A very interesting post on this here: The Syriac manuscripts in the British Library: what happened to the bindings? (Liv Ingeborg Lied).
Basically they were mostly discarded and rebound.
Category: Announcements
General announcements
Might we lose money (shock) if we publish open-access?
A correspondent has drawn my attention to the OAPEN-UK project, and the participation of Oxford University Press in it.
This means that, temporarily, some monographs are online as PDF’s on various sites and accessible to us all, e.g. here.
I think we must all be interested in this project. It’s quite an interesting idea:
OUP is participating in OAPEN-UK, a pilot funded by JISC Collections and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to gather evidence on the viability of open access monographs in the humanities and social sciences. Our participation is running for the duration of the final year of the trial, from September 2013 – September 2014.
OAPEN-UK works by matching pairs of monographs which are similar in subject area, predicted sales, extent and publication date, and then publishing one open access and publishing the other in the normal manner, as a control.
The titles randomly selected to be open access have been made available as a freely available PDF on the OUP UK Catalogue, Oxford Scholarship Online, the OAPEN Library, and on Google Books. These PDFs are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence (CC-BY-NC-ND). In addition to this, these titles continue to be sold and marketed in the normal way (customers can still purchase print copies or ebooks, for example).
The control titles are not made open access and are simply sold, marketed and distributed in the traditional manner.
The titles currently accessible which might be of interest to us are:
What is original about this initiative — and well done JISC for funding it — is that it extends the idea of open access beyond journals into monographs.
The main concern of publishers is naturally their profits. This can’t continue, since every other aspect of the process is state funded. But the question of whether open access means that sales cease is a very interesting one.
My guess — and it is only a guess — is that they will, but only slightly.
Fancy translating some of the Glossa Ordinaria?
The Glossa Ordinaria is a Latin collection of patristic comments on scripture which circulated in the 9th century. A project is underway to translate portions of it.
The editor, John Litteral, has asked me to post an appeal for contributors, which is as follows:
I have been working on the Gloss on 1 John, and have been getting some participation from a number of people, one lady (a gifted translator and very fast) in particular who has translated many glosses so far, and a few others who have been contributing a little as well. We are at the fourth chapter of 1 John with the marginal glosses, and I have been working on the interlinear glosses, in which I am in the second chapter.
I was curious if you know anyone who might want to participate in any of it? I am going to self publish it and donate 100% of the royalties to a Latin forum that I have been given permission to use.
Everyone who participates will be given recognition in the book. I plan to have 1,2,3 John, and to call it ‘The Glossa Ordinaria in English- 1,2,3 John’. My goal is to have a series of translations, and the series called “The Glossa Ordinaria in English”.
This of course is basically going to be a preliminary sort of thing, until the progress on the Gloss advances and the professions start producing the Gloss in English, which little has been done and is going at a snails pace. There are no critical texts of the Gloss to work with, only manuscripts and old versions such as Migne.
If you know any who might be interested in participating in any of it such as interlinear glosses, which are not difficult, or marginal glosses or anything at all, then they are more than welcome, and I can catch them up to speed where we are and what we are using.
It’s probably rather easy Latin, and might be quite a gentle way to get back into Latin, if your’s is a bit rusty!
You can contact John at jlitteral5@roadrunner.com.
Chrysostom’s letters – more translations at Academia.edu, this time from Wendy Mayer
A couple of days ago I mentioned the 30-odd letters by John Chrysostom which had appeared in draft form at Academia.edu, and the project (not mine) to translate the lot.
Today I learn that Chrysostom scholar Wendy Mayer has also uploaded some draft translations of letters by Chrysostom. They may be found here, and look very good indeed. It is great to find these.
There are five letters given there, with copious notes. They include Chrysostom’s two letters to Pope Innocent, and Innocent’s reply (letter 11), plus Innocent’s letter (14) to Theophilus of Alexandria, and Innocent’s letter to the people of Constantinople (letter 33).
The drafts have at the top wording such as:
Note: This is a new translation based prepared for Geoffrey Dunn for the translation volume to accompany his new edition of the letters of Innocent I, in preparation for CCSL. Posted with his permission. The Greek text is found in Sozomen, HE 8.26.
Which is fair enough, of course. I think we may all thank Dr Mayer for generously making these drafts available.
It is also excellent news that a translation of Innocent’s letters is in progress. Papal correspondence of the 5-6th century is a historical source of the highest value, and it ought to be more accessible than it is.
It seems as if an intriguing use of Academa.edu is developing. People are starting to use it as a safe place to put work in progress, draft material which may or may not be published, and so forth.
I imagine that most people who work on some worthwhile research have to prepare working documents, draft translations of sources, and detailed notes, as part of the research project. Most of this is never published, nor always publishable. But it may be of great interest all the same to other workers in the field! Now, suddenly, there is a place for such material.
The availability of such material can facilitate cooperative working with people who may otherwise never hear of the work already done. It’s an excellent idea.
I get the impression that the site is gaining some real traction. One to watch.
