Editing Codex Vaticanus (section)

== In the Vatican Library ==

[[File:Rau, William Herman - n. 1999 - In The Great Hall, Vatican Library, Rome, Italy.jpg|thumb|right|The Great Hall, Vatican Library, photographed by [[William H. Rau]]]]
The manuscript is believed to have been housed in Caesarea in the 6th century, together with [[Codex Sinaiticus]], as they have the same unique division of chapters in Acts. It came to Italy, probably from Constantinople, after the [[Council of Florence]] (1438–1445).<ref name="elliot-skeat">{{Cite book | first=Theodore Cressy | last=Skeat | editor=J. K. Elliot | contribution=The Codex Vaticanus in the 15th Century | title=The Collected Biblical Writings of T. C. Skeat | page=131 | year=2004 | publisher=Brill | isbn=90-04-13920-6 |  url=https://books.google.com/books?id=td_OLXo4RvkC&pg=3 }}</ref>

The manuscript has been housed in the [[Vatican Library]] (founded by [[Pope Nicholas V]] in 1448) for as long as it has been known, possibly appearing in the library's earliest catalog of 1475 (with shelf number 1209), but definitely appearing in the 1481 catalog. In the catalog from 1481 it was described as a "Biblia in tribus columnis ex membranis in rubeo" (three-column vellum Bible).<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUqcAQAAQBAJ&q=%22Biblia+in+tribus+columnis+ex+membranis+in+rubeo%22&pg=PA375 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church$ The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=Cross, Frank Leslie and Elizabeth A. Livingstone | year=2005 | location=Oxford, England | pages=375| isbn=9780192802903 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=CODEX VATICANUS | encyclopedia=Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia | publisher=Claremont Colleges | access-date=January 10, 2016 | author=ATIYA, AZIZ S. | editor=Saad, Saad Michael | url=http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/ref/collection/cce/id/491}}</ref><ref name="keny-hand">{{cite book | first=Frederic George | last=Kenyon | title=Handbook to the textual criticism of the New Testament | year=1912 | publisher=Macmillan | isbn=9780837093949 | url=https://archive.org/details/handbooktotextua00kenyrich }}</ref>{{rp|77}}

=== Collations ===
In the 16th century, Western scholars became aware of the manuscript as a consequence of the correspondence between [[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus]] and the prefects of the Vatican Library, successively [[Paulus Bombasius]], and [[Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda]]. In 1521, Bombasius was consulted by Erasmus as to whether the Codex Vaticanus contained the [[Comma Johanneum]], and Bombasius supplied a transcript of 1 John 4:1–3 and 1 John 5:7–11 to show that it did not.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grenz |first1=Jesse R. |title=The Scribes and Correctors of Codex Vaticanus |date=October 2021 |publisher=Faculty of Divinity of the University of Cambridge |location=England |pages=2–3 |url=https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/2ad5217b-7aac-40ae-bebf-de044061dcbb/content |access-date=3 June 2023}}</ref> Sepúlveda in 1533 cross-checked all places where Erasmus's New Testament (the [[Textus Receptus]]) differed from the Vulgate, and supplied Erasmus with 365 readings where the Codex Vaticanus supported the latter, although the list of these 365 readings has been lost.<ref group="n">We know nothing about these 365 readings except one. Erasmus in his ''Adnotationes'' on Acts 27:16 wrote that according to the Codex from the Library Pontifici, the name of the island is καυδα (Cauda), not κλαυδα (Clauda) as in his ''[[Novum Instrumentum omne|Novum Testamentum]]'' (''Tamet si quidam admonent in codice Graeco pontificiae bibliothecae scriptum haberi, καυδα, id est, cauda''). See: Erasmus Desiderius, ''Erasmus' Annotations on the New Testament: Acts – Romans – I and II Corinthians'', ed. A. Reeve and M. A. Sceech, (Brill: Leiden 1990), p. 931. [[Andrew Birch]] was the first, who identified this note with 365 readings of Sepulveda.</ref> Consequently, the Codex Vaticanus acquired the reputation of being an old Greek manuscript that agreed with the Vulgate rather than with the Textus Receptus. Not until much later would scholars realise it conformed to a text that differed from both the Vulgate and the Textus Receptus – a text that could also be found in other known early Greek manuscripts, such as the [[Codex Regius (New Testament)|Codex Regius]] (L), housed in the French Royal Library (now {{Lang|fr|[[Bibliothèque nationale de France]]|italic=no}}).<ref name=Tregelles108>[[Samuel Prideaux Tregelles|S. P. Tregelles]], ''An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures'', London 1856, p. 108.</ref>

