Greek Manuscripts

The Greek manuscript collection of the University Library consists of a university-owned collection with 88 signatures, and 30 Greek manuscripts from the deposit of the Leipzig Municipal Library. Individual items date back to the founding period of the University Library in the mid-16th century and are valuable evidence of the humanistic studies in Leipzig at that time. This includes the Codex graecus 16, which contains a unique Byzantine chronicle by Genesios and other significant palimpsests (erased and overwritten texts). The majority of the manuscripts come from the estates of scholars from the 17th to the 19th centuries and include original Byzantine manuscripts as well as study materials from early modern Europe. The most significant subgroup are the manuscripts from the former ownership of the Leipzig professor Konstantin von Tischendorf (1815–1874), which include the famous Codex Sinaiticus (Cod. gr. 1), one of the oldest surviving Bibles with Old and New Testament from the 4th century. However, the Tischendorf collection also includes other unique or particularly old text witnesses. Among the manuscripts from the deposit of the Leipzig Municipal Library, the extensive documentation of the Byzantine court ceremonial from the time of Emperor Konstantin VII. Porphyrogennetos (d. 959) stands out, which is part of the World Documentary Heritage (Rep. I 17).

The Greek manuscript collection of the University Library was digitized in its entirety in connection with a DFG-funded project for in-depth cataloging, using the library’s own funds and funding from the Saxon State Digitization Program. The IIIF-capable digitizations from Leipzig are conveniently accessible together with the detailed manuscript descriptions from the research project via the central German manuscript portal.