Ambr. B 98 sup. [diktyon 42343]
Physical Description
Ambr. B 098 sup. (Martini-Bassi 120) is a parchment codex consisting of 230 leaves, preceded by three front flyleaves (of which fol. I is a paper restoration leaf, while ff. II-III are ancient parchment leaves), and followed by three final flyleaves.
Modern foliation in pencil appears in the upper margin of each recto.
Folios 228-230 are erroneously numbered as flyleaves I′-III′; these leaves (I′-III′) are blank but ruled.
The parchment is of very fine quality. There is an ancient hole in fol. 86, a small cimosa in the outer margin of fol. 117r, and another in the lower margin of fol. 211.
The codex was restored at Praglia in 1953, as shown by the restoration binding reusing old covers decorated with geometric and floral motifs, bearing traces of the original bosses. Two modern replacement clasps remain, one on each board. The spine and headband were also restored, with four raised bands and a gilt title on the lower label, reading “B. 98 SUP.” The turn-ins measure about 7 mm.
The volume is a composite manuscript, consisting of two units with very similar mise en page and codicological features but with independent quire signatures: Unit I: ff. 1-144 and Unit II: ff. 145-230.
The current dimensions of codex are 270 × 183 mm (binding) and 250 × 177 mm (text block).
The second codicological unit contains the Callimachean Hymns (ff. 209r-227v) with scholia and glosses.
The first unit, covering folios ff. 1-144, contains the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, accompanied by a rich scholia apparatus, the Batrachomyomachia, Ps.-Herodotus’ Vita Homeri, and a Dissertatio by Maximus of Tyre. The second unit, comprising ff. 145-230, preserves the Orphic Argonautica, the Lithica, the Homeric Hymns, and the Hymns of Callimachus (ff. 209r-227v).
Brief History of the Manuscript
The history of Ambros. B 98 sup. begins in the East. Its dating to around 1420 and localization in Constantinople rest on the identification of the hand of Georgios Chrysokokkas, deacon and learned scribe active in the city between 1419 and 1428 (RGK IIa 95; IIIa 125). This identification was first proposed by Breuning (1929, pp. 122-123, pl. 2).
The scribe is believed to have copied not only ff. 83v-141r, containing part of the Argonautica and the Vita Homeri, but also ff. 209r-227v, which transmit the Callimachean Hymns. The same hand may be identified as the one behind the scholia on the Argonautica and on Callimachus, the only two corpora of scholia preserved in the manuscript.
The attribution to Chrysokokkas has been confirmed by editors and scholars of the respective works contained in the codex: the Argonautica (Irigoin 1953, pp. 151-153; Cataldi Palau 2008, p. 328); the Vita Homeri (Vasiloudi 2013, p. 13); and the Callimachean Hymns, likewise copied in Constantinople during the scribe’s period of activity (Pfeiffer 1953, pp. LVI-LVI; Bulloch 1985, p. 56; Stephens 2015, p. 41).
The rest of the codex was written by Gerard of Patras (1420-1443), one of the scribes of Vatop. 671, now regarded as an apograph of the Ambrosian manuscript (Stefec 2014, pp. 133-137). From it, the scribe copied Ps.-Herodotus’ Vita Homeri and the Callimachean Hymns, together with the final epigram.
The manuscript’s arrival in the West is most likely due to Giovanni Aurispa (Noto ca. 1376 – Ferrara 1549), who served Manuel II Palaiologos between 1421 and 1423. The humanist maintained a close collaboration with Chrysokokkas, certainly commissioning at least three other codices to be copied by his hand (Paris. gr. 3047; Guelf. 902 Helmst. 806 [Wolfenbüttel codex]; Mosq. Syn. Fr. 204 [Vlad.]), and in 1423 provided him with Laur. pl. 32, 9 for the transcription of the Argonautica section contained in our Ambrosianus.
As we learn from a letter to Traversari (1386-1439) dated 27 August 1424, in that same year Aurispa brought the Ambrosian manuscript with him to Venice, together with other volumes and the lost archetype ψ, copied in the East between the 12th and 13th centuries to assemble the corpus of the entire hymnic tradition (Wilamowitz 1926⁴, p. 5). From this archetype descend all extant manuscripts transmitting the Callimachean Hymns (Maas 1926-1927, pp. 205-211; Pfeiffer 1953, pp. LV-LXXXVI; Bulloch 1985, pp. 77-79).
The importance of Ambr. B 98 sup., from both a historical and codicological perspective, lies in its antiquity and in its proximity to the archetype, from which it derives through the intermediary α, the first subarchetype of the Callimachean Hymns manuscript family.
Martini, Bassi, i, 1906, pp. 129-130 (description of the manuscript); Pfeiffer 1953, pp. lvi-lvii (description of the manuscript and the edition of the scholia to the Hymns); Smiley 1921, pp. 57-58 (for the description of the manuscript, an analysis of the handwriting, and in general for the first systematic study of the Callimachean manuscripts); Breuning 1929, pp. 122-123 with pl. 2 (for the identification of Chrysococcas as the copyist of the Argonautica); Cataldi Palau 2008, pp. 324-332 (concerning the characteristics of Chrysococcas’s handwriting, the other codices copied by him – with and without subscription – his patrons, and, in general, his scribal activity in Constantinople); Irigoin 1994, pp. 131-132 (for a short description of Chrysococcas’s script, his collaboration with important humanists, the copying of the Argonautica in the Ambrosian manuscript, and the ‘supposed’ copy of this work in the Laurentianus Gr. 32, 9 commissioned by Giovanni Aurispa); Maas 1926-1927; Pfeiffer, pp. lv-lxxxvi; Bulloch 1985, pp. 77-79 (on the hypothesis of the existence of the archetype ψ); Wilamowitz 1926⁴, p. 5 (concerning the drafting of the lost archetype in the East between the 12th and 13th centuries); Stefec 2014, pp. 132-137 (for the relationship of the Ambrosianus with Vatop. 671 [At. in Pfeiffer]); Stephens 2015, pp. 41-44 (for the relationship of the Ambrosianus with its descendants); Vasiloudi 2013 (the edition of [Hdt.] Vita Homeri); Wendel 1935 (the edition of the scholia on Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica); Halleux – Schamp 1985 (edition of Orpheus’ Lithica); Càssola 1975 (edition with Italian translation and commentary on the Homeric Hymns); Brumana 2019 (the edition with Italian translation and commentary of Maximus of Tyre’s Dissertations).