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The list of those who expedited the plans is a lengthy one, but
special acknowledgment is gratefully recorded here of several to
whom I am especially indebted.
John Nuveen, former Chief of the United States ECA mission to Greece
introduced me to several American officials in Greece who made their
resources available; in particular, Russell P. Drake and Archie
Johnston of the Mutual Security Agency. Albert Miller, Chief of
the U. S. Information Service in Salonika, not only offered the
use of equipment, but, as a professional photographer, advised me
on technical problems encountered. In Athens, I had the pleasure
of meeting Professors N. Louvaris and H. Alivisatos who generously
prepared letters of introduction to the Metropolitan of Salonika
and to the Holy Synod of Athos. Our cultural attache, W. E. Weld,
Jr., assisted me in obtaining the necessary permission from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Early in November I was granted an
audience with His Holiness, the Ecu- menical Patriarch Athanagoras
in Istanbul. The gracious hospitality and keen interest with which
he received the plans for a photographic mission confirmed the testimony
of other friends that this supreme leader of the Eastern Orthodox
Church is a devoted friend of America and one who is both aware
of the religious treasures his church holds as trustee and desirous
that they be shared with all Christendom. The learned Metropolitan
of Thessaloniki, Panteleimon, and Dr. S. Pelekanides, curator of
Byzantine antiquities in Macedonia, greatly encouraged me by their
interest and offered assurances that the Athonite communities would
cooperate with our research program.
While I awaited the arrival of the
photographic equipment by air service from the United States, I
searched Salonika for certain New Testament manuscripts known to
have been located there. The abbot of Moni Vlatadon, the sole monastery
remaining in the city, informed me that their 9 New Testament manuscripts
had been transferred to Moni Iviron on Athos for safekeeping during
World War II and remained there still. The New Testament manuscripts
which were formerly housed in the First Greek Gymnasium are now
domiciled at the National Library in Athens, including some 247
(and 7 fragments) of the 691 manuscripts taken by the Bulgarians
during World War I from the monasteries at Serres and Drama.7
In the library of Anatolia College in Salonika I came upon a mutilated
Armenian manuscript of the Four Gospels which was later photographed
for this collection.
December 11 was Departure Day. A truck
from the American Mission transported all our supplies including
the Recordak camera and two portable electric plants, one loaned
by the Greek Army and the other by the United States Information
Service, across the peninsula of Chalcidice to the little fishing
village of Ierrisos. My com- panion was John E. Keshishoglou, a
photoreporter for a daily newspaper in Salonika, who had agreed
to join me in this expedition as photog-rapher and general assistant.
A four-hour trip by fishing boat the following morning brought us
to the ancient monastery of Vatopedi, a seacoast monastery located
about the midpoint of the eastern side of the peninsula, where we
were to carry on our work for the next month and a half. Traveling
on immediately by mule to Karyes, capital of the little republic,
we presented our credentials the following morning to the holy
Epistasia, or executive committee, and received in return the
official diamonitirion which gave us access to the libraries
and treasuries of the Athonite monasteries. We were commended to
the hospitality of the twenty Holy and Venerable Monasteries of
Athos that we might accomplish our "holy purpose to study and
photograph codices, manuscripts and holy treasures." The famous
seal was affixed, a quarter of which is held in the possession of
each member of the Epistasia, and the date stamped November
30, 1952, according to the old Julian calendar which is still followed
in all but one of the monasteries of Athos. Here in Karyes we met
the Honorable Constantine Constantopoulos, his Majesty's repsentative
at Athos, a sensitive and learned person who is devoted to the purpose
of acquainting the present communities with the rich tradition of
the Byzantine civilization which they have inherited. He is no less
concerned about encouraging the interest of scholars in Athos as
a center of Byzantine studies.
[VIII]
Throughout our stay at the tenth-century
monastery of Vatopedi we were granted every courtesy and privilege.
