Talk:Codex Basiliensis A. N. IV. 1/GA1

Latest comment: 11 hours ago by Stephen Walch in topic GA Review

GA Review

edit

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Nominator: Stephen Walch (talk · contribs) 07:56, 16 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Reviewer: Kusma (talk · contribs) 08:52, 27 May 2024 (UTC)Reply


Will take this one. —Kusma (talk) 08:52, 27 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Content and prose review

edit
  • Lead seems short, but I'll comment on that in detail later. At first glance, I am missing the explanation that it is called "Basiliensis" because it is in Basel.
- Comment: added
  • Content: Link codex.
- Comment: added
  • I think gospel should be lowercase per MOS:CAPS but I could be wrong
- Comment: usually "Gospels" is used specifically for the four Gospels of the NT; "gospel" or "gospels" would be used to refer to non-Canonical ones.
  • The Greek words κεφαλαια and τιτλοι probably ought to have accents
- Comment: On other pages where I've used these I've not included the Greek accents (mainly because they're likely to be unknown to the General reader, however most might recognise the Greek letters due to basic mathematical knowledge). Don't think they're necessary here.
  • Would we expect reference to the Eusebian Canons? I do not understand what "and where they overlap" means here.
- Comment: Usually one does indeed find reference to the Eusebian Canons when the Ammonian sections are used (especially as believed Eusebius based his Canons on the Ammmonian sections). I also clarified what "where they overlap" means.
  • You appear to enjoy using parentheses (perhaps excessively so). Some of them could perhaps be combined with the rest of the text for improved flow, perhaps just in a comma-separated subclause.
- Comment: I've removed some unnecessary ones; brackets are used mainly for extra explanatory information to technical jargon
  • Minuscule should link to Greek minuscule instead of the current target.
- Comment: changed
  • Can you say more about the mode of writing? (The "u"-like shape of the beta, the "H" shape of the lowercase eta and the abbreviations like "iota upsilon chi upsilon" for "Iesou Christou" make it a bit hard to read for the untrained eye; I can't decipher the text in the image without looking at a modern printing next to it). There also seem to be some Greek ligatures in use.
- Comment: is this in reference to the minuscule script of the MS? Don't really want to go into much detail on this (as it should be a separate article), as the minuscule script used is that seen in most minuscule manuscripts (with, obviously, some variations to distinguish years etc.). I've reworded this bit anyway so it is in fact relevant to the MS.
  • Text: this is more about classification of handwritten gospels and variants. We learn what categories the text belongs to, but I am still a bit at a loss what these categories mean.
- Comment: I've linked to the wiki page for Aland's classification system for this reason: I believe a longer explanation is unwarranted in this instance, with the wiki page giving the required info.
  • It might be easier to read if you started by a quick overview of classification schemes for biblical manuscripts and then describe what groups this one belongs to and what that means ("Biblical manuscripts are usually grouped by text type into Alexandrian, Western and Byzantine. The Codex Basiliensis belongs to the most common Byzentine type. The Byzantine manuscripts were further categorised by Hermann van Soden, who classified it as Kx, a group that had emerged in the 10th century").
- Comment: Think I've added info for this; again don't want to go into a long discussion of the text-types and what they mean, as it distracts from the rest of the article about this MS> :)
  • Is there anything special about the two phrases excluded/included in this version?
- Comment: Yes as these are (somewhat) commonly known verses which aren't present in this manuscript (especially the one from Luke from the Beaititudes)
  • It might be better to have "History" before "Text" to clarify the importance of the text for Erasmus
- Comment: I've re-arranged both the History and Text section to include more relevant information for each section, and tried to keep repeated info separate.
  • History of the codex: "The early story of the manuscript and its provenance is unknown" hmm, the lead section says something about palaeographic dating; shouldn't this be detailed here?
- Comment: This has been included under the "description"
