Minuscule 491
title: "Minuscule 491" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["greek-new-testament-minuscules", "septuagint-manuscripts", "11th-century-biblical-manuscripts", "british-library-additional-manuscripts"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuscule_491" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
| form = Minuscule | number = 491 | image = | isize = | caption= | name = | sign = | text = New Testament (except Rev.) † | script = Greek | date = 11th-century | found = | now at = British Library | cite = | size = | type = Byzantine text-type/mixed | cat = V | hand = beautifully written | note = group 16
Minuscule 491 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 152 (in the Soden numbering), is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 11th-century.{{Cite book | last = Aland | first = Kurt | author-link = Kurt Aland |author2=M. Welte |author3=B. Köster |author4=K. Junack | title = Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | year = 1994 | location = Berlin, New York | page = 76 | isbn = 3-11-011986-2 }} Scrivener labeled it by number 576.{{Cite book | last = Scrivener | first = Frederick Henry Ambrose | author-link = Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener |author2=Edward Miller | title = A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament | publisher = George Bell & Sons | year = 1894 | location = London | volume = 1 | pages = 257–258 The manuscript is lacunose.
Description
The codex contains the text of the New Testament except Book of Revelation on 305 parchment leaves (size ) with some lacunae (Mark 1:1-28; Acts 1:1-23; 7:8-39). The text is written in one column per page, 34 lines per page. It is beautifully written.
The text is divided according to the κεφαλαια (chapters), whose numbers are given at the margin, with τιτλοι (titles of chapters) at the top of the pages. The text of the Gospels has also a division according to the Ammonian Sections (in Mark 236 sections, the last in 16:12), (no references to the Eusebian Canons).
It contains the Eusebian tables (blank), tables of the κεφαλαια (tables of contents) before each Gospel, and subscriptions at the end of each Gospel.{{Cite book | last = Gregory | first = Caspar René | author-link = Caspar René Gregory | title = Textkritik des Neuen Testaments | publisher = J.C. Hinrichs | year = 1900 | location = Leipzig | volume = 1 | page = 195 | url = https://archive.org/stream/textkritikdesne00greggoog#page/n207/mode/2up It contains also Book of Psalms and Hymns with lacunae in Psalm 1-3.
The order of books is usual: Gospels, Acts, Catholic epistles, Pauline epistles, Psalms, and Hymns.
Text
The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type. According to Scrivener it is similar to 440. Aland placed it in Category V.{{Cite book | last = Aland | first = Kurt | author-link = Kurt Aland | last2 = Aland | first2 = Barbara | author-link2 = Barbara Aland | others = Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.) | title = The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism | publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | year = 1995 | location = Grand Rapids | page = 139 | url = https://archive.org/details/textnewtestament00kurt | url-access = limited | isbn = 978-0-8028-4098-1}} According to the Claremont Profile Method in Luke 1 and Luke 20 it belongs to group 16 along with the manuscripts 16, 119, 217, 330, 578, 693, 1528.{{Cite book | last = Wisse | first = Frederik | title = The Profile Method for the Classification and Evaluation of Manuscript Evidence, as Applied to the Continuous Greek Text of the Gospel of Luke | publisher = William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | year = 1982 | location = Grand Rapids | pages = 61, 107 | url = https://archive.org/details/profilemethodfor00wiss/page/61 | isbn = 0-8028-1918-4 | url-access = registration
History
The manuscript is dated by the INTF to the 11th century.
The manuscript once belonged to the Bishop Butler's collection (as 492 and 493).
The manuscript was added to the list of New Testament manuscripts by Scrivener (576) and Gregory (491). It was examined by Scrivener, Bloomfield, and W. J. Elliott.
It is currently housed at the British Library (Add MS 11836) in London.
References
References
- Gregory, Caspar René. (1908). "Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament". J. C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::