Minuscule 446 (in the
Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 507 (in the
Soden numbering),
is a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
minuscule
Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, on parchment.
Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 15th century. The text represents the Byzantine textual tradition. The manuscript was prepared for liturgical use.
Description
The codex contains almost complete text of the four
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s on 228 parchment leaves () with some
lacunae (Matthew 1:1-17; 26:47-27:40; Mark 1:1-9; Luke 1:1-18; John 1:1-21). All lacunae were made by a man who mischievously cut out the ornamented headpieces at the beginning of each Gospel.
[ In modern time two unfoliated parchment leaves, and two paper fly-leaves were added at the beginning and end.][
The text is written in one column per page, in 25 lines per page.][ The manuscript is decorated, with geometric, occasionally with zoomorphic decorations, in brown and red. The initial letters, titles, colophons, and rubrics in red.][Harleian 5777]
at the British Library
The text is divided according to the (''chapters''), whose numbers are given at the margin, and their (''titles'') at the top of the pages. There is also a division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections (in Mark 232 sections, last in 16:6). It has no references to the Eusebian Canons
Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapters ...
.[
It contains tables of the (''tables of contents'') before each Gospel, lectionary markings at the margin (for liturgical use), ]Synaxarion
Synaxarion or Synexarion (plurals Synaxaria, Synexaria; , from συνάγειν, ''synagein'', "to bring together"; cf. etymology of '' synaxis'' and ''synagogue''; Latin: ''Synaxarium'', ''Synexarium''; ; Ge'ez: ሲናክሳሪየም(ስንክ ...
, Menologion
A menologium (, pl. menologia), also known by other names, is any collection of information arranged according to the days of a month, usually a set of such collections for all the months of the year. In particular, it is used for ancient Roman ...
, and subscriptions at the end of each Gospel.
Text
The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type
In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...
. Aland placed it in Category V. According to the Claremont Profile Method
The Claremont Profile Method is a method for classifying ancient manuscripts of the Bible. It was elaborated by Ernest Cadman Colwell and his students. Professor Frederik Wisse attempted to establish an accurate and rapid procedure for the classi ...
it represents textual family Kx in Luke 1 (fragmentary), Luke 10, and Luke 20. It belongs also to the textual cluster 1213 (minuscule 1213 is the lead manuscript of this cluster).
History
The original manuscript contained dated colophon, but it was erased by a later hand.[ The manuscript is dated by the ]INTF
The Institute for New Testament Textual Research ( — INTF) at the University of Münster, Westphalia, Germany, is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its Greek initial text on the basis of the entire manuscri ...
to the 15th century.[
The manuscript was brought by ]John Covel
John Covel (2 April 1638 – 19 December 1722) was a clergyman and scientist who became Master of Christ's College, Cambridge and vice-chancellor of the University.
Diplomacy
Born at Horningsheath, Suffolk, the son of William Covel, John Co ...
, British chaplain, from Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
to England (along with minuscule 110 and other manuscripts). It was designated as Covel's 5. Then – in 1715 or 1716 – the manuscript was sold to Robert Harley, and to his son Edward Harley. In 1753 it was purchased along with other manuscripts of collection by the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.[
The manuscript was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Scholz (1794-1852).]Mark 5
Mark 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Taken with the calming of the sea in , there are "four striking works hichfollow each other without a break": an exorcism, a healing, and the raising ...
), Bloomfield, and C. R. Gregory
C. or c. may refer to:
* Century, sometimes abbreviated as ''c.'' or ''C.'', a period of 100 years
* Letter C, the third letter in the alphabet.
* Cent (currency), abbreviated ''c.'' or ''¢'', a monetary unit that equals of the basic unit of man ...
in 1883.[
The manuscript was rebound in 1964.][
It is currently housed at the ]British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
( Harley MS 5777).[
]
See also
* List of New Testament minuscules
The list of New_Testament_minuscule, New Testament Minuscules ordered by Gregory–Aland index number is divided into three sections:
* List of New Testament minuscules (1–1000)
* List of New Testament minuscules (1001–2000)
* List of New Test ...
* Biblical manuscript
A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see '' Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi- ...
* Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...
References
Further reading
* Cyril Ernest Wright, ''Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum'' (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 116, 462.
* ''Summary Catalogue of Greek Manuscripts'' (London: British Library, 1999- ), I, p. 189.
External links
Harleian 5777
at the British Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minuscule 0446
Greek New Testament minuscules
15th-century biblical manuscripts
Harleian Collection