The library, which is located in an ancient tower, as is customary
among these monasteries, provides excellent storage facilities for
its well-bound and carefully kept books. Because of the winter's
chill, a specially heated room was made available to us by the kindly
epitropoi, and Fathers Porphyrios and Gennadios, the librarians,
supervised and en- couraged our task. Here in this idiorhythmic
monastery of about fifty men the day began at five o'clock with
the singing of the Liturgy, following which we were permitted to
enter the Library to select our books for the day's work. So obliging
was our aged supervisor that he often remained with us during the
mid-afternoon vesper service so that we might continue our work
without pause. With our microfilming at Vatopedi virtually completed,
distressing news arrived from Washington on January 20 that an improper
camera adjustment had resulted in copies slightly out of focus and
hence not compatible with the exacting standards microfilm copy
must meet. Of the 56 manuscripts photographed, 33 had to be retaken,
although this was only a small fraction of the total of about 1,686
handwritten books in this monastery's possession.
The need for a thorough survey of
the many scattered skitai and kellia of Athos was
confirmed by visits to two which are related to Vatopedi. At the
Skete of Hagios Demetrios we found 35 manuscripts and a handwritten
catalog. At the tiny Roumanian kellion of St. Hypatios, where
we were royally received, half a dozen Roumanian manuscripts were
brought out for our admiration. It is impossible here to describe
the extensive Byzantine remains in the forms of inscriptions, mosaic,
frescoes, relics, chrysobuls, icons, enamels, and reliefs which
are to be found wherever the traveler goes. Elsewhere we have given
some account of these treasures which constitute Athos a veritable
Byzantine museum.8
We arrived at our second monastery,
Iviron, on February 17, at the beginning of the 50-day fast until
Pascha. Here we were welcomed by a French-speaking monk, Father
Athanasios, who serves as the monastery's official host to all foreign
visitors and librarian of the splendid collection of Greek and Georgian
manuscripts. On the following day we were able to select and photograph
the four Georgian manuscripts requested by Canon Briere for his
critical edition of the Gospel of Luke in the Georgian version.
Thanks to Father Athanasios, considerable freedom was accorded us
in daily working schedules; thus, we were able to work from 8:30
in the morning until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening. Physical descriptions
of each manuscript were recorded, foliations checked and corrected,
and colophons transcribed before the manuscript was passed from
the editor's table to the camera lens. At night, test strips were
developed and examined carefully by flickering kerosene or candle
light. At intervals of 3 to 4 weeks the exposed film was carried
back to Salonika from whence it was flown by diplomatic air pouch
service to Athens and on to Washington for processing. During our
11-day stay at Iviron, 34 Greek manuscripts out of the total of
1,386 reported by Lambros were photographed. Permission was denied
to copy MS. 1, a 10th century lectionary, and MS. 23 could not be
located. The Greek manuscripts here have been completely recataloged,
but by the use of the concordance which the librarian had prepared,
one can readily identify the manuscripts desired. The library is
located above the narthex of the church in a small but well-lighted,
dry room.
The small monastery of Pantokrator
received us on March 27 for a 3-day visit. With great effort our
heavy equipment was carried up the long winding staircase that led
to the library on the second floor of the tower. The manuscripts
were in considerable disarray, but Father Eugenios, the librarian,
informed us that renovations begun on the library had been temporarily
halted when it was learned that the government intended to provide
steel cases and shelves for the books. We were privileged to study
and photograph a beautiful copy of the New Testament kept in the
treas-ury of the church, known as the Gospels of John Kalyvitas.
Beautifully written in a very small hand, the book contains New
Testament writings, a Psalter, selections from the Fathers, novellae,
and a profusion of tiny paintings of biblical personages and fathers
of the church. In all, 10 manuscripts of the 234 were photographed;
a shortage of fuel for the motor prevented the copying of one other
which was on our work program.
[IX]
The monastery of Stavroniketa is the
smallest community on the Mountain. In response to our shouted greetings,
when we arrived on March 30, the ailing epitropos and librarian,
Father Euthymios, finally appeared. A younger monk, Father Chrysostom,
the only young man in the community of 13 men, was detailed to help
us carry the equipment up the steep slope from the beach, for the
monastery's only lay assistant was away at Karves with his mule.
