Manuscript No. 19: Menologium and Homilies

Item Overview

Title

Manuscript No. 19: Menologium and Homilies

Uniform title

Yaysmavurk' ew Kʻarozkʻ

Date Created

18th century

Date

1701/1800

Language

Armenian

Collection

Armenian Manuscripts

Notes

Description

206 folios. Text in notragir, written in one column: folios 1-195 have 23-25 lines each, and folios 196-206 have 31-32. The quires have not been numbered; however, the gatherings appear to have 8 leaves each.

Colophon

Colophons: NoneInscriptions: Fol. 35v. At the end of the reading for the “Martyrology of the Apostle Andrew”Fol. 91v. Four ring seals stamped in lower margin: Two seals have the initials Ash.YV 1887. Two seals with illegible Persian script.Fol. 91v. Above the four seals in modern hand: Arshak Yovh. Tr. Grigorean I Mamu(chay)1908.

Provenance

There are no colophons in the codex; hence its date of execution and provenance are unknown. The reading for November 30, however, ends with a prayer asking “Christ God have mercy upon the sinful Awetis. Amen!” (fol. 35v). It can be assumed that Awetis was the scribe who copied the book. The paleography suggests that the codex was probably executed in the 18th century. In the lower margin of fol. 91v we find the signature of Arshak Yovhannēs Tēr Grigorian, and the date 1908. Below this signature are four stamped seals; among these, two identical seals have the initials Ash.YV and the date 1887. These initials can definitely be identified with the name of Arshak Yovhannēs Tēr Grigorian, who must have owned the codex. The date 1887 must be the year in which the seal was made. Two other identical seals with Persian characters are illegible. We learn from a note on a sheet inside the book that Dr. Minasian purchased it in November 12, 1950, from an unnamed individual. Eremia Edgarian acted as the intermediary in the transaction.

Physical Description

Extent

206 folios

Dimensions

22x16.5 cm.

Binding note

Soiled alum-tawed leather wrapped around and glued onto brown leather over wooden boards, cut with a vertical grain. Text sewn and intact but detached from boards, which are not the original boards of the textblock. About three-quarters of white cloth spine lining of the original binding remains at the spine leather of the detached boards, and two of the three original single cords used as sewing supports are still adhered to the spine lining. These to not correspond to the four sewing stations now on the spine of the textblock. The three original cords were not attached to the boards, but were frayed out and glued to the outside of the wooden boards before the spine lining was added. There are no holes drilled into these boards that could have been used for board attachment or endbands. No evidence of a free-edge flap. Two holes on lower board remain from clasps, now wanting. Paper pastedowns line the boards, and the pastedown of the front board is written in notragir and was pasted over the alum-tawed leather. Edges darkened. Sewing is unusual, and it appears that the text was originally sewn over two or perhaps four thongs or tapes (not cords), now wanting. No notches or endbands. Pages damaged at edges and may have been trimmed.

Condition note

Fair state of preservation. There are many lacunae throughout the text, and the order of the folios has been severely disturbed. In paginating, pages 246-285 have been repeated. Pages 1-4, 19-20, 101-102, 115-118, and 131-132 are missing. Folios 196-206, which are fragments from a collection of homilies, are not paginated.

Keywords

Genre

Manuscripts

Resource type

text