NOTE ON THE METHOD OF PUBLICATION AND ABBREVIATIONS

The method of publication follows that adopted in Part XXXVIII. As there, the dots indicating letters unread are printed slightly below the line; but the dots inside square brackets to estimate the number of lost letters are printed on the line. The texts are printed in modern form, with accents and punctuation, the lectional signs occurring in the papyri being noted in the apparatus criticus critical commentary, where also faults of orthography, etc., are corrected. Iota adscript the letter iota written after a long vowel in some ancient scripts is printed where written, otherwise iota subscript the letter iota written below a long vowel is used. Square brackets [ ] indicate a lacuna a gap or missing portion of text, round brackets ( ) the resolution of a symbol or abbreviation, angular brackets < > a mistaken omission in the original, braces { } a superfluous letter or letters, double square brackets [[ ]] a deletion, the signs ' an insertion above the line. Dots within brackets represent the estimated number of letters lost or deleted, dots outside brackets mutilated or otherwise illegible letters. Dots under letters indicate that the reading is doubtful. Heavy Arabic numerals refer to Oxyrhynchus papyri printed in this and preceding volumes, ordinary numerals to lines, small Roman numerals to columns.

The abbreviations used are in the main identical with those in E. G. Turner, Greek Papyri: an Introduction (1968). It is hoped that any new ones will be self-explanatory.