The room to which we were directed looked down upon the rocky cliffs
several hundred feet below lashed by a snarling March sea. Our uneasiness
was not put to rest when we learned from our genial young host that
the foundations had been seriously weakened by an earthquake and
necessary repairs would require an expenditure of several billions
of drachmas! During our stay of 4 days, a visit was made to the
Skete of Hagios Andreas just outside the village of Karyes. We stood
in mute admiration before the magnificent paintings, executed in
Moscow, of the great katholikon, now closed except for occasional
use because the community which once numbered 2,000 men has diminished
to a pathetic 20. A few years may bring to a sad end the long Russian
tradition at Athos; indeed, barring a miraculous improvement in
international relations, the foreign monasteries of Athos will soon
become extinct.9
The library at Stavroniketa is unfortunately
located in a dark and damp room on the courtyard level and the mildewed
books were sadly disarranged. Lambros listed 169 manuscripts owned
by this monastery; we photographed 7. MS. Stav. 43 deserves note
among examples of the finest medieval book illustration and miniature
paintings. The portraits of the Evangelists and the church Fathers
together with the familiar Eusebian canon tables are of magnificent
design and execution and are remarkably well preserved.
On Good Friday, April 3, we said farewell
to our friends at Stavroniketa and loaded our baggage aboard a caique
which was transporting some university students to the Lavra for
the Easter festival. Remembering the captain's word, "You have
to make a contact with God to go to the Lavra," we counted
ourselves fortunate to have suffered only 2 days' delay because
of rough seas. At the Lavra we joined a small company of Greek and
British visitors who had come to observe these holy days according
to the centuries-old liturgies of the Eastern Churches. The Lavra
is the oldest of the Athonite communities, founded in 963 A. D.
by St. Athanasios who left a laura or community on Mt. Kyminas in
Bithynia to establish this new community at the southern tip of
the Athonite peninsula under the patronage of his boyhood friend,
the Emperor Nicephoras Phocas II (963-9). It boasts a splendid library,
the center room of the three-room, all-stone building containing
the magnificent manuscript collection. Father Panteleimon, a gentle
and learned man, showed us every kindness during our lengthy stay
of 28 days. Amidst the glad cries of Christos anesti ek nekron,
which ushered in the begin- ning of a new church year, we commenced
our task following a new daily schedule from 6:30 to 10:30 in the
morning and from 2:30 to 6:30 in the afternoon. Our special mentor
into whose custody we were assigned, Father Gregorios, proved to
be a very amiable person and an entertaining conversationalist.
A valuable week's time was lost because of a delay in a shipment
of film which we sorely needed; however, the chief obstacles to
our work were encountered in the form of transportation delays and
mechanical breakdowns of our electric plant.
The wonders of the Lavra treasury
and library beggar description. It was a rare privilege to be permitted
to photograph the magnificent gilt silver covers of the famous Lectionary
of Nice-phoras Phocas II, although, to our regret, the contents
could not be microfilmed. Of the many lectionaries assembled here,
eight were chosen to be photographed because of the uncial script
in which they were written. Codex Laurensis (044) and Codex S (049),
two eighth-century uncials, were found lacking any protective covers
and shelved indiscriminately with the rest. Though they have been
previously photographed, it was decided to copy them again. In all,
our Lavra enterprise was remarkably successful, resulting in the
complete copying of 79 manuscripts out of the xtotal collection
of 2,148 volumes, and selected portions of 26 others requested by
European and American scholars engaged in special research projects.
A day's journey to the Skete of Kousokalyvia
made possible the photographing of a dated manuscript of the Acts,
Epistles and Apocalypse (Greg. 2431), but we searched in vain for
MS. 2 (Greg. 2424) a fragment of four leaves of Hebrews reported
to date from the 10th century.
Sailing around the southern tip of
the peninsula, we arrived at the monastery of Dionysios on the afternoon
of May 13. This was our first experience in a monastery of the cenobitic
pattern, although we had made an overnight visit to Gregorios in
December. There was some confusion in the work schedule for several
days while guests and hosts tried to adjust to the other's system
of reckoning time, for in the cenobitic communities, the old Byzantine
horology continues to by employed. Father Gabriel, the abbot, was
keenly interested in our work and extended to us many courtesies.
