The Bodmer Papyri are a set of Greek and Coptic manuscripts, ranging from the 2nd to the 7th-centuries. These manuscripts were collected between the 1950s and 1960s by Swiss bibliophile,

Martin Bodmer Martin Bodmer (November 13, 1899 – March 22, 1971) was a Swiss bibliophile, scholar and collector. Biography Martin Bodmer was the son of wealthy parents born in Zurich, Switzerland, where he lived until 1948. His father died in 1916 leav ...

, who obtained them across Egypt. Many of these manuscripts are unique or early transcriptions of important Christian works, such as ''

The Vision of Dorotheus ''The Vision of Dorotheus'' or ''Dorotheos'' ( grc, Όρασις Δωροθέου, Órasis Dorothéou) is an autobiographical Homeric Greek poem, composed in 343 lines of dactylic hexameter and attributed to "Dorotheus, son of Quintus the Poet". ...

'' or the Biblical , described by the Foundation Martin Bodmer as "highly important for the history of early Christianity", alongside several classical or

Egyptological Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...

works, such as the works of

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

and Egyptian land and financial registers. Many of these papyri are parts of larger papyrus codexes, such as the Bodmer Composite Codex or Codex of Visions. These manuscripts, since Bodmer's death, have been scattered across several collections; primarily in the

Bibliotheca Bodmeriana The Bodmer Foundation (French: ''Fondation Bodmer'') is a library and museum specialised in manuscripts and precious editions. It is located in Cologny, Switzerland just outside Geneva. Also known as Bibliotheca Bodmeriana (or Bodmer Library ...

, these papyri are also found in the

Chester Beatty Library The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...

, libraries in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and the Vatican. Because of the efforts of the Fondation Bodmer and many scholars, these manuscripts have been prepared into ''

editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For ...

'' and digitized, allowing for scholarly access. The following list is based on the catalogues of the Bodmer Lab, Brent Nongbri and Albert Pietersma. The numbering system of Bodmer Papyri is primarily based on the abbreviation "Papyrus Bodmer" with an

Arabic numeral Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...

(e.g. Papyrus Bodmer 23). Some scholarship uses the older system of

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

(e.g. Papyrus Bodmer XXIII) but this is inefficient for a sortable, online database, so it is used secondarily. Where a date range for a papyrus can be ascertained, it is included, but otherwise one isn't included. The "citation(s)" section refers to the ''editio princeps'' of the papyrus, alongside later text revisions or additions. When a papyrus is part of a larger codex, that codex's name is added.

Manuscripts

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bodmer Papyri
Bodmer Papyri at Bodmer Lab
- Digital scans of most of the Bodmer Papyri
Papyrus Bodmer 8 at the Vatican Library Website

Papyrus Bodmer 14+15 (XIV+XV Codex) at the Vatican Library Website

Papyrus Bodmer 24 at the Museum of the Bible Website
Papyrus New Testament papyri Ancient Christian texts Egyptian papyri Greek-language papyri