Category Archives: Antiquities Dealers and Collectors

Decoration of the Fore-edges of Coptic Codices

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

There is a fun article in The New York Times about the growing trend among publishers of producing deluxe editions of romance and fantasy books. The article mentions different kinds of cover enhancements but focuses on decoration of the fore-edge. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Book covers, Chester Beatty Papyri, Codicology, Maurice Nahman, Saqqara Codices | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Article on Carl Schmidt and the Antiquities Trade

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

The coptologist Carl Schmidt (1868-1938) was very active in the antiquities trade. His name is associated with the purchase of many well known manuscripts, including one I’ve discussed here. An important new article on Schmidt has appeared in a journal … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Carl Schmidt, Hamburg Bilingual Papyrus, Maurice Nahman | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Additional Items from the Schøyen Collection on Sale

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Alexander Schick for the tip: Earlier this year, Christie’s offered on auction several pieces from the collection of Martin Schøyen. Among the pieces sold was the so-called Crosby-Schøyen codex. Still no word on who bought the book or … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Erik von Scherling, Martin Schøyen, Maurice Nahman, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Roberta Mazza’s Stolen Fragments

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve just finished reading Roberta Mazza’s excellent new book, Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts (Stanford: Redwood Press, 2024). This is a well organized and highly readable book. It tells a story–equal parts … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Bruce Ferrini, Dead Sea Scrolls, Dirk Obbink, Fakes and Forgeries, Green Collection, Lee Biondi, P.Sapph. Obbink, Scott Carroll | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Upcoming Sale of the Crosby-Schøyen Codex (Just How Old is this Book?)

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

It has been an unusually busy news week for Coptic codices. I posted a few days ago about the Mudil Psalms codex, and then yesterday several news outlets reported that Christie’s will be auctioning off the Crosby-Schøyen codex, a papyrus … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Codices, Codicology, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Maguid Sameda, Radiocarbon analysis, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Hobby Lobby v. Dirk Obbink Ruling

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

In 2023, the civil case of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Dirk D. Obbink switched venues from New York to Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma court has now found a default judgement in favor of Hobby Lobby, with the result that … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Radiocarbon Analysis of Museum of the Bible Manuscripts: Bodmer Psalms

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Mike Holmes for informing me that the most recent issue of Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik contains an article reporting the results of radiocarbon analysis of five papyrus manuscripts and one parchment manuscript that took place about a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruce Ferrini, Dirk Obbink, Frieda Tchacos, Green Collection, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Radiocarbon analysis, Tchacos-Ferrini Codices, Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus Codex | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Robinson Papyri, and the Mississippi Papyri, and William H. Willis

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

Several years ago, I tried to sort out some of the confusion that surrounds the so-called Robinson Papyri, a collection of papyrus manuscripts accumulated by the archaeologist David M. Robinson (1880-1958) and eventually inherited by the classicist William H. Willis … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Duke Papyri, P.Sapph. Obbink, Robinson Papyri | 5 Comments

The Date of the New Oxyrhynchus Sayings of Jesus P.Oxy. 87.5575

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

The publication of the latest volume of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri has been in the news. Among the newly published pieces is a small fragment of a leaf of a papyrus codex that contains a previously unknown collection of sayings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Palaeography, Passages Speakers Series | 9 Comments

Radiocarbon Dating of the Cologne Mani Codex

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Brent Nongbri

In volume 220 of Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (2021), there is a short article by Cornelia Römer: “Die Datierung des Kölner Mani-Kodex” (pp. 94-96). The article reports the results of AMS radiocarbon analysis of the Cologne Mani codex. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Anton Fackelmann, Codices, Codicology, Cologne Mani Codex, Radiocarbon analysis | 5 Comments