Art. V. — Bibliorum Codex Sinaiticus Petropolitanus 

 The Sinai Bible. By Howard Townsend, M.D. 



[Read before the Institute December 15, 1863.] 



Four years have scarcely passed since Dr. Teschendorf, 

 the well known scholar and biblical antiquarian, made his 

 interesting discovery of what will most likely prove the 

 oldest manuscript extant of the Greek scriptures. The 

 story of its discovery seems almost a romance. In the 

 year 1841 Dr. Tischendorf published his first critical edi- 

 tion of the New Testament, and in connection with its 

 publication and in further prosecution of his biblical 

 researches in the year 1844, (having previously visited the 

 public libraries of France, England, the Netherlands and 

 Italy) he went to the Levant, which he was enabled to do 

 through the bounty of the late king of Saxony, and during 

 that tour, whilst sojourning at the Convent of St. Catherine 

 on Mount Sinai, in turning over the contents of a waste 

 paper basket he stumbled upon, to his great joy, several 

 fragments of a very ancient manuscript of the septuagint, 

 a manuscript as he determined not less ancient than the 

 4th century of the Christian era. 



This waste paper basket of the monks was one of their 

 fuel supplies, which was from time to time replenished by 

 such valuable material as portions of manuscripts from 

 their library. Dr. Tischendorf taking these detached por- 

 tions away with him, published them in fac-simile at Leip- 

 sic in 1846. 



In 1858, not until after various negotiations and preli- 

 minary arrangements, Dr. Tischendorf received permission 

 from the emperor of Russia, to whom he had applied, with 



[Trans, v.] 30 



