156 LEAVES fHEY HAVE TOtJCHED. 



are a fine vellum. Small bits of leather glued on so as to project St. 

 little, facilitate the finding of the beginning of each Gospel, and one* 

 or two other places often wanted, as I suppose. Each book has at 

 its commencement a well-executed illumination, here and thex-e, how- 

 ever, now slightly abraded. That at the beginning of St. Matthew 

 is a broad frame of arabesques in purj)le, Vermilion, and gold, sui'- 

 rounding the title : at each corner a miniature head, all of them more' 

 or less damaged. Tliat at the beginning of St. Mark is a similar 

 border round the title, in good preservation, but without miniatures. 

 At the beginning of St. Liike, it is not a frame for the title, but a large 

 compartment above it, fitted with arabesques. And St. John's Gospel 

 is distinguished by a rich frame-work of arabesques surroiinding an 

 oval in which is a solitary head, probably intended for that of Christ. 

 The titles themselves are : to xatd fiarffalov Sytov ebayyiXiov : to xard. 

 fidpxov ayw'J xai (fs-nrbv edayyiXcnv : to xard Xoozdv aytov ebayyiXiov : to 

 xard liodw-qv ayiov ebayyiXiov. (The rather unUsual Word (ysTirov applied 

 to St. Mark's Gospel means augxist, venerable : its initial sigma is 

 given as a C, an antique form of sigma, appearing also in other places 

 throughout the MS.) The initial letter of St. Matthew is a large 

 quaintly -formed beta in purple and gold ; that which begins St. Mark 

 is a large alpha in the same style. St. Luke's is an epsilon, in which the 

 middle limb is an arm and hand, the two fore-fingers extended ; and 

 St. John's is also an illuminated epsilon, but of a diiferent and quite 

 arbitrary design. Each of the titles of the four books was once bright 

 with gold 3 and certain small capitals, conspicxious in every page, were 

 all originally gilded. The handwriting of the text throughout is very 

 beautiful; minute and even and distinct, with the accents, breathings, 

 and marks of contraction very clear. Proper names are not distin- 

 guished by capitals. The abbreviations and conjoined letters are 

 numerous, deoq appears as dff : 'Ivjffo'u'; as iff : Xpiaroq as /(T, each 

 looking strangely insignificant^ "Av0pwTto<; is avoff. The final sigma is 

 ff, not <;. The omega is like an 8 laid sideways. The i' looks like a 

 mutilated ij.. The iotas of the dative are not subscribed, but placed 

 at the end of the word. The small conspicuous capitals, above men- 

 tioned, were probably for purposes of ready reference, like the numerals 

 attached to our modem "verses." They form the bBginning of certain 

 lines in every page, but are not placed at regalar intervals. Some- 

 times the conspicuous capital is the first letter, not of a word, but of 

 a syllable belonging to a word in the preceding line. 



