New Mathematical and Algorithmic Schemes for Pattern Classification with Application to the Identification of Writers of Important Ancient Documents

In this paper, a novel approach is introduced for classifying curves into proper families, according to their similarity. First, a mathematical quantity we call plane curvature is introduced and a number of propositions are stated and proved. Proper similarity measures of two curves are introduced and a subsequent statistical analysis is applied. First, the efficiency of the curve fitting process has been tested on 2 shapes datasets of reference. Next, the methodology has been applied to the very important problem of classifying 23 Byzantine codices and 46 Ancient inscriptions to their writers, thus achieving correct dating of their content. The inscriptions have been attributed to ten individual hands and the Byzantine codices to four writers

Introduction to A Catalogue of Previously Uncatalogued Ethiopic Manuscripts in England

This catalogue presents information on twenty-three previously uncatalogued Ethiopian manuscripts held in three University Libraries and one private collection in England. Two prior catalogues of the Ethiopian manuscripts in the Bodleian Libraty (Oxford) have been produced. In 1848, A. Dillmann described thirty-five manuscripts in his Cata!ogus Codicum Manuscriplorum Bibliothccae Bodleianae Oxoniensis, Pars. VII. Codices Aethiopici (Oxford). In 1951, Edward Ullendorff described another sixty-six manuscripts in his Catalogue of\u27 Ethiopian Manuscripts in the Bodleian Librwy, Volume II (Oxford). This catalogue describes another fourteen Ethiopian manuscripts at the Bodleian, bringing the total to one hundred fifteen

A Newly Identified Old Latin Gospel Manuscript: Würzburg Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f.67

Several Latin manuscripts of the Gospels are described as ‘mixed texts’, which combine Old Latin and Vulgate readings. Würzburg Universitätsbibliothek M.p.th.f.67, a ninth-century gospel book possibly of Breton origin, has been called a ‘mixed text’ although it has not hitherto featured in the list of Old Latin manuscripts published by the Institut Vetus Latina. A full collation of the text of John reveals that in two portions (John 1:1-5:40 and John 12:34-13:10) it may be categorised as Old Latin. Many non-Vulgate readings in these passages are shared with other Old Latin codices (notably Codex Rehdigeranus), while other variants peculiar to this manuscript correspond to citations by Augustine and Jerome. It is also one of the very few Latin witnesses to an additional phrase in John 8:9. Although the Synoptic Gospels have not been collated, they too have a partial Old Latin affiliation, which is particularly extensive in Matthew. As a result of this study, this manuscript has now been given the number Vetus Latina 11A

Remains of Gnomic Anthologies and Pagan Wisdom Literature in the Coptic Tradition

It is well known that a complete and satisfying “history of Coptic literature” is still a desideratum. Among the other causes contributing to the difficulty of such an enterprise are the fragmentary status of the codices which preserve the texts and the fact that a great part of the surviving literary manuscripts date from the 9th to the 11th cent. This means that we have only relics of the early Coptic literary production, and therefore of the tastes, orientations and cultural formation of those groups which, between the 4th and the 5th century, were creating a new literature in the Coptic language. Despite these difficulties, however, it is clear that the Coptic literary tradition was, from its inception, with very few exceptions, mostly of religious content. The article endeavours to understand through which itinera and with what aims Christian Egypt preserved examples of a pagan wisdom literature and to delineate the environments that were responsible for its circulation

Augustine's Adoption of the Vulgate Gospels

This paper examines Augustine's text of the Gospel according to John to trace the process by which he adopted Jerome's revision of the Gospels. An important feature is the distinction between ‘primary citations’ taken from a codex and ‘secondary citations’ likely to have been made from memory, which change affiliation at different rates. Augustine's progress from Old Latin to Vulgate text-types is illustrated by the comparison of selected passages with surviving manuscripts. Textual variants in these citations suggest that Augustine's biblical text has been transmitted accurately

"The Butcher's Bill": Using the Schoenberg Database to Reverse-Engineer Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Books from Constituent Fragments

Medieval manuscripts are perishable objects. Whether they have degraded over time through constant use and exposure to the elements or been deliberately cut up to be reused in other fashions or sold on the collectors’ market, the fragments produced by these destructive circumstances still have much to tell modern scholars about the medieval codices of which they were once a part. Through a series of six case studies focusing on a disparate array of fragments, this essay demonstrates how scholars can use the University of Pennsylvania’s Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts to help recover the hidden histories of fragmentary manuscripts.Publisher does not allow open access until after publicatio