[[Giulio Bartolocci]], librarian of the Vatican, produced a collation in 1669 which was not published; it was never used until a copy of it  was found in the Royal Library at Paris by [[Johann Martin Augustin Scholz|Scholz]] in 1819. This collation was imperfect and revised in 1862.{{r|keny-hand|p=78}} Another collation was made in 1720 for [[Richard Bentley|Bentley]] by Mico, then revised by Rulotta, which was not published until 1799.{{r|keny-hand|p=78}} Bentley was stirred by [[John Mill (theologian)|Mill's]] claim of 30,000 variants in the New Testament and he wanted to reconstruct the text of the New Testament in its early form. He felt that among the manuscripts of the New Testament, Codex Alexandrinus was "the oldest and best in the world".<ref>R.C. Jebb, ''Richard Bentley'' (New York 1966), p. 487.</ref> Bentley understood the necessity to use manuscripts if he were to reconstruct an older form than that apparent in Codex Alexandrinus. He assumed that by supplementing this manuscript with readings from other Greek manuscripts, and from the Latin Vulgate, he could triangulate back to a single recension which he presumed existed at the time of the [[First Council of Nicaea]]. He therefore required a collation from Vaticanus. The text of the collation was irreconcilable with Codex Alexandrinus and he abandoned the project.<ref>{{Cite book | first=William L. | last=Petersen | editor1=Barbara Aland | editor2=Joel Delobel | chapter=What Text can New Testament Textual Criticism Ultimately Reach | title=New Testament Textual Criticism, Exegesis and Church History: A Discussion of Methods | page=137 | year=1994 | publisher=Kok Pharos | location=Kampen | isbn=90-390-0105-7}}</ref>

A further collation was made by scholar [[Andrew Birch]], who, in 1798, in Copenhagen, edited some textual variants of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles,<ref>Andreas Birch, ''Variae Lectiones ad Textum Actorum Apostolorum, Epistolarum Catholicarum et Pauli'' (Copenhagen 1798).</ref> in 1800 for the Book of Revelation,<ref>Andreas Birch, ''Variae lectiones ad Apocalypsin'' (Copenhagen 1800).</ref> in 1801 for the Gospels.<ref>Andreas Birch, ''Variae Lectiones ad Textum IV Evangeliorum'' (Copenhagen 1801).</ref> They were incomplete and included together with the textual variants from the other manuscripts.{{r|keny-hand|p=83}} Many of them were false. Andrew Birch reproached [[John Mill (theologian)|Mill]] and Wettstein, that they ''falso citatur Vaticanus'' (cite Vaticanus incorrectly), and gave as an example Luke 2:38 – Ισραηλ [Israel] instead of Ιερουσαλημ [Jerusalem].<ref>Andreas Birch, ''Variae Lectiones ad Textum IV Evangeliorum'' (Copenhagen 1801), p. XXVII.</ref> The reading Ισραηλ could be found in the codex [[Minuscule 130|130]], housed at the Vatican Library, under shelf number Vat. gr. 359.{{r|ubs3|p=210}}

