nterbury Cathedral, he saw there part of the
Old Testament in Greek--chiefly the poetical books and the Psalter. He
does not mention the Pentateuch. Nevertheless, it can be shown that that
was also there, for among the Canonici MSS. in the Bodleian is one of
the thirteenth century containing Genesis to Ruth in Greek, which has on
a margin the inscription, legible though erased: "liber ecclesie Christi
Cantuarie." How it left England at the Dissolution one may guess easily
enough, but what its fortunes were before it came to light again at
Venice I believe there is nothing to show.

* * * * *

Speaking broadly, then, of the destinies of Greek MSS., I may repeat
that they were produced in a comparatively small area, that a great many
of the most precious ones were concentrated in one place, and that from
the fourteenth century onwards they became objects of desire to the
great ones of the earth, who vied with each other in sending special
emissaries to collect them. As a result, the greatest treasures were
soon locked up in the libraries of princes and prelates, and became less
commonly exposed to dispersion and sale than Latin books. We must
remember, too, that as a rule the monasteries of Western Europe did not
collect Greek MSS.; they possessed a chance one here and there, as we
have seen, but rather as curiosities than as books to be used.[A] To
the noble and the scholar there was a flavour of distinction about a
Greek MS. which was wanting to all but the most venerable and beautiful
of the Latin ones.

There is still much to be done in the investigation of the history and
relationships of Greek MSS. In spite of the numberless editions of the
great authors, and the labour that has been lavished upon them, I
believe that scholars would agree that in very few cases, if any, is the
transmission of the text at all perfectly known. For some writings we
have too little MS. evidence, for some so much as to be embarrassing. In
no case can we afford to neglect and to leave unrecorded anything that a
MS. can tell us as to its place of origin, its scribe, or its owners.
Names and scribblings on fly-leaves, which to one student suggest
nothing, may combine in the memory of another into a coherent piece of
history, and show him the home of the book at a particular date, and by
consequence unveil a whole section of the story of its wanderings. With
one little instance of this kind I will bring to an