London Canon Tables
The London Canon Tables (
The folios are 220 by 150 mm. They were originally larger, but were trimmed to their current size when they were bound with the twelfth century Gospel Book. The two folios are stained gold, an attribute even rarer than
The numbers of corresponding Gospel sections, as listed in the London Canon Tables, differ strikingly from any other surviving manuscript of the Eusebian canons. Eberhard Nestle, who was among the first biblical scholars to call attention to the value of the Eusebian canons for the New Testament textual criticism, dismissed the London Canon Tables as an example of de luxe manuscripts whose "text-critical value stands in reverse proportion to their artistic". The art historian Carl Nordenfalk, however, suggested that the London Canon Tables, "instead of being an example of careless copying, presuppose another section division than that of Eusebius himself".
References
- Kitzinger, Ernst. Early Medieval Art. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1940, pgs. 115–116.
- Weitzmann, K. Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination London, 1977, p. 116.
- Nordenfalk, C. 'The Eusebian Canon-Tables: Some Textual Problems', The Journal of Theological Studies, 35, 1984, p. 96.
External links
Media related to London Canon Tables (6th-7th C) - BL Add MS 5111 at Wikimedia Commons
- Die spätantike Kanontafeln p. 127-146 (Nordenfalk, C.) Leuven Database of Ancient Books catalogue entry.
- British Library: catalog entry.
- British Library: Golden Canon Tables collection
Further reading
- The Christian Orient. London: The British Library, 1978, no. 2.
- Splendeur de Byzance. Europalia 82 Hellas-Grèce. Brussels: Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1982, no.M3.
- Buckton, D., ed. Byzantium. Treasures of Byzantine Art and Culture from British Collections London: British Museum, 1994, no. 68.
- Cavallo, G. Ricerche sulla maiuscola biblica. 1967, plate 85 (illus.)
- Nordenfalk, C. Die spätaniken Kanontafeln. Gothenburg, 1938, pp. 127 ff.
- ISBN 9780870991790; full text available on-line from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries.