Category Archives: Palaeography

A New Article on P52 in New Testament Studies

Posted on September 25, 2020 by

The latest issue of New Testament Studies contains an article I wrote on P.Ryl. 3.457, a.k.a. P52, the fragmentary leaf from a codex generally regarded as the earliest surviving copy of the Gospel According to John (and indeed earliest surviving … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Bernard Grenfell, Eric Turner, New Testament, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | Leave a comment

Vatican Library Website on Greek Palaeography

Posted on December 30, 2019 by

Thanks to Gregg Schwendner for drawing my attention to the Vatican Library website on Greek palaeography prepared by Timothy Janz, scriptor graecus and director of the printed books department of the Vatican Library. The site has an excellent discussion of … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Sea Scrolls, Frank Moore Cross, Guglielmo Cavallo, Palaeography, Vatican Library | 5 Comments

Arthur Hunt, Harold Idris Bell, and Edward Maunde Thompson on the Date of Codex Sinaiticus

Posted on October 8, 2019 by

When it comes to the question of assigning palaeographic dates to Greek literary manuscripts of the Roman period, British papyrologists in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries seem to show some different tendencies. One of the most respected of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Codex Sinaiticus, Codices, Palaeography | 8 Comments

Palaeographic Dating: Graphic Difference Does Not Always Mean Chronological Difference

Posted on September 22, 2019 by

In a few days, I hope to complete a post on the date of Codex Sinaiticus. It has been educational for me to revisit the arguments for the dating of this codex. One quotation that I found especially eye-opening was … Continue reading →

Posted in Codex Sinaiticus, Codices, Palaeography | 5 Comments

A New Article on Palaeographic Dating of Codices

Posted on August 18, 2019 by

The latest issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament contains a group of articles that emerged from an SBL session in 2016 arranged by Roberta Mazza on problems of dating ancient manuscripts. In addition to Roberta’s introductory … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Codicology, Palaeography | 5 Comments

The New York Public Library and P52

Posted on May 27, 2019 by

There was a rather depressing article in the New York Times about the New York Public Library a few days ago. But reading the story brought back some fond memories for me. I first visited the main branch of the library … Continue reading →

Posted in Adolf Deissmann, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | Leave a comment

The Date of P.Köln 10.406 (P118)

Posted on May 23, 2019 by

One of the habits of papyrologists and New Testament scholars that I’ve tried to highlight over the last decade is the practice of dating the handwriting of ancient manuscripts by comparing them to other samples of handwriting that are themselves … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, P.Bodmer II, Palaeography | 1 Comment

Palaeography and Codices: A Couple Thoughts on Larry Hurtado’s Review of God’s Library

Posted on November 13, 2018 by

Over on his blog, Larry Hurtado has posted a detailed review of God’s Library. Early on in the book, I mention three of the main scholars who paved the way for those of us working on early Christian manuscripts today: … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Palaeography | 2 Comments

An Old Quote from Frank Moore Cross on Unprovenanced Artifacts

Posted on October 30, 2018 by

I’ve just returned from a stimulating week at the University of Agder. I had loads of interesting conversations about a number of topics, many of them stemming from the Museum of the Bible’s admission that (at least) five of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries, Frank Moore Cross, Palaeography | 9 Comments

Palaeography, Codicology, and Assigning Dates to Early Christian Codices: A Review of God’s Library

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

Over at The Textual Mechanic blog, Timothy Mitchell has posted a review of God’s Library. I’m happy to say that the review is mostly positive, although Mitchell does mention some “glaring problems,” “contradictions,” and “circular argumentation” that he detects in … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Palaeography | 2 Comments