The Kenneth Willis Clark Collection of Greek Manuscripts in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library,
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
contains over one hundred
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s — in both roll and codex form — dating from the 9th to the 17th century. The collection as a whole is named in his honor and includes manuscripts collected and donated by Kenneth Clark as well as manuscripts acquired from other sources.
Description
Professor
Harvie Branscomb
Bennett Harvie Branscomb (December 25, 1894 – July 23, 1998) was an American theologian and academic administrator. He served as the fourth chancellor of Vanderbilt University, a private university in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1946 to 1963. P ...
of the
Duke Divinity School
The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...
bought a manuscript of the Greek
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
in a
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
bookshop. The manuscript after its arrival at the Library became ''Duke Greek Ms. 1''. This was on 19 February 1931, and it was the beginning of the collection. Although the initial intention was only to collect manuscripts of the New Testament, today the collection contains a variety of materials.
[''A Short History of the Clark Collection of Greek Manuscripts'']
In the collection are 27 manuscripts which contain texts of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. Among this number — Mss.
4,
5,
6,
15,
22,
25,
31,
38,
60, and
64. Ms. 60, also known as ''
Codex Daltonianus
Codex Daltonianus, known as ''Minuscule 1423'' (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by A119 (in the Soden numbering), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on a paper. Palaeographically it had been assigned to ...
'', is most notable among this group. Written in the latter half of the 11th century, it contains commentaries to the four
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
.
There are also some
Lectionaries
A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, and a ...
in collection, represented by MSS.
1,
2,
10,
12, 20,
24,
27,
28,
39,
43,
65,
82,
83, 85.
Two lectionaries are more notable: Ms 65 and 85.
Ms 65 (ℓ ''1839'') was written in the 11th century.
Ms. 85 (ℓ ''451''), is signed by Clement the Monk who dated it on 20 July, indiction 5, in the year 6560
.e., AD 1052 This signature makes it one of the earliest dated Greek lectionary manuscripts. Another manuscript, Ms. 39, was written by the scribe Lucas. A large-format lectionary written on paper, it was produced between 1626 and 1629.
See also
*
Ms. 3
*
Ms. 7
*
Ms. 16
*
Ms. 22
References
Further reading
*
Kenneth Willis Clark Kenneth Willis Clark (1898–1979) was a professor at Duke University, Greek Palaeography, palaeographer; area of interest: Greek New Testament manuscripts, and author of numerous books.
Clark catalogued the Greek New Testament manuscripts housed i ...
, ''Greek New Testament Manuscripts in Duke University Library'', Library Notes, no. 27 (April 1953)
External links
Greek manuscripts at Dukeduke.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark Collection, Kenneth Willis
Duke University Libraries
Greek New Testament manuscripts
Manuscripts by collection