An English-speaking monk, Father Hilarion, entertained us with a
cup of "American coffee" in the little cell he has named
his "Queen Mary cabin." Under the watchful eye of witty
Father Euthymios, the librarian, our photographing began.
In addition to some 200 incunabula,
this rich collection includes 798 manuscripts. Lambros lists 586,
and a Supplement published by E. Kourilas continues the collection
from Nos. 587-762. However, the manuscripts have been en- tirely
renumbered by the librarian and the concordance he has prepared
is correlated only with the Lambros catalog. A beautifully written
manuscript catalog of Father Euthymios describes additional manuscripts
unmentioned by Lambros of Kourilas. A check of the supplementary
catalogs revealed at least 5 additional biblical items beyond those
appearing in Lambros or Gregory.10
Uncial materials photographed at Dionysios
included 8 folios of a ninth century copy of the Gospel of John
(Greg. 050); 13 other leaves are located in Athens, Moscow, and
Oxford. The eighth century Four Gospels Ms. 55 (Greg. 045) was rephotographed
and two uncial lectionaries of the same period, Ms. 90 (Greg. L
627) and Ms. 86 (Greg. L 640). Through the kindness of the abbot,
Father Gabriel, we were permitted to photograph in color the introduction
and con- clusion of the magnificent chrysobul of Alexius III, dated
in 1374 and authorizing the establishment of the monastery, a document
that Professor G. Millet had once begged unsuccessfully to examine.
A final few days were spent at Vatopedi
where our work had begun six months earlier. Our mission came to
a close on the 23rd of May when we sailed for the last time from
Vatopedi to Ierissos. Extensive photographing had been carried on
in six of the principal monasteries. A total of 209 manuscripts
had been microfilmed in entirety; 44 others in selected portions.
Everywhere we were received with cordiality and extended many courtesies
which facilitated our laborious tasks. In each monastery the holy
fathers had offered their customary hospitality to their visitors,
and had expressed their deep concern for the preservation and wider
usefulness of the precious parchments they hold in custody. With
another traveler, we could heartily say, "C'est l'accueil si
fraternel que nous avons reçudans tous les monastères que
nous avons visités * * * Nulle part, il ne nous a été
rien demandé pour nos frais de séjour * * * nous avons vu
beaucoup de saintete au Mont-Athos, et ce n'est pas la le moindre
benefice de notre voyage." 11
We acknowledge our sincere gratitude to these men for their generousity
in sharing these treasures of the Christian past with all who earnestly
devote themselves to a reverent study of the Word of God. No less
today than in former years, the communities of Athos thereby continue
to make a special contribution to biblical scholarship.
Selecting and Editing the Manuscripts
The chief purpose of this six months
mission at Mount Athos was to microfilm approximately 350 New Testament
manuscripts in these libraries which were representative of Von
Soden's subdi- visions of the Koine recension, the readings of which
might ultimately by incorporated into the new apparatus criticus
now being compiled by the International Greek New Testament Project.
C. R. Gregory's catalog, based on the visits he made to Athos in
1886, 1902, and 1906, provided invaluable help. In addition, the
catalogs of S. P. Lambros and S. Eustratiades were available in
the monasteries visited, although they are frequently inaccurate
and certainly incomplete. At the Lavra permission was granted to
photo- graph the great manuscript catalog of Father Chrysostom employed
by Eustratiades. Furthermore, we microfilmed the Library's copy
of the Eustratiades catalog containing numerous corrections by the
present librarian, Father Panteleimon. Two manuscript catalogs of
Father Panteleimon were microfilmed, one describing an additional
27 manuscripts in the library; the other listing a supplementary
36 manuscripts to the printed list of 79 liturgical texts which
are kept in the katholikon or Great Church. At Dionysios
we were permitted to see but not to photograph Father Euthymios'
supplement to the catalog of Lambros. We were told that Father Alexandros
of Vatopedi is preparing a catalog of the texts at the Skete of
Hagios Dionysios and others scattered about in various kellia
and kalyvia.
