Corpus of Latin Ecclesiastical Writers, Vol. LXII: Ambrose's Exposition of Psalm 118

The former must be called the Expositio Exposition, the latter the Explanatio Explanation. The subject matter itself suggests that I should report separately on the manuscripts of both.

Therefore, there exist today more than one hundred hand-copied manuscripts of the books of the Exposition of the one hundred and eighteenth Psalm, about half of which are in the libraries of France; by far the most numerous are from the 12th century or a more recent age. Except for two fragments, the most ancient ones have perished. One of these consists of four leaves, which are now inserted into the Ambrosian codices D. 84. inf. of the 10th century and A. 138. sup. of the 11th century, having once belonged to a certain Bobbio codex of the 6th—7th century. Much more recent is the Cambridge fragment, which is to say four leaves of a codex written in Lombardic characters of the 8th—9th century, inserted into codex B. 14. 3 of Trinity College. Approaching this fragment in age is:

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1. Arras codex 590 of the 9th century, corrected by a second hand, A; quite a few leaves that are missing have been cut out. It is prefaced: Here begins the exposition on Psalm CXVIII by the holy Ambrose, bishop of the city of Milan.

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2. Ghent codex 172 of the 10th century, once labeled with the number 25 in the monastery of St. Maximin near Trier. Page 1 reads in the lower margin: "May the codex of St. Maximin be under a curse before God if anyone steals it. Amen." Corrections by the first hand are generally written in the margin; the second hand is from the eleventh century. It is prefaced: In the name of the holy Trinity, here begins the exposition on the one hundred and eighteenth Psalm by the holy Ambrose, bishop of the city of Milan.

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3. Munich codex 4535 of the 10th century or, as C. Schenkl judged, the 11th, which had been donated in the year 1055 to the Benedictoburani Monks of Benediktbeuern by a certain woman from Augsburg; it is corrected here and there by a second hand. Regarding the preface, Schenkl, who collated it, noted nothing.

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4. Munich codex 13040 of the 11th—12th century, formerly Ratisbon city 40; it rarely shows corrections but suffers from countless gaps often arising from homoeoteleuton the repetition of similar endings causing scribal omission. It is prefaced: Here begins the book of the holy bishop Ambrose upon the one hundred and eighteenth psalm (sic).

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5. Paris codex 15639 of the 12th century (Sorbon. 212); it is diligently written and rarely corrected, either by the first hand or by a contemporary second hand. It is prefaced: In the name of the holy Trinity, here begins the treatise of the holy Ambrose on the one hundred and eighteenth psalm (sic).