Vat.gr.984

Curatorial narrative

The scribe of the upper text of Vat. gr. 984, the collection of all the works of Flavius Josephus, had access to the remains of a unique collection of Saints' Lives from the 9th century. This collection was copied and put together before Symeon Metaphrastes’ systematisation project of the Menologion, the massive collection of Saints' Lives arranged according to the calendar. The massive volume which was dismembered and the folios of which had been washed clean for new texts constituted the first volume of the collection for June, which assembled the Saints' Lives according to the date of their feasts. The same scribe had access to a few bifolios of a double palimpsest which was rewritten twice. The earliest text, a collection of homilies was copied in the late 8th or early 9th century. The other one is a medical text from Galen on the treatment of various diseases that affect the human body. The scientific text was copied above the erased homilies in the 12th or 13th century. The scribe of Vat. gr. 984 finished this text in 1354 (f. 344v). Although the undersigning of the scribe does not localize the place of his activity, the nature or the recycled texts makes it most likely that it was in a big city, perhaps Constantinople.

Bibliography; Pinakes.