Before the 19th century, no scholar was allowed to study or edit the Codex Vaticanus, and scholars did not ascribe any value to it; in fact, it was suspected to have been interpolated by the Latin textual tradition.<ref name=Martini>[[Carlo Maria Martini]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=5pZyQmwXhdsC&pg=PA155 ''La Parola di Dio Alle Origini della Chiesa''], (Rome: Bibl. Inst. Pr. 1980), p. 287.</ref> [[John Mill (theologian)|John Mill]] wrote in his ''Prolegomena'' (1707): "in Occidentalium gratiam a Latino scriba exaratum" (''written by a Latin scribe for the western world''). He did not believe there was value to having a collation for the manuscript.{{r|Martini}} [[Johann Jakob Wettstein|Wettstein]] would have liked to know the readings of the codex, but not because he thought that they could have been of any help to him for difficult textual decisions. According to him, this codex had no authority whatsoever (''sed ut vel hoc constaret, Codicem nullus esse auctoris'').<ref name="wettstein">{{Cite book | first=Johann Jakob | last=Wettstein | title=Novum Testamentum Graecum: Tomus I | year=1751 | publisher=Ex Officina Dommeriana | location=Amstelodami }}</ref>{{rp|24}} In 1751 Wettstein produced the first list of the New Testament manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus received symbol B (because of its age) and took second position on this list (Alexandrinus received A, Ephraemi – C, Bezae – D, etc.){{r|wettstein|p=22}} until the discovery of Codex Sinaiticus (designated by א).<ref>Constantin von Tischendorf, ''Novum Testamentum Graece: Editio Octava Critica Maior'' (Leipzig: 1869), p. 345.</ref>

[[Johann Jakob Griesbach|Griesbach]] produced a list of nine manuscripts which were to be assigned to the Alexandrian text: [[Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus|C]], [[Codex Regius (New Testament)|L]], [[Codex Cyprius|K]], [[Codex Basilensis A. N. IV. 2|1]], [[Minuscule 13|13]], [[Minuscule 33|33]], [[Minuscule 69|69]], [[Minuscule 106|106]], and [[Minuscule 118|118]].<ref>J. J. Griesbach, ''Novum Testamentum Graecum'', vol. I (Halle, 1777), prolegomena.</ref> Codex Vaticanus was not in this list. In the second (1796) edition of his Greek NT, Griesbach added Codex Vaticanus as a witness to the Alexandrian text in Mark, Luke, and John. He still believed the first half of Matthew represented the Western text-type.<ref>J. J. Griesbach, ''Novum Testamentum Graecum'', 2 editio (Halae, 1796), prolegomena, p. LXXXI. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=BLk9AAAAIAAJ&q=graece Edition from 1809 (London)]</ref>

=== Editions of text of the codex ===
[[File:Tischendorf - stehend.jpg|thumb|right|In 1843 Tischendorf was permitted to make a facsimile of a few verses.]]
In 1799, as a result of the [[Treaty of Tolentino]], the manuscript was sent to [[Paris]] as a victory trophy for [[Napoleon]], but in 1815 it was returned to the [[Vatican Library]].<ref>{{Cite journal | first=Phillip | last=Cuccia | title=Controlling the Archives: The Requisition, Removal, and Return of the Vatican Archives during the Age of Napoleon | pages=66–74 | journal=Napoleonica. La Revue | year=2013 | issue=2 | url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-napoleonica-la-revue-2013-2-page-66.htm}}</ref> During that time, German scholar [[Johann Leonhard Hug]] (1765–1846) saw it in Paris. Together with other worthy treasures of the Vatican, Hug examined it, but he did not perceive the need of a new and full collation.<ref>{{Cite book | first=J. L. | last=Hug | title=De antiquitate Codicis Vaticani commentatio | year=1810 | place=Freiburg: Herder |language=la | url=https://archive.org/stream/deantiquitateco00huggoog#page/n4/mode/2up| access-date=2010-12-08}}</ref>{{r|hug|p=165}}

