The Handlist displays six fields or columns for every manscript: (1) Present Location and shelfmark; (2) Number of folios; (3) Date; (4) Provenance; (5) Contents; (6) Notes. In the present file, the entries are organized alphabetically according to their location, given in the first field of each item. This field contains an abbreviation of city and library: e.g., ParN = Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale (click here for a listing of the libraries and their abbreviations). It also gives the shelfmark of the manuscript.
When available, links are provided from this first field of the Handlist to online catalogue descriptions of the manuscripts. In the second field, which gives the number of folios in the manuscript, links are provided that point to digitized versions of the manuscripts, either complete or selected images (the latter designated with an asterisk).
The remaining fields in the Handlist are relatively self-explanatory. Occasionally an entry will be given multiple dates or provenances. This reflects the composite nature of the item, i.e., a number of manuscripts from potentially various times and places having been bound together at a later date in a single manuscript. Where this information is available, an effort has been made to connect the various dates with the specific Gloss content. However, generally only the most recent catalogues give enough information to suggest precise connections in this regard.
The content field gives the abbreviated names of the Biblical books, the Gloss of which appears in the manuscript. The Gloss on a few collections of Biblical books are almost always found as a unit, notably the four books of Kings, the two books of Chronicles, the twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi), the traditional thirteen Epistles of Paul (Romans-Hebrews) and the Canonical Epistles (James-Jude). Occasionally, a manuscript will contain some, but not all, of the books in the collection, so it will be necessary to search not only on the name of the collection, but also of the individual books in a given collection. In addition to the collections mentioned above, there are several manuscripts in the Bibliothèque national de France and elsewhere whose descriptions are merely general and vague as to specifics. These include manuscripts containing various books of the Pentateuch, etc. For details about these For details about these manuscripts and their descriptions click here.
Where a manuscript contains the Gloss on multiple books, either the beginning and end (or first folio) of each is given in parentheses, where provided. If a manuscript contains the Gloss on a single book/collection, it is assumed that the numbers given in the second field of the entry will suffice.
We have avoided using the designations of 1Esdras and 2Esdras for Esdras and Nehemias. To complicate matters, the catalogues do not always make it clear whether ‘Esdras’ is being used just for Esdras, but also Nehemias (Jerome had combined them in a single book). The manuscripts, however, virtually always separate the two as Esdras and Nehemias.
Given the size of the list, we have chosen to break it into five sections as follows:
1. Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales through Dubrovnik, Dominikanski Samostan
2. Durham, Cathedral Library through München, Universitätsbibliothek
3. Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale through Paris, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne
4. Perugia, Biblioteca comunale Augusta through Troyes, Médiathèque Jacques-Chirac
5. Uppsala, Universitetsbibliotek through Zwettl, Bibliothek des Stifts
At the end of the last section of the handlist there is a list of manuscripts currently in private hands.
We have also provided a second version of the Handlist according to biblical book. Click here to go to the Handlist by Book.
GlossaOrdinaria.net 