Manuscript Hunter: US Research Trip 2010

On Sunday I will be heading off to the US for a research trip. I have been collecting manuscripts of the two Syriac versions of the Life of Mary: an eastern one edited by E.A.W. Budge in 1899, and a western one still unedited but discussed here and there by a few previous scholars. My interest, of course, is in the material incorporated into these texts from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

The goal, ultimately, is to construct a critical edition of the Syriac tradition of this text. To date only two manuscripts of the Syriac IGT have been published. These two, plus two more, have been collated in my article that should appear in Apocrypha some time soon. Of the western Life of Mary, which incorporates all of IGT as one of its six “books,” there are thirteen known manuscripts. One of these is at Harvard and has not yet been photographed (thus the need for the trip). Of the eastern Life of Mary, which contains some episodes from IGT, there are 23 manuscripts. Two have been published (by Budge), and several are probably lost forever. One is at Harvard, one at Princeton, and one at Union Theological Seminary; all of these have to be photographed.

The US is not exactly Mt. Sinai, but I am excited about the trip, especially since I’ll be incorporating some site-seeing along the way and bringing my two girls for company. It is exciting also because these are probably the last manuscripts I need to finish a project that has occupied much of my time over the last few years. What next? Ethiopic? Um, no thanks.