Beinecke MS 264               Italy [?], s. XVI^^med
Pseudo-Caesarius, Dialogues, etc. (in Greek)

I. 1. ff. 1r-130v[Heading, in dark yellow:]
[Greek] [?] [Greek] [followed by head-piece; incipit, in red:]
[Greek]...
[Greek].
[Greek].  ff. 130a-130c, blank

     Pseudo-Caesarius of Nazianzen, Dialogues; PG 38.351-1189;
R. Riedinger, Pseudo-Kaisarios:  Ueberlieferungsgeschichte und
Verfasserfrage (Munich, 1969) MS N (pp. 68-70), pl. 6.

II. 2. ff. 131r-248r [Title-page, f. 130d recto, with 130d verso
blank.]
[Greek] [title, within decorative borders of headpiece,
f. 131r:]  [Greek].  [heading:]
[Greek].  [text:]
[Greek].  [Greek].
f. 249r blank

     Theodoretus, Lives of the Hermits; PG 82.1283-496.

3. ff. 249v-262r
[Greek].
[Greek] [erasure]
[Greek].
ff. 262r-264v blank

     Theodoretus, On Divine and Holy Love; PG 82.1497-522.

The codex is composed of two distinct manuscripts.  Part I:  ff. iv, 1-130c;
Part II:  130d-264.

     Part I:  Paper (polished; watermarks similar to Briquet Ancre 521, 522 and
Harlfinger Ancre 57), ff. iii (nearly contemporary) + 134 (presently foliated
iv, 1-130; f. 130 followed by
ff. 130a-c), 300 x 208 (212 x 115) mm.  Written in 28 long lines.  Ruled in
hard point, double vertical bounding lines.  I^^10 (ff. iv-9), II-XVI^^8,
XVII^^4 (ff. 130-130c).  Catchwords are perpendicular
to text on verso; quire signatures are letters of the Greek
alphabet placed below the written space to the right, on recto, and
occasionally on preceding verso.  Written by a single scribe in  well formed
minuscule that inclines somewhat
toward the left.  Elaborate headpiece in red and dark yellow
with interlace design left
uncolored (f. 1r).  Many initials with decorative appendages, in red,
throughout; rubricated copiously.
     Part II:  Paper (polished; watermarks similar to Briquet Chapeau 3487, 3494,
350l and Harlfinger Chapeau 786b), ff. i (f. 130d:  same paper as text) + 134
(numbered 131 to 264) + iii (nearly contemporary paper), 300 x 208 (215 x 116)
mm.  Written in 28 long lines.  Ruled in hard point, single vertical bounding
lines.  I^^8, (+ 1, f. 130d, at beginning), II-XVI^^8, XVII^^6.  Catchwords,
perpendicular to text, are buried in gutter along lower edge of codex.
Written by a single scribe in a bold script in dark ink.  Modest headpiece,
in red and black, surrounds title (red majuscules) on f. 131r; simple headings
and initials in red.
     Binding:  s. xviii.  Edges spattered red and blue/green.
Rigid vellum case with "CAESARII QUAESTIONES et
THEODORETI VITAE ASCETARUM GRAECE. Manuscript." on spine, handwritten in black
ink.  According to J. L. Sharpe this manuscript was bound at the Jesuit
College of Clermont, Paris (see Provenance).

Written probably in Northern Italy in the mid-16th century.  According to
Riedinger (op. cit., pp. 68-70) the manuscript belonged to
Francois Olivier,
Abbot of S. Quentin de Beauvais (d. 1636).  Bound for the Jesuit College of
Clermont, Paris (no. 91, notes on f. 1r:  "Colleg. Parisiensis Societ. Jesu,"
and
"Paraphe au desir de l'arrest du 5. juillet 1763. Mesnil.").  Acquired by
Gerard and Johann Meerman, ca. 1773, Bibliotheca Meermanniana, v. 4,
p. 9, no. 62 (number written on tag on spine); sale to Sir Thomas Phillipps
(June 8-July 3,
1824; stamp with no. 3082 on f. i recto, tag on spine).  Purchased from
L. C. Witten with funds from the Jacob Ziskind Charitable Trust in 1957
(MS 18).

Bibliography:  Faye and Bond, p. 47, no. 264.
     Ziskind Catalogue, p. 47.

Barbara A. Shailor