the Vatican, where it is now numbered 2,106. It is written on vellum, in oblong leaning uncial characters; and according to Montfaucon was executed in the ninth century. Dr. Holmes considers it to be a manuscript of considerable value and importance, which, though in many respects it corresponds with other MSS. collated by him, yet contains some valuable lections which are no where else to be found. On this account it is to be regretted that the Codex BasilioVaticanus is imperfect both at the beginning and end.

VIII. The CODEX TURICENSIS is numbered 262 in Mr. Parson's catalogue of MSS. collated for the book of Psalms, in his continuation of the magnificent edition of the Septuagint commenced by the late Rev. Dr. Holmes. It is a quarto manuscript of the book of Psalms, the writing of which proves it to have been executed at least in the eleventh century, if not much earlier; and consists of two hundred and twenty-two leaves of extremely thin purple vellum; and the silver characters and golden initial letters are in many parts so decayed by the consuming hand of time, as to be with difficulty legible. The portions of the psalms wanting in this MS. are Psal. i. —xxv.; xxx. 1.— xxxvi. 20.; xli. 5. — xliii. 2.; lviii. 13. lix. 4.; lxiv. 11. lxxi. 4.; xcii. 3.—xciii. 7. and xcvi. 12.―xcvii. 8. Several of the antient ecclesiastical hymns, which form part of this MS., are also mutilated. It is, however, consolatory to know that those portions of the psalms which are deficient in the Codices, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus, may be supplied from the Codex Turicensis and this circumstance, it should seem, occasioned the generally accurate traveller, Mr. Coxe (whose error has been implicitly copied by succeeding writers) to state that the MS. here described once formed part of the Codex Vaticanus.2

4. ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL MANUSCRIPTS CONTAINING THE NEW

TESTAMENT ENTIRE OR IN PART.

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L. The Codex Cottonianus (Titus C. XV.,- II. The Codex Beza, or Cantabrigiensis. -III. The Codex Ephremi. IV. The Codex Claromontanus. — V. The Codex Argenteus. VI. The Codex Rescriptus of St. Matthew's Gospel in Trinity College, Dublin. — VII. The Codex Laudianus 3. - VIII. The Codex Boernerianus. — IX. The Codex Cyprius.-X. The Codex Basileensis E. - XI. The Codex San-Germanensis. — XII. The Codex Augiensis. — XIII. The Coder Harleianus, 5598. —XIV. The Codex Regius or Stephani n. -XV. The Codex Uffenbachianus. - XVI. The Codices Manners-Suttoniani. — XVII. The Codices Mosquenses. - XVIII. The Codex Brixiensis. -XIX. Other MSS. written in small characters and deserving of especial notice, viz. 1. The Codex Basileensis,

1 The preceding description of the Codex Turicensis is abridged from Professor Breitinger's scarce tract, addressed to Cardinal Quirini, and entitled "De antiquissimo Turicensis Bibliothecæ Græco Psalmorum Libro, in Membrana purpurea titulis aureis ac litteris argenteis exarato Epistola. Turici. MDCCXLVIII." 4to. 2 See Coxe's Travels in Switzerland, in Pinkerton's Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. vi. p. 672. 4to.

1.-2. The Codex Corsendoncensis.-3. The Codex Montfortianus. -4. The Codex Regius, 50.-5. The Codex Leicestrensis. 6. The Codex Vindobonensis. -7. The Codex Ebnerianus. — XX. Notice of the Collations of the Barberini and Velesian Manuscripts. THE autographs, or manuscripts of the New Testament, which were written either by the apostles themselves, or by amanuenses under their immediate inspection,' have long since perished; and we have no information whatever concerning their history. The pretended autograph of St. Mark's Gospel at Venice is now known to be nothing more than a copy of the Latin version, and no existing manuscripts of the New Testament can be traced higher than the fourth century; and most of them are of still later date. Some contain the whole of the New Testament; others comprise particular books or fragments of books; and there are several which contain, not whole books arranged according to their usual order, but detached portions or lessons (avayvwosis), appointed to be read on certain days in the public service of the Christian church; from which again whole books have been put together. These are called Lectionaria, and are of two sorts: 1. Evangelisteria, containing lessons from the four Gospels; and, 2. Apostolus, comprising lessons from the Acts and Epistles, and sometimes only the Epistles themselves. When a manuscript contains both parts, Michaelis says that it is called Apostolo-Evangelion. Forty-six Evangelisteria were collated by Griesbach for the four Gospels of his edition of the New Testament; and seven Lectionaria or Apostoli, for the Acts and Epistles. Some manuscripts, again, have not only the Greek text, but are accompanied with a version, which is either interlined, or in a parallel column: these are called Codices Bilingues. The greatest number is in Greek and Latin; and the Latin version is, in general, one of those which existed before the time of Jerome. As there are extant Syriac-Arabic and Gothic-Latin manuscripts, Michaelis thinks it probable that there formerly existed Greek-Syriac, GreekGothic, and other manuscripts of that kind, in which the original and some version were written together. Where a transcriber, instead of copying from one and the same antient manuscript, selects from several those readings, which appear to him to be the best, the manuscript so transcribed is termed a Codex Criticus.

