Lectionary 187 or Arundel 536, designated by

siglum Scribal abbreviations or sigla (singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechanica ...

ℓ''187'' (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

manuscripts) is a Greek New Testament

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

written on

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of ...

. Biblical scholar Frederick H. A. Scrivener labelled it by 256. Using the study of comparative writing styles (

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...

), it has been assigned to the 13th century. The manuscript has several gaps. It forms part of the British Library

Arundel Manuscripts The Arundel Manuscripts are a collection of manuscripts purchased by the British Museum in 1831 which are now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library.

Description

The manuscript is a

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

(precursor to the modern book), containing lessons (known as ''lectons'') from the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s of John,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

(known as a ''Evangelistarium'') and the

Epistles An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part ...

. The manuscript has three leaves missing from the beginning which were supplemented by a later hand on paper, probably in the 15th century. They are single modern paper flyleaves, numbered as leaves I-III. The leaves 172-173 were supplemented by a later hand on parchment. It is written in Greek

minuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

letters, on 217 parchment leaves (sized ). The writing is in black ink, one column per page, with 23-27 lines per page. It contains musical notes in red ink, and decorated head-pieces also in red ink.British Library: Arundel 536
/ref> The initial letters are written in the margin in large letters, using either red and yellow ink, or red, black, and yellow ink. The codex contains decorations of either zoomorphic (birds, fishes, snake) or

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

(hands) types. The lessons of the codex were read during the weekdays from

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

, as well as on Saturdays.

History

The codex was likely written in the eastern Mediterranean. It was presented by Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk, to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in London in 1667. In 1831, it was bought from the

in London along with 549 Arundel manuscripts, and transferred to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. It was rebound in 1897. The manuscript was examined by textual critic

Samuel Thomas Bloomfield Samuel Thomas Bloomfield (19 January 1783 – 28 September 1869) was an English clergyman and Biblical textual critic. His ''Greek New Testament'' was widely used in England and the United States. Life His surname was also spelled Blomfield or Blu ...

. Biblical scholar

Caspar René Gregory Caspar René Gregory (November 6, 1846 – April 9, 1917) was an American-born German theologian. Life Gregory was born to Mary Jones and Henry Duval Gregory in Philadelphia. He was the brother of the American zoologist Emily Ray Gregory. After ...

saw the manuscript in 1883. It was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Scrivener (as 256), and Gregory later included it in his list as ℓ187. The textual variants in the codex have some sporadic citations in critical editions of the Greek New Testament. (UBS3) It is usually dated to the 13th century, and sometimes to the 12th century. The codex is currently located in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(shelf number MS Arundel 536) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Edward Bernard, ''Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae'', 3 vols (Oxford: Sheldonian, 1697), III, no. 3442. * ''Catalogue of Manuscripts in The British Museum, New Series'', 1 vol. in 2 parts (London: The British Museum, 1834–1840), I, part I: The Arundel Manuscripts, pp. 163–64. * ''Summary Catalogue of Greek Manuscripts'' (London: British Library, 1999- ), I, 18–19.

External links

Description of Lectionary 187
at the British Library
Digital images of Lectionary 187
at the British Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lectionary 0187 Greek New Testament lectionaries 13th-century biblical manuscripts British Library Arundel collection

Description

History

See also

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links