Beinecke MS 248                                                     Byzantium, s. XIV
New Testament; Eusebian Canons, etc. (in Greek)

     1. ff. 1r-32v    Calendar for the liturgical year; the incipit,
     explicit, and title (if any) are all illegible.

     2. f. 33r    Miscellaneous Prayers added in the fifteenth century.

     3. f. 33v    [Heading:] [Greek]. [text begins:] [Greek].

          Letter of Eusebius to Carpianus; E. Nestle and K. Aland, eds.,
     Novum Testamentum Graece ed. 26 (Stuttgart, 1979) pp. 73*-74*.

     4. ff. 34r-36v    [Eusebian Canons; text begins:] [Greek].

          Nestle and Aland, op. cit., pp. 74*-78* (in Lat.).

     5. ff. 37r-168r    [Title, in blue:] [Greek]. [beginning of text is
     illegible]...[Greek].

     Novum Testamentum; Nestle and Aland, op. cit., pp. 1-680.

     6. ff. 168r-173r    [Title, underlined in red:] [Greek]. [Greek].

          Epiphanius of Cyprus, In Sabbato magno; PG 43.440-64.

     7. ff. 173r-183r    [Heading, underlined in red:] [Greek]. [Several
     responses are given for each proposition, usually introduced by
     [Greek].]

          Unidentified disputations on theological matters.

     8. ff. 183r-188v    [Greek].
     [text breaks off just before end of the sermon, at the bottom
     of column 2]

          John Damascene, De dormientibus in fide; PG 95.248-77.

          Parchment, ff. i (paper) + 188 + i (paper), 168 x 128 (124 x 90)
     mm. Written in 2 columns, 41-60 lines per column, ruled in hard point;
     double bounding lines at top, single at sides and bottom, all full
     across; triple vertically through center; prickings at sides and top.
          I^^6, II-III^^8, IV^^10, V-XV^^12, XVI-XVIII^^8. Signatures (letters of
     the Greek alphabet) on last folio of quire, verso, and first folio of
     quire, recto, at right or left or both, added by a later hand.
          Written throughout in an extremely small Greek minuscule, by five
     scribes: Scribe 1, ff. 1r-32v and 171r-173r; Scribe 2, ff. 33v-68v;
     Scribe 3, ff. 69r-168r; Scribe 4, ff. 168r-170v; Scribe 5, ff. 173r-
     188v. Notes added on f. 33r (originally blank) and in margins by
     various later hands; in some of the notes on f. 33r Latin letters are
     used for Greek words.
          Two headings and title of Matthew in blue (f. 37r). Initials in
     red with simple floral ornament. Extensive rubrication. Headpieces and
     bars between sections in red, blue, green and yellow (all faded).
     Eusebian Canons done with compass and ruler, in red and blue.
          Several folios originally had holes, which have been written
     around.
          Binding: Date? Original sewing on three chain supports laced in a
     Z pattern into square, flush wooden boards, grooved on the edges. Two
     pin holes in the edge of the upper board and three holes for each strap
     in the lower. Traces of rectangular plates [?] at the fore-edge near
     the head of the upper board and the tail of the lower. Rebacked and the
     sides covered with cloth.

          Written in Byzantium in the 14th century; early provenance
     unknown. Belonged to Frederick North, fifth Earl of Guilford (1766-
     1827; no. 546, on tag on spine, on bookplate, and in sale catalogue;
     part of a note in his hand pasted inside cover; Greek letters chi and
     gamma stamped in gold on spine); sold to Payne (bookdealer; his name
     inside front cover). Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 7682; tag on spine and
     note on bookplate). Purchased from Laurence Witten with funds from the
     Jacob Ziskind Charitable Trust in 1957 (MS 16).

     Bibliography: Faye and Bond,p. 45, no. 248. 
	     Ziskind Catalogue, p. 47.
          C. R. Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testaments (Leipzig, 1900) v.
     1, p. 212, no. 680 (where MS 248 is assigned to the 11th century).
          K. Aland, Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des
     Neuen Testaments (Berlin, 1963) v. 1, p. 97 (Gregory Nr. 680).

     Barbara A. Shailor