Category Archives: Codicology

New Article on P.Oxy. 1 2 and P.Oxy. 7 1010

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

This will be the first of a few posts about some recent articles of mine that have just been published. The first is a piece jointly authored by AnneMarie Luijendijk and me. The full article is available (open access!) here: … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Codicology, New Testament, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

New Work on Codex Vaticanus (Vat. gr. 1209)

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

2024 has been a good year for the study of Codex Vaticanus. Peter Head at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog just posted a notice of an important new study of the inks in the codex: The article is available open … Continue reading →

Posted in Codex Vaticanus, Codicology, Ink | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Correction and a Codicological Mystery in P.Bodmer 13

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

I only recently learned of the death, about a year ago now, of Stuart G. Hall (1928-2023). It sent me back to an article that we wrote together. In 2015, I stumbled across grainy black and white photographs of what … Continue reading →

Posted in Bodmer composite codex, Bodmer Papyri, Book binding, Codices, Codicology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, the Length of kollēmata, and Dates of Codices

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

The upcoming auction of the Crosby-Schøyen Codex prompted me to revisit the edition of the codex and think a bit about the book’s construction. One datum that didn’t really register with me before I started making papyrus rolls is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bodmer Papyri, Codicology, Papyrus Making, Schøyen Collection, Tura Papyri, Voluminology | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Hugo Ibscher and the Cover of the Berlin Akhmimic Proverbs Codex

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

In 2022, I published a short paper on the construction of the Beatty-Michigan codex of the Pauline epistles (P46, TM 61855). I suggested that the surviving page numbers in the codex might not be an entirely reliable guide to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin Coptic Proverbs Codex, Book binding, Book covers, Chester Beatty Papyri, Chester Beatty Pauline Epistles, Codices, Codicology, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 Potential Early Papyrus Codex at Graz

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

Back in June 2023, several news outlets picked up the story of “the Graz mummy book.” A team at the University of Graz led by Theresa Zammit Lupi had identified P.Hib. 113, a papyrus extracted from mummy cartonnage and published … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Codices, Codicology, Ink, Mummy cartonnage, P.Hib. 113 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

More Details on the Possible Codex at Graz

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

Earlier this year, I noted the news that we may have a new candidate for the earliest surviving portion of a codex, P.Hib. 113, a papyrus excavated from the Egyptian town of Hibeh and now kept at the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Codices, Codicology, Mummy cartonnage, P.Hib. 113 | 1 Comment

What Do We Mean By “Codex”?

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

P.Hib. 113, the papyrus kept at Graz that has recently been proposed as being the earliest surviving remains of a codex, continues to be in the news. I made a brief post about it some days ago, and in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Codicology, P.Hib. 113, Tablets | 11 Comments