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Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1203

Microfilm

Additional Information

  • Appr. Date: 16th c. (16th c.)
  • Genres: Philosophical
  • Illustrations: No

Notes

Vaticanus græcus 1440, Damscius (TLG 4066.003 & 4066.004). Cf. Vat. gr. 1440, 1765 and 1791 (our WEST.VAT.1.37, WEST.VAT.1.38 and WEST.VAT.1.36 respectively).

16th cent. according to Rouelle (vol. 1, p. iv in Bibliography), who at least noted (though we have not investigated whether he used) this manuscript.

To the label "Vat. Grec. 1203" the first frame in our film (done by the Vatican) adds "19.IV.79. B.E[.]", a numbering we are unfamiliar with.

Inscription on first leaf, "Damascii J. frag(menta) [Σαβιέκ?] ab ill[(ius/-orum)?] Patri[is? (for which read Principiis].  [Large squiggle.]  Et media circiter totius operis pars, ut apparet, ex codice integro no. 1440."

1r-212v: Damascius, "De Principiis" and "In Parmenidem".

Lovely, swift but clear hand (poss. more than one hand) with the usual abbreviations. Large lower margins. Catchwords at the bottom of every verso and several recto pages. Underlinings. Occasional marginal notes and graphs. First couple folios folded down the middle: visible, but not so as to impair legibility.

Smallish splotch on 199v (vol. 1, p. 309 in Ruelle's ed.) obscuring part of «...οὐκ ἔχει πλῆθος ἐν ἑαυτῷ πολλῶν ἀριθμόν τε καὶ ἀδιάκριτον ἀπὸ τούτ(ου) μόνον... » (cf. Ruelle's «...οὐκ ἔχει πλῆθος ἐν ἑαυτῷ πολλῶν ἀριθμῶν συνεσπειραμένον, ἀλλὰ πάντῃ ἀνάριθμόν τε καὶ ἀδιάκριτον αὐτὸ τοῦτο μόνον...»).

Fol. 210r, lines 4-7:  «...λέγω τὰς ἀπορίας ἡμῖν ἐρ / γάζονται· ἐπ[εὶ] κατὰ ἀλήθειαν, οὐδὲ τὰς ἀμεθέκτους ταῖς μεθεκταῖς ἤ / περ ουσίαί [sic; Rouelle εἴπερ οὐσία· fort. legend. ὑπερουσίαι] τινες, καὶ οἱ ἀμέθεκτοι νόες, καὶ γὰρ οἱ νοεροί, θεοί τινες / δὴ δὲ ἐπιστῆσαι κανόνα τὰς συζεύξεις...»  This is given without break; cf. Rouelle's ed. §§ 126 (ter) and 127 (vol. 2, pp. 4-5) in Online Resources (scanned somewhat out of order by Google Books), and TLG 4066.003 & 4066.004.

Our film WEST.VAT.35 ends with 212v and a blank, unnumbered recto.  Catchword on the former, which desinit «Πᾶσα γὰρ δημιουργικὴ τομή, ἐν τοῖς θείοις πράγμασιν, ἔχει τινὰ ἴδιον προστασίαν· ἔσονται δὴ οὗτοι μέσοι, τῶν τε πηγαίων [catchword:] καὶ τῶν μεριστῶν νο[ερῶν]...»  Cf. Rouelle vol. 2, p. 9 («...Ἔσονται δὴ οὗτοι μέσοι τῶν τε πηγαίων καὶ τῶν μεριστῶν νοερῶν, κατὰ νοῦν μὲν καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑφεστῶτες, οὐ μερικὸν δέ, ἀλλά...» κλπ.). Unable to say from our film whether the codex continues on or not. (Presumably Prof. Westerink ordered the complete manuscript, but we have no note one way or another.)

Rouelle's ed. has been superseded by Westerink's six volumes for Belles Lettres (see Bibliography), but we have not been able to examine the latter. At the time of this writing, the TLG is using the outdated one (with no app. crit.).

Currently no print catalogue for Vaticani græci 933-1484 (though there is an unpublished catalogue by Νικόπουλος for 2502-2632 and one in preparation by Yantz for 1288-1421). Some information can often be found in the various Studi e Testi volumes (see Bibliography) and/or the Vatican website.  Further information can also often be had by performing a Google search with "mss.vatlib.it" specified as the domain (do an Advanced Search or add "site:mss.vatlib.it" to the terms).

Bibliography