A Misapplication of eliminatio codicum descriptorum in the Manuscript Tradition of Narsai (d. c.500)

A Misapplication of eliminatio codicum descriptorum in the Manuscript Tradition of Narsai (d. c.500)Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies BulletinSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/PWSYBA37/tei

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Aaron MichaelButtsA Misapplication of eliminatio codicum descriptorum in the Manuscript Tradition of Narsai (d. c.500)http://syriaca.org/cbss/PWSYBA37https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/PWSYBA37https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/PWSYBA37Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin5:2201977-100In 1979, F. G. McLeod published an edition of five metrical homilies, or mēmrē, of the important East-Syriac theologian and poet Narsai (d. c.500). Though McLeod knew of seventeen manuscripts attesting these five homilies, his edition was based on only five. Of particular interest to the present article is that McLeod disregarded eleven manuscripts as ‘of no value in determining the critical text’, claiming that they descend from a single manuscript, MS Baghdad (olim Mosul), Chaldean Patriarchate, 72 (1705). This represents one of the more far-reaching applications of the axiom of eliminatio codicum descriptorum, or eliminating derivative manuscripts, in Syriac studies. In the present article, I introduce hitherto-unnoticed manuscript evidence to argue that most of these eleven manuscripts cannot derive exclusively from MS Baghdad (olim Mosul), Chaldean Patriarchate, 72 (1705) and that, therefore, they cannot be discarded via the axiom of eliminatio codicum descriptorum. Butts, Aaron Michael. “A Misapplication of Eliminatio Codicum Descriptorum in the Manuscript Tradition of Narsai (d. c.500).” Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin 5:2 (2019): 77–100. Aaron Michael Butts, A Misapplication of Eliminatio Codicum Descriptorum in the Manuscript Tradition of Narsai (d. c.500),” Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin 5:2 (2019): 77–100.IV-VII CENarsaiNestoriansV CEhymnographypoetrytextual criticism