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Royall Tyler to Mildred Barnes Bliss, January 2, 1936

Finance Ministry

Budapest

2.I.35

Dearest Mildred.

Here I am once more. Paris seems a dream. Can it be that that sapphireBZ.1936.17. is now where it should be, for keeps?

MSS RussiaBecause the Soviets were known to be selling artworks, Royall Tyler and the Blisses believed that Byzantine manuscripts might be made available for purchase. There is no evidence, however, that the Blisses visited Russia in 1935.

-Leningrad, Public Library, MS. Petropolitanus 41:Codex Petropolitanus, an incomplete, illuminated Byzantine uncial gospel book, ninth century, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Gr. 34 (Gregory/Aland 041). a celebrated MS related to the famous Codex Parisinus in the Bib. Nat. Paris.TheCodex Parisinus graecus 510, an illuminated Byzantine manuscript of the Homilies of Gregory Nazianzus that was made in Constantinople for Emperor Basil I, ca. 879–883, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, grec 510. MoreyAmerican art historian Charles Rufus Morey (1877–1955) was a professor and chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University between 1924 and 1945. He was best known for his expertise in medieval art and his Index of Christian Art. attributes to VIIe Cent., we to Xe. Not first rate.

This is the only great Byz. Book in Leningrad, but you might as well, at the same time, see Nos.

CI/2, of the XIIe or even XIIIe.New Testament (Minuscule), Byzantine, twelfth century, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Gr. 101 (Gregory/Aland 330).

CV, Gospels of the XIIe (?)New Testament (Minuscule), Byzantine, thirteenth century, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Gr. 105 (Gregory/Aland 574).

CXVIII, Late (XV) with strong Western influence.New Testament (Minuscule), Byzantine, fifteenth century, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Gr. 118 (Gregory/Aland 575).

CCCV, a fragment, XII–XIIIe but good style.Gospel Book, Byzantine, late thirteenth century, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Gr. 305. These are leaves from a Gospel Book on Mt. Athos, Lavra A76. Other folios are in other collections, including the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris (Mn.Mas 2) and the Walters Art Museum (W.530.F–G). See Georgi R. Parpulov, “A Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum,” The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62 (2004): 114–16..

In Moscow, in the Library of the Historical Museum, see

No. 129—The Chloudoff Psalter,Chludov Psalter, Byzantine, mid-ninth century, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Gr. 129. a very famous IXe or (as we think) Xe book with quantities of illustrations, unfortunately repainted at a later period, but the repaints often flaked off.

No. СИНОД. ΓРЕЧ. 9.Menologion, Byzantine, 1063, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Gr. 9. A most lovely XIe cent. Lives of the Saints. A marvel of beauty

Get! No. СИНОД. ΓРЕЧ. 183.Menologion, Byzantine, early eleventh century, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Gr. 183. A very fine Menologion (Martyrdoms). Gory scenes like those in the famous Basil II Menologion in the Vatican,Menologion of Basil II,Vaticanus graecus 1613, an eleventh-century illuminated Byzantine manuscript with 430 miniatures in the Vatican library. and of at least as fine quality. Finer than the Walters (Balt.) Menologion.The “Imperial” Menologion (W.521), Walters Art Museum, an eleventh-century illuminated collection of saints lives for the month on January that Henry Walters acquired in 1930. See Georgi R. Parpulov, “A Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum,” The Journal of the Walters Art Museum 62 (2004): 83–88. Selections of the manuscript are available as a digital facsimile at http://issuu.com/the-walters-art-museum/docs/w521 (accessed September 9, 2015).

No. СИНОД. ΓРЕЧ. 61.Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus, Byzantine, third quarter of the eleventh century, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Gr. 61. A few good pages.

No. СИНОД. ΓРЕЧ. 429.Akathistos to the Virgin, Byzantine, fourteenth century, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Synodal Gr.. 429. “ “ “ “ .

The Russian words mean that these MSS belonged to the Greek library of the Moscow Holy Synod. If Nos. 9 and 183 could be pried loose . . . . I don’t counsel any others, Petropol. 41 is celebrated beyond its deserts, and so is Chloudoff, and astronomical prices would be asked for them. It might be worth while getting prices for them too—and thus not declaring your hand as to 9 and 183 at the outset. Better write to your Embassy before-hand to make arrangements for you to be admitted to the Moscow Library. In Leningrad, the Intellectual Relations Bureau called VOX, which Lady MurielProbably Lady Muriel Evelyn Vernon Paget (1876–1938), a British philanthropist and humanitarian relief worker, initially based in London, and later in Eastern and Central Europe. In 1915, Lady Paget went to Petrograd, where she set up an Anglo-Russian hospital for the treatment of wounded soldiers. Mildred Barnes Bliss and Lady Paget corresponded between 1917 and 1938. See Bliss Papers, HUGFP 76.8, box 33. knows well, would guide you to the Library. Better warn them beforehand, via Lady M.

I’m writing to Lady ChilstonAmy Akers-Douglas, née Jennings-Bramly (d. 1962), the wife of Aretas Akers-Douglas, 2nd Viscount Chilston (1876–1947), a British diplomat who was the ambassador to the Soviet Union between 1933 and 1938. besides the enclosed.

Much love from us both.

Yrs

R. T.

 
Associated Places: Budapest (Hungary)
Associated Artworks: BZ.1936.17