Miscellany
Manuscript miscellany written and illuminated at the Touton scriptorium, Fayyūm Province, Egypt before August 30, 895 (colophon states that the manuscript was donated to the Monastery of Saint Michael (Dayr al-Malāk Mīkhāʼil) on AM 611 (i.e., Aug. 29, 894 or Aug. 29, 895).
Roughly a seventh of the leaves have sewing repairs.
Colophons: 1) fols. 37v-38r: Copyist in Greek: By Deacon Samouēl of Touton; 2) fol. 49v: Donation, date of donation in Coptic: By Petros, son of Sēvēros, from Narmoute, or Medinet Madi, in the Faiyum, together with N[macr}onna, his daughter; to the Monastery of St. Michael; AM 611 (August 29, 894-August 29, 895).
Written area ca. 248 x 181 mm. Divisions: Paragraphus sign (vine-scroll coronis) setting off major textual units; ekthesis, reddened enlarged or greatly enlarged initial, and paragraphus sign setting off paragraphs; a passage (fols. 6v-7r) marked by a reddened diple in margin of each line. Exceeding letters of last line of the page written once below end of the line (fol. 4r).
Script: Upright. 10 lines = ca. 85 mm
Superlineation: Non-standard. Punctuation: Raised reddened dot in conjunction with a space; reddened space filler often at ends of lines; colon often at ends of paragraphs. Tremas.
Collation: Signed on first and last leaf of the quire, top inner margin (no signature expressed except on 1r, though all frames are executed; no remains of signature on 8v). No quire ornaments, monograms, headlines or catchwords.
Scribe: Samouēl.
Decoration: Frontispiece on fol. 1v: Stephen bearded and with nimbus, between 2 angels with numbus, vegetation below. Headpieces on fols. 2r, 12v, 26r, 35v-36r): rectangular, infilled with knotted rope interlace (with large diples at fol. 26r), with spearhead finials at corners (dovetails at fol. 12v), followed by title with small reddened diple in margin of each line, 2 or 3 dividers, major initial, and vine-scroll coronis. Tailpieces on fol. 12r: 2 doves; on fol. 25v: rectangular, infilled with knotted rope interlace; on fol. 35r: 3 quadruple horizontal rules ending in a vertical (wit small crosses between the verticals), all separated from text by dividers. Marginal ornaments: tail on fol. 2r: quadruped looking backwards, lifting front paw, painted yellow with green spots. Initials infilled with dots, or with cross (fol. 2r); verticals infilled with twisted rope interlace. Paragraphus signs: small budded diple for paragraph marks occuring in the left column of the page and obelos with a dot above and below for paragraph marks occuring in the right column of the page. Signatures and page numbers: with double horizontal rule above and below, decorated with strokes to the right and left, all reddened. Extended letters. Colors: dark reddish orange (Centroid 38), dark greyish brown (62), dark yellow (88), dark greyish blue (187).
Artist: frontispiece depicting St. Stephen Protomatyr is by Samouēl.