Evangelical School of Smyrna, B. 8
(Physiologus of Smyrna)
Codicology
| Produced: | 11th century |
| Current Location: | Evangelical School of Smyrna, Izmir, Turkey |
| Manuscript Type: | Single-author |
| Physiologus Version: | Greek |
| Language: | German |
| Illustrated: | Yes |
| Dimensions: | Height: 24 cm Width: 18.5 cm |
Description
An early Greek Physiologus is on page 1-137 It is illustrated.
This manuscript was destroyed by fire in 1922. It was photographed in black and white before the fire.
The manuscript pages are numbered sequentially, not by folio. The beast list is based on Strzygowski, as are the images, which are very poor. Only a few of the images are clear enough to be shown here.
The library of the Evangelical School in Smyrna has a 24 cm high and 18.5 cm wide parchment manuscript under the call number B. 8, which is of outstanding value for research in the field of Byzantine literature and art. It is not enough that on pages 1-137 it contains one of the oldest Greek Physiologus texts known to date, in connection with this it also contains the only sequence of images that exists to dat... Other treatises of a related kind are then structured around this Physiologus, and p. 156 begins an editing of the Christian local history of the Kosmas Indikopleustes, which is ... illustrated, and even more so because this circle of images - essentially different from that represented by the three manuscripts in the Vatican, represented in the Laurentiana and on the Sinai and so far the only known cycle, demands no less great interest than the Physiologus. ... our manuscript essentially consists of three sections: 1. the Physiologus proper, 2. the Stone Book and other treatises, 3. the Cosmas. ... [The Stone Book is] a short lapidarius by an epitome from Epiphanius' description of the twelve stones on the breastplate ... [The book] which mainly takes into account the mysterious powers of the twelve stones, does not contain any religious elements.
Additional Descriptions
Editions and Facsimiles
Printed editions
Printed facsimiles
Strzygowski, Der Bilderkreis des griechischen Physiologus: des Kosmas Indikopleustes und Oktateuch: nach Handschriften der Bibliothek zu Smyrna (partial, printed images from B&W photos, poor quality)
