HKB
of the first transcriber are corrected by a later hand, and noticed in the margin or between the lines. Collated by Bandini for Falconer, and almost the whole by Kramer.
Codex 40 contains the first ten books; a copy, probably, of the former. It was written after the middle of the 15th century.
Codex 15 is of the middle of the 15th century, and contains the last seven books. It is not in any way remarkable.
Codex 19, written at the end of the 15th century. It contains the last eight books, and resembles No. 81 of the Vatican. Collated by Bandini for Falconer.
Venetian Codices:
No. 377 of the catalogue contains the first twelve books, and is written in the 15th century. Formerly the property of Cardinal Bessarion.
No. 378 contains the seventeen books, of which the first twelve are apparently copies of the above, No. 377; the remaining five are
of Cardinal Bessarion.
No. 640 contains the last eight books. It was written, as appears from a note A. D. 1321, by different hands. A great part of the 14th book is wanting; eight blank pages are left for the completion of it; but this was not done by the transcriber to whom this portion was assigned. It is placed by Kramer in the first class of manuscripts, and was wholly collated by him.
No. 379 is of the 15th century. It contains the Epitome of Gemistus Pletho of the first ten books, and the whole of the last seven books. It is the codex which served for the copy, No. 1398, in the Imperial Library at Paris. Formerly the property of Cardinal Bessarion.
No. 606 contains the last eight books, and was written towards the end of the 15th century. It contains nothing which is not to be found in other manuscripts.
Codices in the Ambrosian Library, Milan:
Codex M. 53 contains all but book ii., and is of the 15th century. The books are not written on paper of the same size, nor in consecutive order, although by the same hand. Book ii. is to be found in Codex N. 289, together with portions of other authors, written by a different transcriber, no doubt with the intention of completing this codex. According to Kramer, the first ten books are copied from Codex 5 of the Medici MS. The 13th, 14th, 12th books (the order in which they stand) from the Medici MS. 19, and the 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th, from the Medici MS. 15. Partly collated by Kramer.
Codex G. 53 contains the seventeen books, and is of the end of the 15th century. Five leaves at the beginning, and two at the end, are destroyed by damp, traces of which are to be seen throughout. Partly collated by Kramer.
In the Library of Eton College is a codex containing the first ten books; it was written at Constantinople. Kramer, who, however, did not see it, conjectures that the Medici MS., Codex 15, containing the last eight books, was formerly united to it, and completed the whole work. Collated for Falconer.
In the Library of the Escurial is a codex completed, as we are informed by a note at the end, A. D. 1423. Collated by Bayer for Falconer.
The Madrid Library possesses a codex written in the latter part of the 15th century, containing the seventeen books.
In the Library at Moscow is a codex containing the seventeen books; it was written at the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. The first nine books resemble the Paris Codex, No. 1397; the last eight, the Venetian Codex, No. 640. It came from one of the monasteries of Mount Athos, and was not destroyed, as Groskurd suspects, in the great fire of 1812, but is still to be found in the Library of the Holy Synod, under No. 204 (Matt. ccv.), as I am informed by the Archimandrite Sabba, who dates from the Kremlin, April 4th, 1857.