Beinecke MS 260               Italy, s. XVII^^in
Dionysius the Areopagite, etc. (in Greek)

I. 1. ff. i recto - iv verso Incomplete table of contents from
alpha through pi, which is continued on f. 366r-v for chi and omega.

2. ff. 1r-5r
[Greek]...
[Greek].  f. 5v blank

     Prooemium of George Pachymeres on Dionysius the Areopagite; PG 3.107-16.

3. f. 6r-v[Table of contents for Dionysius the Areopagite, De
caelesti hierarchia:]
[Greek].

4. ff. 7r-94r
[Greek].  [text of Pachymeres begins:]
[Greek]...[text of Pachymeres ends:] [sic]
[Greek].  [text of Dionysius begins:]
[Greek].  ff. 94v-99v blank

     Dionysius the Areopagite, De caelesti hierarchia with the Paraphrasis
of George Pachymeres; PG 3.119-339, for both Dionysius and Pachymeres.

5. f. 100r[Table of contents for Dionysius the Areopagite, De divinis
nominibus:]
[Greek].

II. 6. ff. 100v-126v[Heading, in a later hand:]
[Greek] [text of Pachymeres begins:]
[Greek]...[text of Pachymeres ends abruptly:]
[Greek]// [Greek].  [text of Dionysius begins:]
[Greek]...[text of Dionysius ends abruptly:]
[Greek]// ff.
127r-137v blank

     Dionysius the Areopagite, De divinis nominibus I.1-II.9, with
Paraphrasis of George Pachymeres; text of Pachymeres, PG 3.585-648; text of
Dionysius, PG 3.585-648.

III. 7. ff. 138r-265v
[Greek].
[Greek].

     Nicetas of Serres, Commentarius in Gregorii Nazianzeni orationes;
PG 36.943-84; PG 127.1177-480, Latin only.

IV. 8. ff. 266r-268r[Table of contents for Theophanes Cerameus,
Homiliae
(51) listed:]
[Greek] [sic] [Greek] [table begins:]
[Greek].  [[Greek]][Greek][[Greek]],
[Greek] [= cf. Chapter 51].  f. 268v blank

9. ff. 269r-329v
[Greek]...
[Greek]...[text ends abruptly:]
[Greek]// catchwords:  [Greek]

     Theophanes Cerameus, Homiliae (text of 13 sermons); PG 132.203-92,
303-64, 803-26, and 857-84.  The order of the sermons is as follows (using
the numbers assigned in PG 132):  5, 6, 7, 9, 8, 41, 42, 10, 12, 13, 47, 14,
15, 16 (16 incomplete).

V. 10. ff. 330r-336v
[Greek]...[text begins:]
[Greek].  f. 337r-v blank

     Andrew of Crete, Encomium in Martyres X; the text has not yet been
published.

VI. 11. ff. 338r-348r[Heading:]  [[Greek]]
[Greek] [text
begins:]  [[Greek]] [Greek] [inserted
above:  [Greek]]
[Greek].  ff. 348v-349v blank

     Nicephorus Blemmydes, De anima; Nicephorus Blemmides [editor not named],
[Greek] (Leipzig, 1784) part 3, pp. 1-140.

12. ff. 350r-353v[Unidentified extracts on grammar; no title, text
begins:]
[Greek]

VII. 13. ff. 354r-358v
[Greek].
[Greek].  ff. 359r-361v
ruled, but blank

     Dionysius of Halicarnassus, De compositione verborum, extract
(ch. 14-15.); W. Rhys Roberts, ed., Dionysius of Halicarnassus, De
compositione verborum (London, 1910) pp. 136, line 22 - 154, line 22.

The codex is composed of several small manuscripts and booklets,
all written in similar
styles of minuscule, that were originally bound together in the 17th century
shortly after being copied.  The binding is too tight to permit a precise
collation.

