thor, while we are still unable to point out the real author, or the writer of the manuscript.

104. We shall here limit ourselves to a mention of some of these external signs, for the sake of example. The most ancient Greek manuscripts, as well as inscriptions, are written in capital letters (litera unciales), without any space between the words, and without signs of punctuation. Accents and aspirates were not introduced till the 7th century; the capital letters in the 8th and 9th were a little longer and had more inclination and slope. At this period, they began to make contractions, and a smaller style of writing commenced. After the 12th century, new characters and abbreviations were introduced, and greater variety appeared in the forms of the letters.

1 u. The best manner of becoming acquainted with these characteristics, is by the study of the manuscripts themselves. They may be learned also by means of the patterns, which Montfaucon has given in his Greek Palaography. These marks, however, it must be remembered, are not an invariable and infallible criterion of the age of a manuscript. Often, in later times, transcribers strictly imitated the ancient copies, and preserved all their peculiarities unchanged.

2. Although the signs of punctuation are said to have been devised by Aristophanes (ef. § 52), they were not used generally in writing, until a much later period. Bernhardy remarks that "interpunction is not found in the manuscripts much earlier then the 8th century."-Specimens of the manner of writing above described, in uncials, and without punctuation, are given in our Plate I a. fig. i, and iii.-The two lines of fig. ii, in the same Plate, are designed to show some of the abbreviations or contractions used in writing. The letters in the upper line (the Plate being turned upon its side to the right), are employed as abbreviations for the words under them in the lower line; KC i. e. ks for kurios; is for iesous; chs for christos; ilem for ierousalem. Letters used as abbreviations (cf. § 49), commonly, but not always, had a horizontal line drawn over them; as is seen in the specimen in fig. iii, where ois, in the first line, stands for o iesous; but pri, in the second line, is also an abbreviation, standing for pneumati. Contractions with the mark over them were formerly used in printing.

Bernhardy, Grundl. zur Encyclopaedie der Philologie. (p. 126.) Halle, 1832.-B. Montfaucon, Palaeographia Graeca. Par. 1708, fol.-Pfeiffer, über Bücher-Handschriften (§ 53.)--Mannert's Miscellanea, meist diplomatisch. Inhalts, Nürnb. 1796. 8.-Graeca D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manuscriptorum &c. ("auctoribus A. M. Zanetto et A. Bongiovannio") Venet. 1740. fol.-On Greek orthography, Class. Journal, x1. 7. 81.

§ 105. A very profitable use may be made of an extensive knowledge and diligent study of ancient manuscripts. They are of service to the critic in determining, correcting, and confirming the readings of printed books; and there is often something to be gleaned even from the copies already examined by others. By comparing manuscripts we may be prepared to fill up blanks, to discover false insertions, and to rectify transpositions. And such an examination may give rise to many critical, philosophical, and literary observations. Writings may be found also, in searching over the libraries of convents, which have never been published, and which may have hitherto escaped the eye of the learned. But in order to profit by the advantages presented by this study, one must have much previous knowledge of language, criticism, bibliography, and literary history.

$106. It is to the assiduous application of many votaries of classical literature, after the revival of letters, in the discovery, examination, and comparison of ancient manuscripts, that we are indebted for the best editions of the Greek and Roman authors. Although their attention was confined chiefly to the criticism of the text and the settlement of readings, it was laying the foundation for all useful criticism upon the matter and contents, which must depend for its basis and certainty on such previous researches. The editions thus prepared, in connection with the prefaces and commentaries accom

panying them, will serve, much better than any rules which can be given, as guides in similar efforts, and as suggesting the best methods of treating this whole subject.

$107. The following may be mentioned as among the oldest Greek manuscripts that are known; the Codex Alexandrinus, the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Cottonianus, and the Codex Colbertinus, a manuscript of Dioscorides, preserved in the Imperial library at Vienna, and another in the library of the Augustines at Naples. All these manuscripts are in the uncial letter, without accents or marks of aspiration. To these must be added the Herculanean Rolls, and the Egyptian Papyris

year

1. The Codex Alexandrinus consists of four folio volumes, containing the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, with the Apocryphal books, the New Testament, and some additional pieces. It is preserved in the British Museum, at London. "It was sent as a present to King Charles I. from Cyrilins Lucaris, a native of Crete, and patriarch of Constantinople, by Sir Thomas Rowe, ambassador from England to the Grand Seignior in the 1628. Cyrillus brought it with him from Alexandria where it was probably written. It is referred by some to the fourth century, but by most is considered as belonging to the sixth. It is written without accents or breathings, or spaces between the words, and with few abbreviations. An exact fac-simile of the part containing the New Testament, was published by Dr. Woide, librarian of the Museum, in 1786. In 1812 a fac-simile of the part containing the Psalms, was published by Rev. H. H. Baber; who was subsequently authorised to publish the rest of the Old Testament at the expense of the British Parliament.

The Codex Vaticanus contains the Old Testament in the Septuagint version, and a part of the New. It is lodged in the Vatican library at Rome. It is written on parchment or vellum, in three columns on each page, with the letters all of the same size except at the beginning of a book, without any division of words, with but few abbreviations. Some critics have maintained that it was written as early as the fourth century; but others refer it to the sixth or seventh.

