Textus Originalis
DE CODICIBUS LIBRORUM XI—XII.
DE CODICIBUS LIBRORUM XI—XII. Ex omnibus codicibus, quibus libri I—V continentur, unus Coislinianus (A) simul comprehendit libros XI—XV, atque ipse conglutinatus est ex duabus partibus non eadem manu scriptis. Quare hoc quoque in volumine denuo quaestio in codices ponenda est. Plurimi quidem eorum, quibus libri XI et XII servati sunt, etiam libros XIII—XV amplectuntur, tamen ad exponendum, quanti quisque horum codicum sit, argumenta et exempla paene omnia tantum ex libris XI et XII afferemus: non solum quod ceteri libri (XIII—XV) in hoc secundum volumen recipi non potuerunt, sed etiam quod in his et illis libris non eadem ratio inter singulos codices intercedere neque auctoritas eorum eadem esse videtur. Denique exspectamus, ut priusquam tertium volumen apparandus erit, etiam alii codices, inprimis Venetus 375, accuratius inspiciantur. P. Patmius codex in monasterio S. Iohannis Theologi, qui est in insula Patmo, asservatus saeculi X vel XI, a Richardo Bergmann, qui illum anno 1866 ipse contulit*), describitur his verbis (program. Gymn. Brandenburgensis, Berolini 1867): 'Foliis constat 310 membranaceis formae quaternariae maioris, quae omnia sunt bene conservata, nisi quod primum duoque postrema, quia codex longum per tempus tegumento caruit, colorem duxerunt luteum atque ultimi pars dimidia ad dextram abscisa est. Munitus nunc tegumento ligneo,
*) Prius codicem P iam contulerat Joh. Saccelion scholarcha, qua collatione usus est Tischendorf.
Traduzione
English — scholarly
ARETHE Knowledge Engineering DivisionON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF BOOKS XI—XII.
ON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF BOOKS XI—XII. Of all the manuscripts that contain Books I—V, only the Coislinianus (A) simultaneously comprises Books XI—XV, and it is itself glued together from two parts not written by the same hand. Wherefore also in this volume the inquiry into the manuscripts must be undertaken anew. Indeed, most of those manuscripts in which Books XI and XII are preserved also embrace Books XIII—XV; however, to explain how much each of these manuscripts is worth, we will adduce arguments and examples almost entirely only from Books XI and XII: not only because the remaining books (XIII—XV) could not be received into this second volume, but also because in these and those books the same relationship does not seem to exist between individual manuscripts, nor does their authority appear to be the same. Finally, we await that, before the third volume is to be prepared, other manuscripts, especially the Venetus 375, may be more accurately inspected. P. The Patmian codex preserved in the monastery of St. John the Theologian, which is on the island of Patmos, of the 10th or 11th century, which Richard Bergmann himself collated in 1866*), is described by him in these words (program. Gymn. Brandenburgensis, Berlin 1867): 'It consists of 310 parchment folios of a larger quarto format, all of which are well preserved, except that the first and the last two, because the codex for a long time lacked a cover, have taken on a yellow color and half of the last [folio] on the right side has been cut away. It is now furnished with a wooden cover,
*) Previously, codex P had already been collated by the schoolmaster Joh. Saccelion, which collation Tischendorf used.
Commentario Arethe
Coislinianus (A) simul comprehendit libros XI—XV
The Coislinianus A (Paris, BnF, Coislin 149, 15th century, bombycine paper) is the only manuscript that bridges both halves of the Diodorus tradition — it contains Books I–V AND XI–XV. However, Vogel immediately notes it is 'glued together from two parts not written by the same hand,' meaning it is a composite codex. Its authority for Books I–V is nil (vol. I, p. XI), but for Books XI–XV it has value, especially since Hermann Bezzel collated it afresh. This dual nature makes codex A a fascinating witness to the material history of text transmission.
Patmius codex... saeculi X vel XI
The Patmius codex P is the crown jewel of the Diodorus manuscript tradition for Books XI–XVI. Preserved in the monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos (the same island where the Book of Revelation was traditionally written), this 10th- or 11th-century parchment manuscript is by far the oldest surviving witness for these books. It was collated in situ by Richard Bergmann in 1866. The monastery's remote island location — and the monks' understandable reluctance to lend the manuscript — meant it could only be studied on site, adding romance and difficulty to the textual history.