Cardinal [[Angelo Mai]] prepared the first typographical facsimile edition between 1828 and 1838, which did not appear until 1857, three years after his death, and which was considered unsatisfactory.<ref name=Nestle>[[Eberhard Nestle]] and William Edie, "Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament", London, Edinburgh, Oxford, New York, 1901, p. 60.</ref> It was issued in 5 volumes (1–4 volumes for the Old Testament, 5 volume for the New Testament). All lacunae of the codex were supplemented. Lacunae in the Acts and Pauline epistles were supplemented from the codex [[Minuscule 625|Vaticanus 1761]], the whole text of Revelation from [[Uncial 046|Vaticanus 2066]], and the text of Mark 16:8–20 from [[Minuscule 151|Vaticanus Palatinus 220]]. Verses not included by codex as [[Matthew 12:47]]; Mark 15:28; Luke 22:43–44; 23:17.34; John 5:3.4; 7:53–8:11; 1 Peter 5:3; 1 John 5:7 were supplemented from popular Greek printed editions.<ref>Constantin von Tischendorf, ''[[Editio Octava Critica Maior]]'' (Lipsiae, 1884), vol. III, p. 364.</ref> The number of errors was extraordinarily high, and also no attention was paid to distinguish readings of the first hand versus correctors. There was no detailed examination of the manuscript's characteristics. As a consequence, this edition was deemed inadequate for critical purposes.<ref name="Elliott">J. K. Elliott, ''A Bibliography of Greek New Testament Manuscripts'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 34.</ref> An improved edition was published in 1859, which became the source of Bultmann's 1860 NT.{{r|Kenyon}}

In 1843 [[Constantin von Tischendorf|Tischendorf]] was permitted to make a facsimile of a few verses,<ref group="n">Besides the twenty-five readings Tischendorf observed himself, [[Angelo Mai|Cardinal Mai]] supplied him with thirty-four more his NT of 1849. His seventh edition of the text of New Testament (1859) was enriched by 230 other readings furnished by Albert Dressel in 1855.</ref> in 1844 [[Eduard de Muralt]] saw it,<ref>E. de Muralt, ''Novum Testamentum Graecum ad fidem codicis principis vaticani'', Hamburg 1848, p. XXXV.</ref> and in 1845 [[Samuel Prideaux Tregelles|S. P. Tregelles]] was allowed to observe several points which Muralt had overlooked. He often saw the codex, but "it was under such restrictions that it was impossible to do more than examine particular readings".<ref>S. P. Tregelles, ''An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament'', London 1856, p. 162.</ref>
<blockquote>
"They would not let me open it without searching my pockets, and depriving me of pen, ink, and paper; and at the same time two prelati kept me in constant conversation in Latin, and if I looked at a passage too long, they would snatch the book out of my hand".<ref>Samuel P. Tregelles, [https://archive.org/details/alectureonhisto00treggoog "A Lecture on the Historic Evidence of the Authorship and Transmission of the Books of the New Testament"], London 1852, pp. 83–85.</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Angelo Mai - Imagines philologorum.jpg|left|thumb|170px|Angelo Mai prepared first facsimile edition of the New Testament text of the codex]]
Tregelles left Rome after five months without accomplishing his purpose. During a large part of the 19th century, the authorities of the Vatican Library obstructed scholars who wished to study the codex in detail. [[Henry Alford (theologian)|Henry Alford]] in 1849 wrote: "It has never been published in facsimile (!) nor even thoroughly collated (!!)."<ref>H. Alford, ''The Greek Testament. The Four Gospels'', London 1849, p. 76.</ref> Scrivener in 1861 commented:
<blockquote>
"Codex Vaticanus 1209 is probably the oldest large vellum manuscript in existence, and is the glory of the great Vatican Library in Rome. To these legitimate sources of deep interest must be added the almost romantic curiosity which has been excited by the jealous watchfulness of its official guardians, with whom an honest zeal for its safe preservation seems to have now degenerated into a species of capricious wilfulness, and who have shewn a strange incapacity for making themselves the proper use of a treasure they scarcely permit others more than to gaze upon".{{r|scriv-intro|p=95}} It (...) "is so jealously guarded by the Papal authorities that ordinary visitors see nothing of it but the red Morocco binding".{{r|Scrivener}}
</blockquote>