The Codex Cottonianus was brought from Philippi by two Greek bishops, who presented it to Henry VIII. It was placed in the Cottonian library, and a great part of it was consumed by fire in 1731. The fragments are deposited in the British Museum, and are in a very decayed state. It is considered as the most ancient manuscript of any part of the Old Testament now extant, being generally ascribed to the fourth century, or the very beginning of the fifth. It was decorated with numerous paintings, or illuminations.

The Codex Colbertinus contains a part of the Septuagint. It once belonged to the collection called the Colbert Mss. but is now lodged in the Royal library at Paris. It is thought to be a part of the same manuscript with that now in the library of the Academy at Leyden, termed Codex Sarravianus. They are referred to the fifth or sixth century.

On the whole subject of the Manuscripts of the sacred Scriptures in Greek, see T. H. Horne, Introduc. to the Crit. Study of the Holy Scriptures. Phil. 1825. 4 vols. 8. (vol. 11. pt.1. ch. ii. §2.) -Also W. Carpenter, Guide to the Reading of the Bible (ch. ii. as given by Dr. W. Jenks and J. W. Jenks, in the Supplement to the Comprehensive Commentary). - The Plate I a. of our illustrations presents, in fig. i, a fac-simile of part of the 1st verse of the first Psalm, as written in the Coder Alexandrinus. In fig. iii, we have a fac-simile of Matt. xxii. 43, as written in a Codex Rescriptus, some time since discovered in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

2. The manuscript of Dioscorides, in the library at Vienna, is a very curious monument. It was purchased at Constantinople for Maximilian II. by Busbequius, who went, about 1550, an ambassador to Turkey. It is said to have been written by Julianna Anicia, the daughter of Flavius Anicius Olybrius, who occupied the imperial throne of the west A. D. 472. It is ornamented with miniatures representing plants, birds and serpents, and the portraits of celebrated physicians of antiquity. The other copy, once in the library at Naples, is now in that of Vienna, and is considered as of about the same antiquity as the former.

The Vienna manuscript is described by Lambecius, Commentarium de augustissima bibliotheca Caesarea-Vindobonensi libri vii. Vindob. 1665-1679. 8 vols. fol. - See Schall's Hist. Litt. Grecque, livre v. ch. 1xxi.

3. The Herculanean Rolls (papyri) found in excavating Herculaneum, are more remarkable for their antiquity than for their real value, so far as at present known, although they amounted to 1600 or 1700 in number. Most of them were too much injured to be unrolled and deciphered, many of them crumbling to dust under the hand of the operator. Very great interest and the most sanguine expectations were awakened in the literary world on their first discovery. But the first-fruits of the indefatigable toil in unrolling and deciphering, were very far from meeting these high hopes; the treatise of Philodemus on music being of little value. Piaggi and Merli, Mazocchi, Sickler, and Sir Humphrey Davy, successively applied their la bors and experiments with but poor success. See Cramer's Nachrichten zur Geschichte der herkulanischen Entdeckungen. Halle, 1773. 8. -Bartel's Briefe über Kalabrien und Sicilien.-Herculanensium Voluminum quae supersunt. Neap. vol. 1. 1793. vol. 11. 1809. fol.-Ausonian Magazine, No. 1.-Quart. Rev. vol. n.-Encycl. Britann. Supplement, under Herculaneum.-Archeologia (as cited § 243. 3.) vol. xv. p. 114. on method of unrolling, &c.

4. Several papyri, with Greek writing on them, have been found in Egypt, which are said to be of more ancient date than any other known manuscripts in Greek. They exhibit the earliest use of the cursive Greek letter.

Three of these are dated before Christ. The earliest was brought to Europe by M. Casati in 1822, and belongs to the Royal library of France. It is sixteen and a half feet long and eight inches deep, and contains 505 lines. Its date corresponds with the year B. C. 113. It is merely a contract or deed of the sale of a portion of land near Ptolemais. The next in point of antiquity contains a similar contract, with a date corresponding to B. C. 104. It was found in a tomb, and has exercised, in its deciphering, the care of Aug. Böckh, Phil. Buttmann, and Imm. Bekker. That, which is ranked next in age, treats of the payment of certain funeral charges, and is remarkable for containing besides the Greek, an Egyptian writing, in the same character as appears in the Rosetta Inscription, called enchorial (by zora). Its date is judged to be 82 B. C. Two other papyri are described as written in the second century after Christ, and all the rest that are known as written in the fifth, or later.

See Schall, Histoire de la Litt. Grec. livre v. ch. 50.-Aug. Beckh, Erklärung einer ägypt. Urkunde in Griech. Cursiv-schrift. &c. Berlin, 1821. 4. Journ, des Savans, 1821. p. 537. 1822. p. 555.- Nic. Schow, Charta papyracea græce scripta Musei Borgiani Veletris. Rom. 1788. 4. 5. A number of papyri have also been found containing only Egyptian characters, either enchorial or hieroglyphic, which are considered to be much more ancient than those just mentioned.

