Recensions of the Great Stemma

Notes

The different recensions as proposed by Zaluska in Les Feuillets Liminaires are:

Alpha (α): a consistent 14-page arrangement, containing mixed Vetus/Vulgate text at the start with many corruptions, but only minimal Vulgate-based amendments from the Abraham page onwards. Online in the form of the Roda manuscript, which Zaluska includes in this group, though it is significantly different from the other manuscripts. Neuss variously describes this as the "IIb" group, or sometimes terms it GR. The Alpha recension is one of the two best witnesses to the original graphic structure.
Beta (β): usually 14 pages, containing the longest text, based largely on a Vetus Latina text with some Vulgate Bible "amendments" as well as many interpolations that are apparently obtained from Isidore of Seville. Often corrupted. Neuss called this the MJU or MJLeg. group [*]Schon ein oberfl�chlicher Vergleich ergibt: Die Tabellen von M J U bilden eine unter sich ganz einheitliche und mit den wieder unter sich ebenso einheitlichen von G Tu R Pc eng verwandte Gruppe.... Zaluska includes the compacted 10-page Leon Bible stemma in this group: despite some changes in its layout it is clearly modelled on the Beta, 14-page arrangement. Online in the form of the Facundus manuscript (J).
No Zaluska siglum, but I propose Epsilon (ε): a single manuscript, now in the Plutei collection, shelf-mark Plut.20.54, in Florence. It has never received scholarly analysis before. This stemma contains roughly as much text as the Delta recension below, and considerably less text than the alpha and beta recensions, but it also contains one long section of text, on Gog and Magog, which does not appear elsewhere. It seems to be one of the two best witnesses to the original graphic structure. Online. Although this manuscript or its predecessor probably served as a model for the Codex Amiatinus stemma, Bandini's catalog dates this copy (because of the script?) to the 12th century. It is bound in a codex with works by Junilius Africanus and Isidore. Zaluska had not collated this 16-plate version when she compiled her first article, but later commented in a note[*]Zaluska: Le Beatus de Saint-Sever: [il] se révèle un témoin important de la tradition antérieure aux textes alpha et bêta; le Beatus d'Urgel et de la Bible de Madrid s'attachent, chacun par le biais d'une recension différente, à cette même tradition. to her second article that it may be a key witness to the period in the tradition before alpha and beta divided.
Delta (δ), in two Vulgate bibles, is the best witness to the most ancient text, but the worst transmitter of the original stemma's graphic character. This recension contains the greatest number of apocryphal Vetus Latina biblical names and pre-Vulgate Latin spellings. Ac is especially precious because it has the text appendices as well. Graphically, Delta marks a completely new generation in the stemma's development, having been reformatted to fit on just seven pages, largely eliminating the chronography as an integrated graphic feature. Delta is demonstrably the work of a later editor, not the original author, because its Judaean Kings section has been first corrupted in an Alpha model, then reshuffled. Online.
Gamma (γ): in one bible and one Beatus that resemble one another in the arrangement of clipei and the iconography, containing a text based on the Vetus Latina tradition with some Vulgate Bible emendations. Not online, but a facsimile edition of Urgell has been published with a commentary by Peter Klein.
Sigma (σ): extant in only one manuscript (Saint-Sever), seemingly modelled mostly on Alpha but notable for its many careful alterations to the old text, drawing on the Vulgate Bible. A late fork, useful because it constitutes a medieval critical treatment of the Great Stemma tradition, Sigma is best treated as a derivative work, since it inserts extra material (the siblings of David and the 30 champion-warriors of David). S is not online in high resolution yet, but accessible in a printed facsimile edition.

Back to History Table of Contents

Back to Macro-Typography on the Web