The Garland of Howth, also known as the Codex Usserianus Secundus, designated by r
2 or 28 (in the Beuron system), is a fragmentary 8th to 10th century
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazar ...
now in
Trinity College Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
as MS. 56 (A. IV. 6).
[
The text, written on ]vellum
Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...
, is a version of the old Latin
Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
. The manuscript contains the text of the four Gospels with lacunae.[ It was written at the monastery of ]Ireland's Eye
Ireland's Eye () is a small long-uninhabited island off the coast of County Dublin, Ireland. Situated directly north of Howth village and harbour, the island is easily reached by regular seasonal tourist boats, which both circumnavigate it an ...
, Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, and once kept in the nearby parish church of Howth
Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...
. Only 86 folios have survived; for example only 5:12-10:3 of the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
have survived.No 28 in the table
/ref> It is written with "diminuendo" script from initials, a feature of the oldest manuscripts in insular script
Insular script was a medieval script system originating from Ireland that spread to Anglo-Saxon England and continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries took the script to continental Europe, where they found ...
such as Cathach of St. Columba
The Cathach of St. Columba, known as the Cathach (meaning "the Battler"),O'Neill (2014), p. 12 is a late 6th century Insular psalter. It is the oldest surviving manuscript in Ireland, and the second oldest Latin psalter in the world.
Its cumdac ...
. It has been described as the work of many scribes, none of them first-class.
The text of the codex is mixed.Bruce M. Metzger
Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the A ...
, ''The Early Versions of the New Testament'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 300. The text of Matthew is Old Latin, similar to that in ''Codex Usserianus I''. The text of Mark, Luke, and John is very near to the Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
.
"Vetus Latina" means the text is a Latin version predating the Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
- such versions were used in Ireland later than in most areas. The "garland" of its title is taken from a corrupted English form of ''Ceithre Leabhair'', Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
for 'four books', i.e., a gospel. Abbott made a collation. The manuscript was examined and edited by Lawlor, Hoskier, and Jülicher.[
]
See also
* List of New Testament Latin manuscripts
The following articles contain lists of New Testament manuscripts:
In Coptic
* List of Coptic New Testament manuscripts
In Greek
* List of New Testament papyri
* List of New Testament uncials
* List of New Testament minuscules
** List of N ...
* Codex Usserianus I
The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229
Its origin a ...
* Book of Dimma
The Book of Dimma (Dublin, Trinity College, MS.A.IV.23) is an 8th-century Irish pocket Gospel Book originally from the Abbey of Roscrea, founded by St. Crónán in County Tipperary, Ireland. In addition to the Gospels of Luke and John, it ha ...
* Book of Mulling
The Book of Mulling or less commonly, Book of Moling (Dublin, Trinity College Library MS 60 (A. I. 15)), is an Irish pocket Gospel Book from the late 8th or early 9th century. The text collection includes the four Gospels, a liturgical servic ...
* Würzburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. M. p. th. f. 67
References
{{reflist
* ''Literature in Ireland'', by James Carney, in ''A New History of Ireland'', vol. 2, p. 527, 531.
Further reading
* T. K. Abbott
Reverend Thomas Kingsmill Abbott (26 March 1829 – 18 December 1913) was an Irish scholar and educator.
Abbott was born in Dublin and was educated at Trinity College. He was elected a scholar in 1848, graduated in 1851 as a senior moderator in ma ...
, ''Evangeliorum Versio antehieronymiana ex codice Usseriano'', vol. II (Dublin, 1884), pp. 819–963.
* A. Jülicher, ''Itala. Das Neue Testament in Altlateinischer Überlieferung'', Walter de Gruyter
Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature.
History
The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...
, Berlin, New York, 1976.
External links
Direct link to the digitised manuscript, Library of Trinity College Dublin Digital Collections
* [https://archive.org/details/MN41398ucmf_3 The text of Codex Usserianus 2., r2 (microform) ("Garland of Howth") with critical notes to supplement and correct the collation of the late T. K. Abbott (1919)]
Early Irish Manuscripts Project, Library of Trinity College Dublin
More information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts
8th-century biblical manuscripts
9th-century biblical manuscripts
10th-century biblical manuscripts
Gospel Books
Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts
Irish manuscripts
Vetus Latina New Testament manuscripts
Library of Trinity College Dublin
Howth