GREEK PALIMPSESTS. Among these, the first place in importance belongs to the biblical pa limpsests, the earliest of which was Fragments of the Gospel of Naha Matthew, in fae-simile as well as in ordinary type, printed from a palimp sest manuscript of Trinity College, Dublin, by Barrett (Dublin, 1801). The original writing appears to be of the sixth century. Barrett's transcript of the text was not in all respects cor rect, and a revised edition was published by Ab bott in 1880. It is chiefly, however, to a collec tion of Syriac manuscripts brought from the East that we are indebted for the more recent palimp sest restorations of the ancient biblical read ings. In this line the chief discoverer has been Tisehendorf. Of these the best known is the celebrated Codex Ephremi, in the Na tional Library, Paris. This manuscript had been early observed to be palimpsest, and the original Greek text was collated by \Vetstein in 1716. It was completely published by Tischen dorf, the New Testament in 1843, and the Old in 1845. The modern writing of this palimpsest consists of a Greek translation of works by Saint Ephrem the Syrian. Another palimpsest of interest is the Coder Nitriensis, in the British Museum, containing part of the Gospel of Saint Luke from the sixth century, part of the Iliad of about the same date, and. a somewhat later
Euclid, all used by a monk of the Nitrian monas tery for a copy of a Syriac treatise. The number of these fragments constantly grows, and now probably about 30 Greek, Old Latin, and Gothic biblical palimpsests are known, of which the ma jority are Greek. As most of them belong to the fifth or sixth century, their testimony is often of great value.
In Greek classical literature the results from the palimpsests are not great. The Homer frag ments are older than other parchment codices, but are outranked by the numerous papyri. A small part of the Pluti'thon of Euripides is pre served in the Codex Claromontanus at Paris, and a collection of extracts from the later historians, containing some passages from lost works, has been published by Mai in his Seriptorum Vaulty?, Nora. Colleetio (Rome, 1825-38). In Greek. how ever, no such discoveries have been made as in Latin, though it should be said that the Eastern libraries contain many palimpsests not yet care fully examined.