If you like old books- I mean reeeaallly old books- you might remember that last year Westminster College in Cambridge, England auctioned off the Codex Climaci Rescriptus with the help of Sotheby's. I first read the news on Steve Caruso's Aramaic Blog (his post here). The announcement on Forbes can be viewed here. And I posted a frustrated note here.
Just as a reminder, the Codex is a 6th century document and an important manuscript witness to the Greek text of the Gospels. It includes the Palestinian Aramaic Old and New Testament and a Syriac copy of writings by St. John Climacus, one of the most important spiritual authors in the Eastern Church. It is thought by some that the Syriac translation was copied directly from the saint's autograph. Based on the combination of languages (Greek/Syriac/CPA) and its original home (St. Catherines monastery on Mt. Sinai), someone could assume the Codex originates from within the Antiochian patrimony.Word quickly spread around the blogosphere and academic circles were afraid the lucky buyer would simply separate the leaves and resell them individually to wealthy dilettantes looking to impress their friends with historic wall hangings. You can see a discussion of the Codex at the Hugoye Syriac Studies group here.
Here is the update: Just last week I just came across this online article. Here are some excerpts:
Leaders of the Oklahoma-owned Hobby Lobby retail chain have acquired hundreds of Bible artifacts and are helping to open a museum. Portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, one of the earliest near-complete Bibles, will be featured in the National Bible Museum...
The museum is a nonprofit organization co-founded by historian Scott Carroll, a [former] professor at Cornerstone University in Michigan, along with D. Jonathan Shipman and Daniel Centurione...
Carroll said Wednesday the museum collections will include one of the earliest-known, near-complete Bibles, recently acquired by Hobby Lobby. He said items destined for the museum are being housed in Oklahoma City...
He said Hobby Lobby recently acquired several items for the museum, including portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which he said is one of the earliest near-complete Bibles in the world.
("Oklahomans help acquire items for Bible museum" BY CARLA HINTON Oklahoman, Published: April 1, 2010)
Notice the article is several months old yet I am just now finding it. So the Codex Climaci Rescriptus is being safely kept somewhere within my home town, Oklahoma City. This relic and icon of the ancient church sits within a small radius of where I now sit, waiting for a museum to be built. I am tempted to go poking around local warehouses. I think of the final scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark
How would someone go about pulling the right strings so that people could view the this Codex? There is a handful of local academics, clergy, and readers of Greek and Syriac that would love to see it.
2 comments:
The Codex has been rescued from being broken by me! While the rest of the world has sat around syaing someone should get those old Bibles so they are not broken up, I have done so. I have not bought one to break it up, but bought them to be researched further, preserved and placed in a safe place.
JS as Johnny Shipman who bought it at Sothebys!
The rest of world sat around because most people don't have the finances at hand to rescue these treasures. There is simply nothing a person can do, except to spread the word in hopes that a benefactor will appear. You will see several posts on this blog regarding the Codex because its story is an intriguing journey through time and geography, and because I feel these codices and tomes from history are a precious connection to the ancient world and I hope to impress that upon friends and family who read my blog.
Happily, the Codex is on display in my hometown and I look forward to seeing it soon!
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