Our program of work was only partially
fulfilled. But, in addition to the principal portion of the desiderata
on our original list, we were able to meet the requests for special
materials received from nine scholars and institutions in America
and Europe. It will be seen from the Checklist that these included
liturgical, patristic, and musical writings. Three dated manuscripts
containing the full text of the New Testament were photographed:
Vatop. 966 (1289 A. D. replete with miniatures); Lav. A.99 (1317
A. D.); and Omega 141 (1328 A. D.). The oldest dated Greek manuscript
copied was Four Gospels (Vatop. 949) bearing the name of the scribe
Ephraim and the date 949 A. D. C. R. Gregory, who saw the manuscript
on a visit in 1902, believed that the colophon was added by a later
hand but admitted, "Das Jahr passte ganz gut," 12
but a Georgian manuscript of the Gospels at Iviron (83) bears the
date 913 A. D. Five uncial straight-text manuscripts were microfilmed,
a Four Gospels (Dion. 55); Gospel of John (Dion. 2); Apocalypse
(Pant. 44); Praxapostolos (Lav. A.88); and a New Testament lacking
the Apocalypse (Lav. B.52). In addition, thirteen lectionaries written
in uncial letters were included. Ms. Vatop. 1219 contains a rich
assortment of stray leaves from continuous text and lectionary manuscripts
ranging from the eighth to the eleventh centuries, a number of the
pieces in uncial script. Some identifications of these fugitive
pieces have already been made.
Every effort was made to secure the
most important biblical texts. This involved not only a careful
study of the published catalogs, but also a patient combing of the
shelves to confirm and supplement the catalog descriptions. Careful
notations were made of the binding and the general conditions of
each manuscript chosen to be copied. Folios were checked and errors
noted where corrections in the original manuscript were impossible.
New measurements were taken and all original colophons were copied
directly from the manuscript itself since they are often badly faded
and the film copy is difficult to read. In the list that follows,
local library numbers appear together with the accepted numeration
universally employed for New Testament texts. The total number of
folios is given and any errors in the foliation of the manuscript
are noted. In many instances selections from the church fathers
appearing in an accompanying commentary to the text are identified.
Since the measurements were very carefully taken and an average
compiled, it was decided to supply this information as a check upon,
and correction to other published descriptions. Scribes and dates
are identified. Technical difficulties were legion for the microfilming
operation: thin vellum revealing the writing from the opposite side;
tight bindings preventing flat openings; badly water-stained parchment
and worm-eaten paper; diminutive books written in a microscopic
hand. Withal, however, the scholar is presented with a copy of his
manuscript which is the most accurate facsimile science can offer.
The preparation of this Checklist
has involved many months of editing the processed film and of checking
the compiling data. The author welcomes any inquiries for information
beyond the descriptions given here. Corrections and supple- mentary
information are earnestly solicited. It is our fervent hope that
this pioneer project represents truly a pilot mission, a preliminary
phase in a large-scale operation which will establish a microfilm
record of the chief contents of these monastic libraries to meet
the immediate research needs of international scholarship and to
provide an imperishable resource for future labors. It is worthy
of note here that many of the Athonite leaders urged strongly that
steps be taken in this fashion to ensure the survival and the availability
of their manuscript treasures. It is a sad commen- tary on our present
civilization that in their frantic struggle for survival men may
permit the slow deterioration or sudden destruction of that legacy
from an earlier time which gives continuance to the past and meaning
to the present.
XII
As this Checklist neared completion,
I consid- ered the possibility of extending its usefulness by recording,
in addition to these films in the Library of Congress collection,
the facsimiles of Athonite manuscripts included in other library
collections. With the aid of the Library of Congress, permis- sion
was secured to reproduce the lists of Harvard
College Library, the Institut de Recherche et d'His- toire des Textes
in Paris, and the Deutsche Akademie in Berlin. I am deeply grateful
to Robert H. Haynes, Assistant Librarian of the Harvard College
Library, to my good friend Pere Marcel Richard of Paris, and to
Professor Kurt Aland of Berlin for their willingness to place their
library catalogs at my disposal and to permit the inclusion of their
Athos photographs and films in this Check- list.