3

1 Saint Paul dictated most of his epistles to amanuenses; but, to prevent the circulation of spurious letters, he wrote the concluding benediction with his own hand. Compare Rom. xvi. 22. Gal. vi. 11. and 2 Thess. iii. 17, 18. with 1 Cor. xvi. 21.

2 See Vol. IV. Part II. Ch. II. Sect. III. § V. infra.

3 Griesbach, Proleg. ad. Nov. Test. tom. i. pp. cxix.-cxxii. In the second volume of his Symbole Critica (pp. 3-30.) Dr. G. has described eleven important Evangelisteria, which had either been not collated before, or were newly examined and collated by himself. Michaelis, vol. ii. part i. pp. 161–163. part ii. 639, 640. The Rev. T. F. Dibdin has described a superb Evangelisterium, and has given fac-similes of its ornaments, in the first volume of his Bibliographical Decameron, pp. xcii-xciv. This precious manuscript is supposed to have been written at the close of the eleventh, or early in the thirteenth century. The illuminations are executed with singular beauty and delicacy.

4 Introduction to the New Test., vol. ii. part i. p. 164.

Besides the Alexandrian and Vatican manuscripts which have been already described, the following are the principal manuscripts of the New Testament, of every description, which are more peculiarly worthy of notice.

I. The CODEX COTTONIANUS (Titus C. XV.), preserved in the Cottonian Library in the British Museum, is a most precious fragment of the four Gospels, written in silver letters on a faded purple ground. It is one of the oldest (if not the most antient) manuscript of any part of the New Testament that is extant; and contains,

(1.) Part of Saint Matthew's Gospel, beginning at Chapter XXVI. v. 57. and ending with v. 65. of the same Chapter.

(2.) Part of the same Gospel, beginning at Chapter XXVII. v. 26. and ending with v. 34. of the same Chapter.

(3.) Part of Saint John's Gospel, beginning at Chapter XIV. v. 2. and ending with v. 10. of the same Chapter.

(4.) Part of the same Gospel, beginning at Chapter XV. v. 15. and ending with v. 22. of the same Chapter.

In the accompanying Plate 3. No. 1. we have given a fac-simile of John xiv. 6. from this manuscript, of which the following is a representation in ordinary Greek characters, with the corresponding literal English version.

The words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (Jesus) ΘΕΟΣ (God), ΚΥΡΙΟΣ (Lord), ΥΙΟΣ (Son) and ENTHP (Saviour), are written in letters of gold; the three first with contractions similar to those in the Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Beza. This precious fragment is acknowledged to have been executed at the end of the fourth, or at the latest in the beginning of the fifth century.

II. The CODEX BEZE, also called the CODEX CANTABRIGIENSIS, is a Greek and Latin manuscript, containing the four gospels and the acts of the apostles. It is deposited in the public library of the university of Cambridge, to which it was presented by the celebrated Theodore Beza, in the year 1581. Of this manuscript, which is written on vellum, in quarto, without accents or marks of aspiration, or spaces between the words, the accompanying fac-simile will convey an idea. It represents the first three verses of the fifth chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel, which are copied from Dr. Kip

1 See pp. 66-73. of this volume for an account of the Alexandrian Manuscript, and pp. 74-77. for that of the Vatican.