Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-10-02
Biblical Manuscript.
NJ 8. NJ. THOMPSON. OF rHE pRiTIsH Mu.ru
From SUNDAY at Home,"
C0DEX SINATTICUS.

The story of the finding OF this
manuscript by Constantine lis.
chendorf has been told by himself,
and is generally known. 1t will
therefore be sufficient for our pres
ent purpose briefly to narrate that,
in 1874, Tischendorf made his first
discovery of the existence of this
treasure in a basket of papers de-
ct ned to light fires in the convent
of st. Catharine on Mount Sinai.
This find consisted of fnrty-three
leaves, which contained chiefly the
books of Nehemiah and Esther. He
was allowed to carry away these
leaves, bui, although he at the same
time ascertained tina. other por-
tons OF the manuscript were extant,
he could not induce the monks to
part with more. On his return to
Leig zig he published the fragment
with the title of "Codex FREDERICK
Augustanus," IN honor of the King
of Saxony, under whose patronage
bis travels were undertaken. The
original is deposited in the Univer
sity Library of Leipzig. Although
he made other attempts to gain ey-
en- sight OF the rest of the covet-
ed volume, he was destined TO wait
fifteen years before attaining his
object La 1859 he made third
Journey into the East, and, being on
this occasion under the protection
of the Emperor of Russia, had the
happiness 10 have the manuscript
spontaneously surrendered to him.
Ii now lies in the Imperial Library
of st. Petersburg, having been pub
lished by Tischendorf, in facsimile
type made expressl for tho pur-
pose, 10 1862, under tho name Of
"Codex Sinaiticus Petrop o'i.anus."
1t must therefore be remembered
that this famous manuscript, like
some others which have gone
through somewhat similar vIciss-
tudes and have found their way
piecemeal 30 the libraries of Europe,
is now divided, although the por.
ton at leipzig is only fragment.
The whole manuscript contains
389 leaves Of fine vellum, made up
into quires generally of eight leaves,
ruled as usual on one eide of the
leaf with hard point. But the
ruling has this popularity, 10 COM
mon with the Codex Alexandrinus,
that oae ruled line has frequently
to do duty for two written lines,
that is to say, the ruling is 30 wide
that every other line of writing lies
between the lines This method
was probably follow ID to AVOID the
risk OF injuriDg the fiue vellum more
than was absolu tely necessary.
Originally it is computed TO have
had upwards of 700 leaves. Asst
now stands, it contains portions OF
the Saptuagiat and the whole OF the
New Testament. with the eplstIe of
Barnabas and part OF the "Shep-
herd" OF Hermas annexed.
In this manuscript, which is also
nearly square, measuring fourteen.
and-seven-eighths by tbirteen-and- a.
balf inches, we have an instance Of
q text written 10 four columns in q
page, the open book displaying the
uuusual spectacle of eight parallel
columns of writing. an arrange
ment which, it has been though,
was suggested by the narrow COL
umns of prototype written on pa
pyrus. The poetical books of the
| Old Testament are, however, writ
ten in double columns only.
1t was only natural tba. it's dis
coverer should have done his Ut
most to prove the superior age OF
the manuscript of Mount Sinai; bnt,
ljadging by the general charsc er Of
the writing as well as by internal
evidence, students have gradually
come to the general conclusion that
it is not equal in age to the codex
of the Vatican. Tischendorfs as
sertion that one of the four hands
which he traces 10 the writing of
bis manuscript il also to be recog-
Dized in the Codex Vaticanus can
not be maintained.
| One particular reason which has
weighed as much as anything else
with Biblical students in forming