The Roman sponge-on-a-stick
The Romans didn’t use toilet paper. Instead they used a sponge on a stick. Or at least, that is my understanding.
I’m not sure what our sources are for this, but one came my way this week. It’s from Seneca’s Letters 70, ch. 20:
20. Nuper in ludo bestiariorum unus e Germanis, cum ad matutina spectacula pararetur, secessit ad exonerandum corpus – nullum aliud illi dabatur sine custode secretum; ibi lignum id quod ad emundanda obscena adhaerente spongia positum est totum in gulam farsit et interclusis faucibus spiritum elisit. Hoc fuit morti contumeliam facere. Ita prorsus, parum munde et parum decenter: quid est stultius quam fastidiose mori?
20. For example, there was lately in a training-school for wild-beast gladiators a German, who was making ready for the morning exhibition; he withdrew in order to relieve himself, – the only thing which he was allowed to do in secret and without the presence of a guard. While so engaged, he seized the stick of wood, tipped with a sponge, which was devoted to the vilest uses, and stuffed it, just as it was, down his throat; thus he blocked up his windpipe, and choked the breath from his body. That was truly to insult death![1]
I wonder if they had to share a stick?
A list of translations into Arabic of biblical texts from Graf’s GCAL
Seven years ago I placed online the table of contents to volume 2 of Graf’s GCAL,[1], which lists the original compositions in Arabic by Christian writers up to the 15th century. I then promptly forgot all about it.
This evening I have been looking at volume 1. This contains details of the translations into Arabic of Christian material from other languages. I thought that it might be interesting to give what he says about biblical translations into Arabic. Few know what exists, after all.
I include the page numbers from Graf, straggly though this makes the content, as it gives an idea of how much material there is under each section.
Complete bibles
Hunain ibn Ishaq 89
Melkite complete bible 89
Coptic complete bible 92
Polyglots of Paris and London 83
Propaganda edition 96
Raphael Tuki 97
Protestant editions 98
Dominican edition (Mosul) 99
Jesuit edition (Beirut)
A. Old Testament
1. Pentateuch translations……………………………101-108 —
by Gaon Saadia………………………………..101
from the Greek…………………………….103
from the Coptic………………………………103
from the Syriac………………………………104
by al-Harit ibn Sinan ibn Sinbat………………….107
from the Latin Vulgate……………………….108
of unknown origin…………………………..108
2. The other historical books…………………………108-114 —
Joshua…………………………………………109
Judges…………………………………………110
Ruth…………………………………………..110
Kings and Chronicles………………………………111
I and II Esdras………………………………..112
Tobit…………………………………………113 Judith…………………………………………113 Esther…………………………………………113 II Maccabees……………………………………114
3. Psalms…………………………………………..114-126 —
Oldest translation…………………………….114
Abu ‘l-Fath ‘Abdallah ibn al-Fadl………………….116
Coptic-Arabic Psalters……………………..119
Psalterium octaplum………………………………120
Roman edition (1614)…………………………121
Edition by Quzhaiya (1610)……………………..121
Other translations from Syriac…………..123
Mozarabic Psalter…………………………….124
Translations from Hebrew………………….124
Translations of unknown origin………………125
4. Job translations………………………………….126-127 —
from a syro-hexaplaric basis………………….126
by Pethion (Fatyun ibn Aiyub)……………………126
from the Syriac………………………………127
from the Coptic………………………………127
of unknown origin…………………………..127
5. Wisdom literature translations………… 127-131 —
from the Septuagint………………………………127
by al-Harit ibn Sinan ihn Sinbat………………….129
by Pethion……………………………………..130
of unknown origin…………………………..130
6. The Prophets translations……………131-137 —
by al-‘Alam……………………………………131
from the Septuagint……………………..133
from the Coptic………………………………133
from the Syriac………………………………134
from the Latin…………………………….136
of unknown origin…………………………..136
B. New Testament 138-185
2. Gospels translations…………………………….142-170 —
from Greek…………………………….142
from Syriac………………………………150
from Coptic………………………………155
in polished prose………………………………163
from Latin…………………………….167
of unknown origin…………………………..169
3. Acts translations…………………………..170-181 —
from Greek…………………………….170
from Syriac …………………………..172
from Coptic ……………………178
from Latin…………………………….179
of unknown origin…………………………..180
4. Revelation translations……………..182-184
from Greek ………………………..182
from Syriac………………………………182
from Coptic………………………………182
of unknown origin…………………………..184
5. Translations and editions of portions of the N.T. in vulgar Arabic dialects………………………………..194
Now that’s slightly more than 100 pages of detailed information. And it ought to exist in English. Really it should.
So … why doesn’t it?
Welcome to Christophe Guignard’s “Marginalia” blog
The excellent Christophe Guignard has started his own blog (in French), on details of ancient Christian literature and its Graeco-Roman context. It’s called Marginalia.
He’s just done a post in both English and French on a “new” uncial fragment of John’s Gospel (0323).
He’s also interested in Syriac mss. at Sinai.
I think I shall add it to my RSS feed.
