A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger Part 4

Traube, l.c., No. 357; E. Chatelain, _Paleographie des cla.s.siques latins_, pl. Cx.x.xVII, 1.

9. St. Paul in Carinthia, XXV a 3.--Pliny, Historia Naturalis, palimpsest.

Traube, l.c., No. 231; E. Chatelain, ibid. pl. Cx.x.xVI. Chatelain cites the ma.n.u.script under the press-mark XXV 2/67.

10. Turin, A. II. 2.--Theodosian Codex, fragments, palimpsest.

Traube, l.c., No. 311; Zangemeister-Wattenbach, pl. XXV; Cipolla, _Codici Bobbiesi_, pl. VII.

B. Of Christian Authors.

1. Vercelli, Cathedral Library.--Gospels (_a_) ascribed to Bishop Eusebius (371).

Traube, l.c., No. 327; Zangemeister-Wattenbach, pl. XX.

2. Paris, lat. 17225.--Corbie Gospels (ff).

Traube, l.c., No. 214; _Palaeographical Society_, pl. 87; E. Chatelain, _Uncialis scriptura_, pl. II; Reusens, _elements de paleographie_, pl. III, Louvain 1899.

3. Constance-Weingarten Biblical fragments.--Prophets, fragments scattered in the libraries of Stuttgart, Darmstadt, Fulda, and St. Paul in Carinthia.

Traube, l.c., No. 302; Zangemeister-Wattenbach, pl. XXI; complete facsimile reproduction of the fragments in _Codices graeci et latini photographice depicti_, Supplementum IX, Leyden 1912, with introduction by P. Lehmann.

4. Berlin, lat. 4. 298.--Computus Paschalis of ca. a. 447.

Traube, l.c., No. 13; see above, p. 16, no. 3.

5. Turin, G. VII. 15.--Bobbio Gospels (k).

Traube, l.c., No. 324; _Old Latin Biblical Texts_, vol. II, Oxford 1886; F. Carta, C. Cipolla, C. Frati, _Monumenta Palaeographica sacra_, pl. V, 2; R. Beer, "uber den altesten Handschriftenbestand des Klosters Bobbio" in _Anzeiger der Kais. Akad. der Wiss. in Wien_, 1911, No. XI, pp. 91 sqq.; C. Cipolla, _Codici Bobbiesi_, pls. XIV-XV; complete facsimile reproduction of the ma.n.u.script, with preface by C. Cipolla: _Il codice Evangelico _k_ della Biblioteca Universitaria n.a.z.ionale di Torino_, Turin 1913.

6. Turin, F. IV. 27 + Milan, D. 519. inf. + Rome, Vatic. lat. 10959.-- Cyprian, Epistolae, fragments.

Traube, l.c., No. 320; E. Chatelain, _Uncialis scriptura_, pl. IV, 2; C. Cipolla, _Codici Bobbiesi_, pl. XIII; Ehrle-Liebaert, _Specimina codic.u.m latinorum Vaticanorum_, pl. 5d.

7. Turin, G. V. 37.--Cyprian, de opere et eleemosynis.

Traube, l.c., No. 323; Carta, Cipolla e Frati, _Monumenta palaeographica sacra_, pl. V, 1; Cipolla, _Codici Bobbiesi_, pl. XII.

8. Oxford, Bodleian Auct. T. 2. 26.--Eusebius-Hieronymus, Chronicle, post a. 442.

Traube, l.c., No. 164; see above, p. 16, no. 2.

9. Petrograd Q. v. I. 3 (Corbie).--Varia of St. Augustine.

Traube, l.c., No. 140; E. Chatelain, _Uncialis scriptura_, pl.

III; A. Staerk, _Les ma.n.u.scrits latins du Ve au XIIIe siecle conserves a la bibliotheque imperiale de Saint Petersburg_ (St.

Petersburg 1910), Vol. II. pl. 2.

10. St. Gall, 1394.--Gospels (n).

Traube, l.c., No. 60; _Old Latin Biblical Texts_, Vol. II, Oxford 1886; _Palaeographical Society_, II. pl. 50; Steffens, pl. 15; E. Chatelain, _Uncialis scriptura_, pl. I, 1; A. Chroust, _Monumenta Palaeographica_, XVII, pl. 3.

[Sidenote: _Characteristics of the oldest uncial ma.n.u.scripts_]

The main characteristics of the ma.n.u.scripts included in the above list, which is by no means complete, may briefly be described thus:

1. General effect of compactness. This is the result of _scriptura continua_, which knows no separation of words and no punctuation.

See the facsimiles cited above.

2. Precision in the mode of shading. The alternation of stressed and unstressed strokes is very regular. The two arcs of {O} are shaded not in the middle, as in Greek uncials, but in the lower left and upper right parts of the letter, so that the s.p.a.ce enclosed by the two arcs resembles an ellipse leaning to the left at an angle of about 45, thus {O}. What is true of the {O} is true of other curved strokes. The strokes are often very short, mere touches of pen to parchment, like brush work. Often they are unconnected, thus giving a mere suggestion of the form. The attack or fore-stroke as well as the finis.h.i.+ng stroke is a very fine, oblique hair-line.[30]

[Footnote 30: In later uncials the fore-stroke is often a horizontal hair-line.]

3. Absence of long ascending or descending strokes. The letters lie virtually between two lines (instead of between four as in later uncials), the upper and lower shafts of letters like {H L P Q} projecting but slightly beyond the head and base lines.

4. The broadness of the letters {M N U}

5. The relative narrowness of the letters {F L P S T}

6. The manner of forming {B E L M N P S T}

_B_ with the lower bow considerably larger than the upper, which often has the form of a mere comma.

_E_ with the tongue or horizontal stroke placed not in the middle, as in later uncial ma.n.u.scripts, but high above it, and extending beyond the upper curve. The loop is often left open.

_L_ with very small base.

_M_ with the initial stroke tending to be a straight line instead of the well-rounded bow of later uncials.

_N_ with the oblique connecting stroke shaded.

_P_ with the loop very small and often open.

_S_ with a rather longish form and shallow curves, as compared with the broad form and ample curves of later uncials.

_T_ with a very small, sinuous horizontal top stroke (except at the beginning of a line when it often has an exaggerated extension to the left).

7. Extreme fineness of parchment, at least in parts of the ma.n.u.script.

8. Perforation of parchment along furrows made by the pen.

9. Quires signed by means of roman numerals often preceded by the letter _Q_ (= Quaternio) in the lower right corner of the last page of each gathering.

10. Running t.i.tles, in abbreviated form, usually in smaller uncials than the text.