Beinecke MS 187                                                    Byzantium, s. XIII
Lectionary, etc. (in Greek)

          A collection of liturgical readings mainly from the Old Testament,
     but including some readings from the Gospels and Epistles, together
     with prayers and hymns for the office. Text begins abruptly: //
     [Greek]. The texts on f. 5r relate to the Sunday of the [Greek] (two
     weeks before Lent), those on f. 189v to the Sunday of All Saints (eight
     weeks after Easter).

          K. Aland, Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des
     Neuen Testaments (Berlin, 1963) p. 299, Gregory-Nr. 1686; K. W. Clark,
     Descriptive Catalogue of Greek New Testament Manuscripts in
     America
     (Chicago, 1937) pp. 6-7.

          Parchment (thick; many leaves palimpsest: Greek liturgical text of
     the tenth century, in uncial script, still visible), ff. 193, 215 x 161
     (178 x 122) mm. Written in 2 columns of 38-40 lines; single vertical
     bounding lines (often full across), sometimes with an additional line
     between the columns and along outer edge of outer column. Ruled in hard
     point with a heavy hand; prickings visible at top, bottom, and sides of
     page.
          I^^8 (-1, 2, 7), II^^4, III^^10 (2 unnumbered leaves sewn in between
     12 and 13 after foliation was added in upper right corner), IV^^8 (-1),
     V-VI^^8, VII^^8 (-6), VIII-X^^8, XI^^8 (-8, followed by a bifolium cut out,
     + 1 leaf sewn in), XII-XIII^^8 (+1), XIV^^8, XV^^8 (-1 and 8, f. 101),
     XVI^^8, XVII^^4, XVIII^^8 (-1), XIX^^8 (-6), XX^^8, XXI^^8 (-8), XXII^^8,
     XXIII^^6, XXIV^^8 (-5, 8), XXV^^8, XXVI^^8 (-8), XXVII^^6, XXVIII^^8 (-5, 6,
     8), XXIX^^8 (-1, 2, 8). Gatherings signed (Greek notation) on first and
     last leaves in lower margin.
          Written in a clear but informal minuscule by a single scribe who
     does not follow the guide-lines that were originally drawn for the
     lower text of the palimpsest.
          Numerous small red initials throughout.
          The manuscript was apparently in a fire, since ff. 36-58 are
     severely charred and the edges of all leaves have been blackened.
          Binding: s. xvi. Resewn with heavy thread (fine cord?), three
     sewn-in chains linking the quires. Two strands of sewing cord cross
     over to the horizontal bars of a Z lacing, the diagonals of the lacing
     visible through the pastedowns of the inside of the flush wooden
     boards, the horizontal lacing protruding under the leather of the
     cover. The edges of the boards are concave at head and tail. The
     smooth, round spine is lined with a coarse, blue-green cloth extending
     almost to the center of the boards on the outside. The endbands which
     straddle the boards are laced through them. Covered in dark red, now
     brown, calf faintly blind-tooled with diamonds with crosses in circles
     at the intersections. A strap-and-pin fastening, the pin in the edge of
     the upper board, two holes for the strap in the lower. Sewing slightly
     repaired, some leather on the spine replaced. Front cover is lined with
     a parchment leaf from a 15th-century Greek liturgical manuscript.

          Written in Byzantium in the 13th century; early provenance
     unknown. According to Library files Dr. John Henry House of Salonika
     obtained the codex on Mt. Athos (see provenance of MS 150); his sale to
     Prof. Thomas Day Seymour of Yale ca. 1899. Bequeathed to his daughter,
     Elizabeth Day Seymour Angel in 1907, in whose memory it was presented
     to Yale in 1952 by her husband, John Angel.

     Bibliography: De Ricci, v. 2, p. 1652, no. 1; Faye and Bond, p. 38, no.
     187.

     Barbara A. Shailor