     Part I:  ff. iv (contemporary paper; unidentified watermarks:  crown, with
the initials P, A, and cloverleaf as countermark) + 94 (watermarks similar to
Heawood Anchor 2, 4) + v (contemporary paper; blank leaves numbered 95-99),
185 x 128 (138 x 95) mm.  Written
in 25 long lines; frame-ruled lightly in hard point.  Copied
by one scribe who signed the gatherings with letters of the Greek alphabet
in the lower right corner,
recto.  Carefully executed woven headpieces in black and red on ff. 1r and
7r; beginning of each portion of the text marked by large initial in red,
accompanied by flowers outlined in red and filled with pale yellow.
Rubrics stop on f. 22v.
     Part II:  ff. 27 (numbered 100-126; watermarks similar to Heawood Anchor 2,
4) + xi (blank, ff. 127-137), 185 x 128 (132 x 90) mm.  Written in 24 long
lines; frame-ruled in hard point.  Copied by one scribe who often did
not use the final line of the written space; catchwords appear in lower margin
near gutter, on verso.  Crude headpiece (in imitation of that on f. 7r?)
occurs on f. 100r.  Large painted initials, in red, with vine-leaf appendages,
mark sections of the text.
     Part III:  ff. 128 (numbered 138-265; watermarks similar to Heawood Anchor 2,
4), 185 x 128 (137 x 90) mm.  Written in 25 long lines; single vertical bounding
lines; ruled in hard point.  Copied by a scribe who added marginal notations
in red throughout.
Quires signed with letters of the Greek alphabet in center of lower margin,
recto; catchwords are directly below the written space, near gutter, on verso.
Delicate
floral headpiece on f. 138r:  each flower is outlined in red and painted with
pale grey and red washes; details added in black.  More modest headpiece in
similar style, but painted with yellow, occurs on f. 148v; intricate initials
in same colors on ff. 138v and 148v.
     Part IV:  ff. 54 (numbered 266-329; highly polished paper with no
identifiable watermarks), 185 x 128 (131 x 85) mm.  Written in 22 long lines;
single vertical bounding lines; lightly ruled in hard point.  Copied by one
scribe who placed catchwords in lower margin near gutter, verso.  Simple woven
headpieces, in red, on ff. 266r and 269r.  Initials with floral motifs
accompany rubricated titles for each sermon; decoration is incomplete (stops on
f. 320r).
     Part V:  ff. 8 (numbered 330-337, the last blank; unidentified watermarks:
crossbow and various countermarks, all with clover leaf), 185 x 128 (132 x 95)
mm.  Written in 30 long lines, in a small cramped minuscule.  One initial, in
black, occurs at the beginning of the text (f. 330r).
     Part VI:  ff. 16 (numbered 338-353, f. 349 blank; same watermarks as in
preceding section), 185 x 128 (145 x 90) mm.  Written in 24 long lines; single
vertical
bounding lines; ruled in hard point.  Copied by the scribe who wrote Part I of
the codex and who placed catchwords for each leaf below the written space, on
verso.
     Part VII:  ff. 8 (numbered 354-361, the last three blank) + v (contemporary
paper, foliated 362-366; unidentified watermarks:  crown, with the initials P,
A, and cloverleaf as countermark), 185 x 128 (132 x 85) mm.  Written in 20 long
lines; double vertical bounding lines; ruled in hard point.  Copied by a single
scribe who added the small decorative initial and heading, in red, at the
beginning of the work.
     Binding:  s. xviii-xix.  Rigid vellum, rebacked.

Written in Northern Italy at the beginning of the 17th century.  Clues to
early ownership include "N. 10" on front cover and brief calendar entries (in
Greek) for 17-27 May 1630 on front pastedown.  Belonged to Frederick North, 5th
Earl of Guilford (1766-1827; note in his hand inside front cover; no. 330
in sale catalogue); sold to Thorpe, who sold it to
Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 9480, tag on spine).  Purchased from L. C. Witten
with funds from the Jacob Ziskind Charitable Trust in 1957 (MS 28).

Bibliography:  Faye and Bond, p. 47, no. 260.
     Ziskind Catalogue, p. 48.

Barbara A. Shailor