Roger Pearse

A researcher wrote to me today asking what manuscripts existed of the Vita Constantini by Eusebius. I thought the answer might be of wider interest. Just how do we get this text?

There are no ancient copies that have reached us, unsurprisingly. But there are a few medieval handwritten copies.

Arranged by families, the Mss of the "Vita Constantini" and the "Oratio ad sanctum coetum" are

1:

V. -- Vaticanus 149 [XI S.].
R. -- Vaticanus 396 [XVI S.].

IIa:

J. -- Moscoviensis 50 [XI S.].

IIb:

M. -- Marcianus 339 [XII vel XIII S.].
B. -- Parisinus 1432 [XIII S.].
A. -- Parisinus 1437 [XIII vel XIV S.].

IIc:

E. -- Parisinus 1439 [XVI S.].
D. -- Parisinus 414 [XVI S.].
Sct. -- Scorialensis T-I-7 [XVI S.].

IId:

N. -- Marcianus 340 [XIII S.).
P. -- Palatinus 268 [XIII S.].
G. -- Parisinus 1438 [XV S.].
Sav. -- (only Vita books I-III) Savilianus [XV S.] = N + M.
Scr. -- Scorialensis R-II-4 [XVI S.] = C + ?

Mss. called "Parisinus" will be in the French National Library. Marcianus is a library in Venice. Palatinus is a sub-collection in the Vatican library (books originally from the library in Heidelberg of the Rhineland Palatinate, and transferred to the Vatican as part of the settlement of the 30 Years War). Scorialensis is the Escorial in Madrid. Cantabrigiensis = Cambridge University Library in the UK. Ottobonianus is another Vatican sub-collection (made up of the books once owned by the long-dead Cardinal Ottoboni).

It's not a bad collection, for an ancient Greek text. Fourteen mss, one as early as the 11th century. Apparently they all have gaps in, tho!

PhilosopherJay

Hi Roger,

This is interesting.

Of course what the gaps are and how they came to be would be really important to know.

As with the Historia ecclesiastica, we still have over 600 years, where all sorts of revisions, alterations, additions and substractions could have been made, both purposefully and accidentally.

Warmly,

Philosopher Jay

JoeWallack

JW:
I know we have our differences Roger but your effort to communicate ancient writings to the masses is much appreciated and is a credit to you and your religion.



Joseph

Roger Pearse

My understanding of this bit was that no one copy contained the complete text. I.e. passages were missing from one branch of the transmission, but fortunately preserved in others.

This sort of thing is normal in manuscripts, and has no special significance. All that has to happen is for a leaf to fall out and all copies descended from it will be characterised by a gap at that point. With papyrus being brittle, this happens naturally.

Mind you, careful readers will realise there is a gap, and may seek out other mss to locate the missing page. It's not always a one-way trip, therefore.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Roger Pearse

You're welcome!