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I find very little to add to this very detailed information! But I'll try anyway .... > A brief history of the Bible - 5 > > THE CODEX ALEXANDRINUS > > Cyril Lucar (1572-1638) was a Cretan by birth. He studied in Venice and > Padua, where he became acquainted with Latin thought. He became Patriarch > of Alexandria in 1601, and Patriarch of Constantinople in 1620. He became > more and more well-disposed towards the Reformed Churches, particularly - > mirabile dictu - the Church of England. He sent Metrophanes Critopoulos to > study at Oxford. In January 1625 he gave a very ancient (early 5th century) > MS of the Bible to Sir Thomas Roe, the English ambassador, as a present for > King James I. In the event, James died in March 1625 and by the time the MS > reached England Charles I was on the throne. Lucar himself eventually > became a thorough-going Calvinist and was put to death accordingly. > > The MS became part of the Royal Library, which was incorporated into the > British Library. It is catalogued as Royal MS 1 D. vi, and is commonly > known as the Codex Alexandrinus. Actually, "Royal I. D. v.-viii." according to my sources. This makes sense, since it is bound in 4 volumes (the first three of which are "OT"). > Despite its name, it is far from certain > that it was written in Alexandria, and it does not exhibit what Westcott and > Hort were to call the "Alexandrian" text. Apparently some paleographical letter forms in the colophons and superscriptions are typical of Egypt, suggesting that the MS was in Egypt quite early in its history, if not written there. > > It contains the complete Bible, including the deuterocanonical books, except > for nine leaves in the Psalms, the first twenty-five leaves of Matthew, and > a few other leaves. It contains also a couple of non-canonical books, > namely the two Letters of St Clement of Rome, and the canticles, those > portions of Scripture which are commonly sung as hymns. These hymns, usually attached to the book of Psalms, are also called "Odes" in the literature (e.g. "Psalms and/with Odes"), in accord with the Greek title. They include Christian items. The table of contents to MS A also lists "Psalms of Solomon" at the end, but those folia have been lost along with the last part of 2 Clement (after 12.4). All 4 books of the Maccabees are included in MS A. > > The MS consists of 773 large leaves, and once had about forty more. It is > written throughout in two columns by two scribes, who differ in their > handwriting, spelling and decorative styles. It also contains various "corrections," some contemporary with the original copy, others later. An interesting (obviously late) Arabic note in the MS attributes it to "the martyr Thekla"! Introducing the Psalter are the Epistle of Athanasius to Marcellinus, and "Hypotheses" and canons by Eusebius of Caesarea. > > The type and quality of text varies from book to book. In Deuteronomy and > Revelation, Alexandrinus has the best text, agreeing with the Deuteronomy in > the John Rylands Library in Manchester, which was written on papyrus six > centuries earlier. This judgment about the text of Deuteronomy is probably overstated, since the Rylands fragment extends to only about 15 verses, and another pre-Christian fragmentary copy of Deuteronomy (P.Fouad 266, which is more extensive) is less supportive of MS A. But the point about textcritical diversity in MS A is well taken (as will all such large-scale MSS). > On the other hand, the text of the Gospels is well on > the way to what Westcott and Hort were to call the Byzantine text, basically > that which had already been used in the King James translation of 1611. > > >From its arrival in England until the execution of Charles I in 1649, the > Codex Alexandrinus, bound in four volumes, was kept at St James's Palace > with the rest of the Royal Library. During the Commonwealth (1649-1660) > troops were quartered in the palace, and the books were allowed to 'lie upon > the floor in confused heaps, so that not only the rain and the dust, but > also the rats, mice and other vermin can easily get at them' as an official > report noted in 1651. > > Early in the eighteenth century the Royal Library was merged with the > library of Sir Robert Cotton to form the nucleus of what was to become the > British Library. It was rescued from the fire of 1731 (which charred the > Beowulf MS and many others) by the librarian, Dr Bentley. > > Alexandrinus was the first of the three great codices to have its New > Testament published, in 1786, when an edition in uncial type specially cast > for the purpose was produced by C.G. Wolde, a native of Poland who in 1782 > was appointed assistant librarian in the British Museum. The Old Testament > of Vaticanus had been published in Pope Sixtus V's edition ot the Septuagint > in 1587; however its New Testament was not published until after that of > Alexandrinus and Siniaticus. An imitation-type edition of the OT was published by H.H.Baber in 1816-21 (-28?), and an autotype facsimile edition of the entire MS in 1879-83, under the direction of E. Maunde Thompson, who included a brief introduction. A better photographic edition of the NT volume was issued in 1909, and the entire MS by 1957(!). > > Alexandrinus is indicated in the critical apparatus of Bibles by the siglum "A". And in the alternate system for NT, "02." > > Doctor Elasticus. > -- Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania 227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827 [log in to unmask] http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%