Thomas Law Montefiore (1862):
<blockquote>
"The history of the Codex Vaticanus B, No. 1209, is the history in miniature of Romish jealousy and exclusiveness."<ref>T.L. Montefiore, ''Catechesis Evangelica; bring Questions and Answers based on the "Textus Receptus"'', (London, 1862), p. 272.</ref>
</blockquote>
[[John William Burgon|Burgon]] was permitted to examine the codex for an hour and a half in 1860, consulting 16 different passages.{{r|scriv-intro|p=114}} Burgon was a defender of the [[Byzantine text-type|Traditional Text]] and for him Codex Vaticanus, as well as codices Sinaiticus and Bezae, were the most corrupt documents extant. He felt that each of these three codices "clearly exhibits a fabricated text – is the result of arbitrary and reckless recension."<ref name="Burgon">{{Cite book | first=John William | last=Burgon | author-link=John Burgon | title=The Revision Revised | year=1883 | publisher=John Murray | location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/revisionrevised0000john/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|9}} The two most widely respected of these three codices, א and B, he likens to the "two false witnesses" of Matthew 26:60.{{r|Burgon|p=48}}

[[File:Codex Vaticanus Matthew 1,22-2,18.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Vaticanus in facsimile edition (1868), page with text of Matthew 1:22–2:18]]
In 1861, Henry Alford collated and verified doubtful passages (in several imperfect collations), which he published in facsimile editions complete with errors. Until he began his work he met unexpected hindrances. He received a special order from Cardinal Antonelli "per verificare", to verify passages, but this license was interpreted by the librarian to mean that he was to see the book, but not to use it. In 1862, secretary of Alford, Mr. Cure, continued Alford's work.<ref>H. Alford, ''Life by my Widow'', pp. 310, 315.</ref> For some reason which does not clearly appear, the authorities of the Vatican Library put continual obstacles in the way of all who wished to study it in detail, one of which was the Vatican Library was only opened for three hours a day.{{r|Kenyon|Scrivener}} In 1867 Tischendorf published the text of the New Testament of the codex on the basis of Mai's edition.{{r|NTV}} It was the "most perfect edition of the manuscript which had yet appeared".{{r|Kenyon}}

In 1868–1881 [[Carlo Vercellone|C. Vercellone]], [[Giuseppe Cozza-Luzi]], and G. Sergio published an edition of the entire codex in 6 volumes (New Testament in volume V; Prolegomena in volume VI). A typographical facsimile appeared between 1868 and 1872.{{r|Elliott}} In 1889–1890 a photographic facsimile of the entire manuscript was made and published by Cozza-Luzi, in three volumes.{{r|Nestle}} Another facsimile of the New Testament text was published in 1904–1907 in Milan.<ref>''Bibliorum Scriptorum Graecorum Codex Vaticanus 1209'' (Milan, 1904–1907).</ref> As a result, the codex became widely available.<ref name="metz-ehrman">{{Cite book | first1=Bruce Manning | last1=Metzger | author-link1=Bruce M. Metzger | first2=Bart D. | last2=Ehrman | author-link2=Bart D. Ehrman | title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration | edition=4th | year=2005 | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Oxford | isbn=0-19-516667-1}}</ref>{{rp|68}}

In 1999, the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome (the Italian State Printing House and Mint) published a limited edition, full-color, exact scale facsimile of Codex Vaticanus. The facsimile reproduces the very form of the pages of the original manuscript, complete with the distinctive individual shape of each page, including holes in the vellum. It has an additional ''Prolegomena'' volume with gold and silver impressions of 74 pages.<ref>[http://www.linguistsoftware.com/codexvat.htm Codex Vaticanus B Greek Old & New Testaments Magnificent Color Facsimile], Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1999.</ref>

{{As of|2015}}, a digitised copy of the codex is available online from the Vatican Library.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1209 | title=DigiVatLib | website=digi.vatlib.it | access-date=3 April 2018 }}</ref>