is written on both sides of the vellum, and shows through the delicate skin. The writing on the other side of each leaf is faintly visible in the original, but much exaggerated in the photograph ; and as, in the latter case, the front and back of each leaf are separately photo- graphed, the reader cannot at once detect the nature of the under-writing by the simple process of looking at the leaf against the light.
It may be hoped that this publication will help to create some general interest in the subject of ancient, and particularly of Biblical, manuscripts. Possibly documents of inestimable value yet lie unread in some Eastern monastery, destined perhaps for no better use than kindling a fire. If the religious public had any idea of the importance of such recoveries, and knew that one • of the greatest sources of the knowledge of the text of the Bible was found and saved only twenty years ago, money would not be wanting for further researches. It is probable, indeed, that no manuscripts of the New Testament earlier than those which we have are yet in existence, because writing on parchment did not come into general use until the fourth century, and papyrus, the material employed by earlier Christians, was extremely brittle, and can only have been preserved under very excep- tional circumstances. But those who have the slightest acquaintance with Biblical criticism, will not need to be reminded how precious is the barest chance of recovering a manuscript of the second or third century. There were works of that period, besides the Canonical Books, which might throw a quite unexpected light on many difficult questions, if we did but possess or could recover them. In con- clusion, let us recommend those who wish to possess themselves of this reproduction, whether for themselves, or as a gift to some one who will know how to use it, not to lose any time. The number of copies published is limited, and many will pro- bably be taken by curiosity-hunters, on whose shelves they will remain unused and unopened; or by speculators, who calculate on the rise in the price of the work. It would seem hard that those who want the fac-simile as a tool to work with should go with- out, while the idle vanity of mere collectors is gratified ; but so it is likely to be. For the real and careful student of the text of the New Testament, this publication is of great value ; and it is much to be hoped, though not perhaps expected, that the greater number of copies, over and above those taken by the larger libraries, will find their way into such hands.
Previous page
