Unpublished Sacred Monuments

I yielded to the curators and arranged for a transcription to be made in Leipzig original: "Lipsiae" for the sake of preparing an edition. From the same collection of books discovered by me in the East, there are three other smaller fragments: one of the Psalms, another of Genesis, and a third of the Gospel of Matthew. I rescued the first and third from the bindings of old written books; the second—a part of the same body of work whose most precious members I designated nine years ago by the name Codex Friderico-Augustanus—was found by me in the midst of discarded leaves. The remaining items contained in this volume, however, were all drawn by me from the treasures of the British Museum. The first place is held by a palimpsest original: "liber palimpsestus"; a manuscript page that has been scraped clean so it can be reused for new writing book, brought from Egypt to London nine years ago, from which I carefully extracted the very rich fragments of the Gospel of Luke that lay hidden beneath the Syriac text. Following this is the very famous Codex Cottonianus, which, having been most miserably damaged by flames one hundred and twenty-five years ago, generally presents a difficulty in reading no less than—and in some places even greater than—that found in palimpsest manuscripts. Regarding this precious treasury of letters, after there had long been an opinion that it could no longer be used for critical study, and since no one in England had stood forth in this century to attempt to restore it, I am exceedingly glad that it has now been brought entirely to light by my own studies, so far as was possible. Included as well are three smaller palimpsest fragments found in the same collection of Syriac books from which the aforementioned palimpsest of Luke was recovered. That I was permitted to transcribe these treasures of the British Museum with all care and to be the first to deliver these transcriptions to the literary world, I cannot but proclaim with a grateful heart toward the distinguished men to whom the care of preserving the manuscripts of the British Museum has been entrusted. No less grateful do I declare myself to William Cureton, whom the Theological faculty of Halle recently decorated with the highest honors for his outstanding service to the Church. For after he was the first to realize that the Greek text of Luke lay hidden under the Syriac of Severus—a matter we shall discuss more accurately later—he not only zealously wrote back to me concerning several passages about whose reading I was uncertain during editing, but also saw to it that drawings original: "delineationes" of the London manuscripts were sent to me, executed by the skillful hand of his own wife, after I had long waited in vain for them from the person to whom I had originally assigned the task.

Just as it is right to pay the greatest thanks to those who assisted the one preparing the work, so too do I testify to my most grateful spirit toward the patrons of the completed work. Among their number, I consider it truly glorious to have the most splendid names of so many princes along with so many directors of renowned libraries, the highest administrators of public affairs and men famous for their learning and liberality, high-ranking officials of the Roman Pontiff as well as the illustrious bishops of the Church of England, and almost all of Germany with so many and such great foreign names. This surely proves that the rewards of rigorous study and untiring labor are not sought in vain, nor can they be overwhelmed by the malice or the arts of detractors.

As for which manuscripts and which fragments of the sacred text this volume contains, as well as the location of each, we shall immediately indicate in a brief overview.

(I.) In the first place, presented on pages 1–92, are the PALIMPSEST FRAGMENTS OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. These fragments, following the chapter lists from 2 to 39 and 64 to 83, are: I, 1–13. I, 69—II, 4. II, 16–27. IV, 38—V, 5. V, 25—VI, 8. VI, 18–31. VI, 49—VII, 22. VIII, 5–15. VIII, 25—IX, 1. IX, 12–43. X, 3–16. XI, 4–27. XII, 4–15. XII, 40–52. XIII, 26—XIV, 1. XIV, 12—XV, 1.