Throughout the period of work at Athos
and the subsequent completion of this Checklist, Professor Merrill
M. Parvis, director of the International Greek New Testament Project,
has given en- couragement and assistance. Professor G. Ernest Wright
graciously granted consent to the use of some of the material I
published in the Biblical Archaeologist. I am deeply grateful
to Verner W. Clapp, former Chief Assistant Librarian, and to Donald
C. Holmes, Chief of the Photoduplication Service of the Library
of Congress, who supplied the necessary photographic equipment and
who of-fered valuable counsel on many technical problems. Charles
G. LaHood and his staff have expended every effort to develop the
excellent form in which the Checklist appears. Whatever deficiency
re- mains must be attributed to the writer alone. Had it not been
for the leave of absence and material assistance extended through
Dr. Horace G. Smith, former president of Garrett Biblical Institute,
this program could never have been begun. Mrs. Seth P. Bower prepared
a large section of the type-script and helped bring order out of
a chaos of notes. But most of all, I am indebted to my wife not
simply for her help in the typing and proofreading of this manuscript,
but for keeping her lonely vigil with the children in Salonika during
those six long months when I stepped backward in time into the Middle
Ages seclusion of Athos, "Jerusalem of Orthodoxy." ERNEST
W. SAUNDERS, Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Illinois.
XIII
_______
1See K. W. Clark,
"Exploring the Manuscripts of Sinai and Jerusalem"'The
Biblical Archaeologist, XVI (May, 1953), 22-43. A full account of
the results may be found in his Checklist of Manuscripts in St.
Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai (Wasington: Library of Congress,
1952), and in the Checklist of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the
Greek and Armenian Patriarchates in Jerusalem (Washington: Library
of Congress, 1953). The expeditions were jointly sponsored by the
American Foundation for the Study of Man, the Library of Congress,
and the American Schools of Oriental Research.
2M. M. Parvis,
"The International Project to Establish a New Critical Apparatus
of the Greek New Testament," Crozer Quarterly, XXVII (Oct.,
1950), 301-308.
3K. Lake, "Texts
from Mt. Athos" in Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica, V, pt.
2 (1902), 88-185, and the Journal of Theological Studies, I (1900),
290-292.
4K. Wietzmann,
Die byzantinische Buchmalerei des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts (Berlin,
1935).-, "The Narrative and Liturgical Gospel Illustration,"
in M. M. Parvis and A. P. Wikgren, New Testament Manuscript Studies,
(Chicago, 1950.)
5F. Dolger, Aus
den Schatzkammern des Heiligen Berges (Munchen: F. Bruckmann Verlag,
1948), 2 vols.
6M. Richard, "Rapport
sur une Mission d'Etudes en Grece, 1951," in Bulletin d'lnformation
de l'lnstitut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, I (1952) 48-80.
7Cf. M. Richard,
Repertoire de Ribliotheques et des Catalogue de Manuacrits Grecs
(Paris, Centre de Documentation de Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, 1948), 43, 98. A revised edition will soon appear.
8See the writer's
article, "Operation Microfilm at Mt. Athos" in the Biblical
Archaeologist, XVIII (May, 1955), 22-41. Cf. F. Dolger, Monchsland
Athos (Munchen, 1945).
9There were about
450 non-Greek monks on Athos in 1953 and the number declines steadily
by death. There have been no additions to the Russian communities
since the Bolshevik revolution. No Roumanians have been per- mitted
to enter since 1927 and despite the improvement of relationships
between Greece and Yugoslavia, no novices had entered the community
of Chiliandari up to 1953.
10Kourilas:
3 Four Gospels; 2 Evangelia. Euthymios: 2 Four Gospels; 3 Evangelia,
one dated 1201 A. D.
11M. Richard,
Rapport., p. 70.
12C. R. Gregory,
Textkritik des Neuen Testaments (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs' Buchhandlung,
1900-09), III, p. 1160.
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