From my diary
The transcription of part 2 of al-Makin (from the Erpenius edition of 1625) is going well. It’s arriving in 10-page chunks, and there are 300 pages in all so that will make 30 chunks. Chunk 11 arrived today.
I was reflecting at the weekend on our lack of knowledge of Arabic literature, including Arabic Christian literature. There is no handbook of this in English.
Yet to create one would merely take time, no more. It could be done. Even I could do it. A single volume, using Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur and Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Litteratur as a basis could be compiled relatively easily by any interested amateur, and then brought up to date by a literature search.
And what a difference it would make to our understanding of the subject! How it would revolutionise our access to this area of knowledge!
I wonder how it might be done … Perhaps find someone — or better, several someones — with time who knows basic German and has the right mindset. Just compile a list of authors and works – not very taxing – and then write entries. Then compile a short bibliography of published editions, translations, and studies in western languages… hmm. For the latter, one would need to know where bibliographies of Arabic literature may be found.
It could be done. Whether I can do it, well, I don’t know. But it could be done.
Chrysostom letters – translations at Academia.edu
I’ve mentioned this before, but “Inepti Graeculi”, who occasionally comments here, has been working away at translating the letters of John Chrysostom and posting draft translations at Academia.edu here. An index of those letters translated is here.
There are some 240 letters, nearly all from Chrysostom’s second exile, from which he did not return. Remarkably only a handful have ever been translated.
So far IG has completed and posted drafts of 30 of the letters, which is more than have ever been done before. The project is attracting interest (naturally) from Chrysostom scholars.
The project is nothing to do with me, but I deeply approve. This is the first time that I have seen academia.edu used in this way, as a way to get draft versions online for comment and to start a “virtuous circle” of involvement and interest. It seems to work well if used that way!
Divine disapproval: the complete letter from David Silvester
Over the weekend the BBC and other media was calling for the head of a certain David Silvester, a councillor of the UKIP party in Henley-on-Thames. His crime was to write the following letter to his local paper, the Henley Standard. Since I can find the complete letter nowhere, I think it would be good to post it here:
Divine disapproval
Sir, — Since the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, the nation has been beset by serious storms and floods.
One recent one caused the worst flooding for 60 years. The Christmas floods were the worst for 127 years. Is this just “global warming” or is there something more serious at work?
The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel (and in naked breach of a coronation oath) will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war.
I wrote to David Cameron in April 2012 to warn him that disasters would accompany the passage of his same sex marriage Bill but he went ahead despite a 600,000-signature petition by concerned Christians and more than half of his own parliamentary party saying that he should not do so.
Now, even as Cameron sheds crocodile tears on behalf of destitute flooded homeowners, playing at advocate against the very local councils he has made cash-strapped, it is his fault that large swathes of the nation have been afflicted by storms and floods.
He has arrogantly acted against the Gospel that once made Britain “great” and the lesson surely to be learned is that no man or men, however powerful, can mess with Almighty God with impunity and get away with it for everything a nation does is weighed on the scales of divine approval or disapproval. — Yours faithfully,
Councillor David Silvester (UKIP)
Henley Town Council, Luker Avenue, Henley
These views, involving as they do the suggestion that unnatural vice is wrong, has provoked an artificial media storm, demanding his head pour encourager les autres. The BBC led the charge, and broadcast the “controversy” endlessly. Dr Goebbels would be very proud of the orchestrated “two-minute hate” now raging.
We are rather accustomed to these witchhunts, these days, in modern Britain. Those who do what they know to be wrong cannot stand the slightest reminder of their wrongdoing.
I was amused to read some churchy types solemnly pontificating about Mr Silvester’s supposed theological naivety. How embarassed they were! On the contrary the view he expresses is pretty solidly biblical. That it is unfashionable need not detain us.
Mr Silvester’s statements are thought-provoking. Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether, being unfashionable, he is right?
I had not, myself, seen the matter in these terms. I blamed the flooding on embezzlement and negligence. For I knew – what is fairly commonly known – that the authorities have long ceased to dredge the rivers, or to repair the flood defences properly. The money raised in tax to pay for this very necessary work has been diverted for other purposes. Until now, I had not thought beyond this, to the hand of God.
But maybe we should. For a nation with a corrupt ruling class, which is busy with its own pleasures and indifferent to the public weal, will indeed experience floods, fires, disasters of every sort. This is indeed the verdict of God on their corruption and selfishness; the one produces the latter. God has created a world in which vice usually has consequences; and thank God for that.
If those rulers were attentive to business, if they repaired the sea-defences and did the million duties which they are paid for, then such natural disasters would not occur, or would be merely signals for concerted public endeavour.
Instead the floods come every year, to much empty handwringing from the officials who should be preventing them, and from the BBC, which bears so great a responsibility for the climate of opinion in which dereliction of duty is presented as a virtue.
Isn’t this the mechanism where a nation that has abandoned God experiences the hand of God?
Of course the worst injuries affect ordinary people, and not those in power. So it has always been.
In the mean time we may congratulate David Silvester for his chance to tell the truth to the nation. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.