Beinecke MS 236                                                   Crete [?], s. XVI^^1
Pseudo-Augustine, Soliloquia (in Greek), etc.

     1. ff. 1r-103v    //[Greek]...[text ends with a prayer on the
     Holy Trinity:] [Greek].

          Pseudo-Augustine, Soliloquia, translated into Greek by Demetrius
     Cydonius; first leaf missing.

     2. ff. 103v-106v    [Greek].

          Creed of St. Athanasius; PG 28.1586-88, Formula 3.

     3. ff. 106v-183v    Various prayers and hymns, some by John of Damascus
     and Macarius, but most anonymous. ff. 184r-186v blank

          Paper (watermarks: Harlfinger Chapeau 74), ff. ii (contemporary
     paper) + 186, 153 x 105 (102 x 62) mm. Written in 16 long lines; double
     outer and single inner bounding lines, often with an additional ruling
     in upper, lower, and outer margins. Ruled in hard point, on verso.
          I^^8 (-1), II-XXIII^^8, XXIV^^4 (4 pasted to back cover). Signed in
     Greek notation below written space toward outer edge, on recto.
          Written by a single scribe in tall, upright minuscule.
          Decorative initials, 6- to 5-line, in red with simple floral
     designs; rubrics throughout.
          Binding: s. xvi-xvii. Three original chain-stitched supports, the
     thread laced into square-edged, flush, wooden boards grooved on the
     edges. The beaded, colored endbands are sewn on cords which are
     attached in holes in the edges of the boards. The edges are painted
     with a red and black interlace design, the spine smooth and round.
     Covered in brown goatskin, blind-tooled with concentric borders,
     different on each board, the central panels filled with flowers and
     small diamonds. One pin hole in the edge of the upper board, three
     holes for a strap in the lower. Rebacked. According to A. R. A. Hobson,
     the binding originated in Crete.

          Written probably in Crete in the first half of the 16th century to
     judge from the paper and appearance of the script; early provenance
     unknown. Belonged to Richard Heber (1773-1833); acquired by Thorpe at
     the Heber sale and sold to Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 9551, tag on
     spine). Purchased from Laurence Witten with funds from the Jacob
     Ziskind Charitable Trust in 1957 (MS 26).

     Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 44, no. 236. 
	     Ziskind Catalogue, p. 48.
          "Creeds and Confessions," International Standard Bible
	Encylopedia (1979) v. 1, p. 810, reproduction of f. 210v.

     Barbara A. Shailor