"The most remarkable of them all, and very certainly the most ancient manuscript known at this day, contains an act of the fifth year of the reign of Thouthmosis III., the fifth king of the eighteenth dynasty. ... Now Thouthmosis governed Egypt about the time when Joseph was carried there as a slave; and consequently two centuries at least before the time when Moses wrote.... Is it so very astonishing, that the autograph of the Legislator of the Hebrews, which was an object of veneration to all the people, and was so long and carefully preserved in the ark, could have existed until the reign of Josiah, i. e. about nine centuries after Moses; when the hypogeums of Thebes present us with papyri containing certain transactions which were between private individuals merely, and which extend back 3500 years and even more?" -See Greppo, as cited § 16. 1.

One of these papyri, discovered by Champollion, is said to have been sixty feet in length. Some specimens of the papyri, in Egyptian character, are given, by fac-simile, in the Atlas illustrating the Travels of Denon in Egypt. The same work notices a manuscript on cloth, the envelope or wrapper of a mummy, consisting of nineteen pages, separated and bordered by as many vignettes. Parts of the writing in these manuscripts are done in red ink. The pictures are in different colors.

6. Mr. Taylor (in his work cited (58) remarks, "The most ancient manuscripts extant are some copies of the Pentateuch on rolls of leather;" but in this remark he could not have had reference to the Egyptian remains above mentioned. No extant Hebrew manuscripts are of so ancient a date; although some, which are doubtless of a high antiquity, have been preserved in the Jewish synagogues. Dr. Buchanan procured from the black Jews in Malabar, an old copy of the Law, which he discovered in the record-chest of one of their synagogues, in 1806. It consists of thirty-four leather skins, sewed together, measuring nearly 50 feet, by about 2 broad; the skins are some of them brown, and others red; some of them much impaired by time, and strengthened by patches of parchment on the back. It now belongs to the University at Cambridge, England. See Buchanan's Researches.-Horne, as cited above, pt. 1. ch. ii. §1.—Amer. Quart. Register, vol. 1x. p. 59.

The Nestorians at the village of Koosy, in Persia, have a neat, well preserved copy of the New Testament, in Syriac, upon parchment, in small characters; written, according to the date inserted by the writer, about A. D. 320. It is greatly reverenced both by the people and the priests. Smith and Dwight, cited § 36. 1. vol. 1. p. 257.—Cf. §57.

§108. It may be proper here to mention some of the principal libraries, which contain the finest collections of Greek manuscripts. In Italy. The king's library, and library of the Augustine convent, at Naples. The Royal library at Turin. The Vatican library and some private libraries at Rome. Cathedral

library at Bologne. Library of St. Mark and several private collections at Venice. That of the Medici, at Florence, contains one of the most extensive collections of this kind. The Ambrosian library at Milan. - In Spain. The library of the Escurial.-In France. The Royal or National library at Paris, which contains the Mss. once belonging to several other libraries. In England. The libraries at Cambridge. The Bodleian library at Orford. The British Museum at London. — In Germany. The Imperial library at Vienna. That of the king of Bavaria at Munich. The library of the council or senate at Leipsic. The libraries of the Dukes at Weimar and Wolfenbuttel. The Royal library of Berlin. That of the king of Saxony at Dresden. — In Denmark. The Royal library at Copenhagen. In Holland. The University library at Leyden. In Russia. Library of the Synod at Moscow.

1. Details on the subject of Greek Mss. may be found by consulting the following works: Bern. Montfaucon, Recensio Bibliothecar. Graecarum, in quibus manuscripti codices habentur; in his Palaeographia Graeca (104).-Ejusd. Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum manuscriptorum Nova. Par. 1739. 2 vols. fol.-F. Eckard, Uebersicht der Oerter, wo die bekanntesten griech. Schriftsteller gelebt haben; und Grundlage zur Geschichte der Bibliotheken, wodurch jene in Handschriften sind erhalten worden. Giessen, 1776. 8.-For some remarks on the Libraries of Greece, whence Mss. have been obtained, see Travels by E. D. Clarke. N. York, 1815, vol. 1v. Append. No. 6. where is also a catalogue of the Mss. in the Library of Patmos.-Cf. Class. Journ. vol. v11., in which, and the following volumes, is a notice of the manuscripts in the various libraries in England.

2. The Royal library at Paris contains 70,000 Mss. of various kinds; the Vatican at Rome 30,000; the Ambrosian at Milan 15,000. In the case of most of the libraries mentioned above, there are catalogues of the Mss. preserved in them. The most valuable of these catalogues are such as give not only the simple name and title, but also critical and historical notices of the manuscripts, their authors, age, rarity, price, &c. See e. g. Catalogus Bibliotheca Bunaviane. Lips. 1750-56. 7 vols. 4.- Bondini's Catalogue of Mss. in the Library of the Grand Duke at Florence, 1764-93. 11 vols. fol. - Notices des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque du Roi. Par. 1787— 1818. 10 vols. 4. "The Catalogues of the Mss. in the British Museum, hitherto (1835) printed, fill five folios and four quartos."