  • Might be good to know for context that the University of Basel was founded in 1460 (a very old university).
- Comment: Added
  • Do we know more precisely when the monks bought the codex? Are we right to assume it was during the time when Rhenish florins were a widely used currency? (Although it sounds like it was not the local currency in Basel).
- Comment: Not specifically stated by any source, only that there's a 15th century note mentioning the price paid for it (again, no specific date given).
  • "Since 1559 it was held in the University of Basel. Its later story is the same as that of Codex Basilensis and Codex Basilensis A. N. IV. 2." no citation given, and what is the later story?
- Comment: I've removed this. Don't think it has any relevance to what hasn't already been noted.
  • Erasmus: now we are going back in time a bit. Erasmus was first in Basel in 1514? And then published something based on this codex in 1516?
- Comment: Yes and yes. The Greek NT portion was a rushed job for what was supposed to just be a publication of his new Latin translation and his annotations.
  • "basis for the Gospels portion of the first edition of his Novum Testamentum" only the first edition? Did he use different editions later?
- Comment: Reworded. Further info added.
  • "with press corrections by his hand, and "barbarously" scored with red chalk to suit his page format." so did Erasmus write on the codex, or on his Novum Testamentum?
- Comment: Reworded to note whose hand it was.
  • Estienne's edition of the Greek New Testament: why not use its name, Editio Regia?
- Comment: Added; reworded
  • No sources given for Estienne or his edition.
- Comment: Added one. Need to find ref for other statment (or just may remove depending).
  • "2's readings became a basis for the Textus Receptus" the Codex has not been called "2" so far. Gloss the Textus Receptus to explain what it is.
- Comment: Will reword a few sections; added gloss
  • "The manuscript was examined by biblical scholars ..." when was that and what did they do with it?
- Comment: info add
  • "one of the inferior manuscripts used by Erasmus" in what sense?
- Comment: Metzger doesn't in fact state why; just that it is one of the "inferior manuscripts"
  • "Wettstein gave it number 2 on his list, and this siglum has remained since" the why aren't you using it more prominently?
- Comment: rectified
  • "Basel University Library (A.N. IV. 1)" what does "A.N. IV. 1" mean here?
- Comment: info added
  • Lead: "Minuscule 2 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε 1214 (in von Soden's numbering of New Testament manuscripts)" this information is not in the body.
- Comment: Does it necessarily need to be? Other GA reviews haven't asked for this so I haven't usually included everything from the initial summary in the main body.
  • Is the text written on vellum or on parchment?
- Comment: corrected
  • Infobox seems to be not certain whether the name is "Minuscule 2" (as at the top) or "Codex Basiliensis A. N. IV. 1" (as in the "name")?
- Comment: Well the MS's name is Codex Basiliensis etc.; it's Gregory-Aland designation is 2; I'll add this info to the body.
  • The script is not "[[Greek language|Greek]]"
- Comment: not sure what I should be changing this to, as the script is indeed Greek?
  • What does "Hand a lot of errors" mean? It is not in the body.
- Comment: Included in the body now
  • "Note Textus Receptus, full marginalia" also isn't clear. What does "full marginalia" mean?
- Comment: Good point (as marginalia usually means a lot of marginal notes, which this ms does not have). Removed.

An important manuscript with some history, so it is interesting to learn more about it. The article does need some work though. —Kusma (talk) 20:41, 27 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

@Stephen Walch: the article does seem underprepared, but it is relatively short, so perhaps it is not too hard to fix the issues. Putting on hold. —Kusma (talk) 22:41, 27 May 2024 (UTC)Reply
Hello @Kusma: thanks very much for the review and the notes. I will admit this was my weakest GA nomination to date (mainly due to it not being really written by myself), so am not surprised at the improvements required. I've added some further info which I think fills it out a bit. I shall go through the rest of your suggestions when I have time. If you could do a sort of pre-review of the added material before I continue, it would be very much appreciated. :) Stephen Walch (talk) 12:04, 8 June 2024 (UTC)Reply
@Stephen Walch: I think your additions are looking good: they add useful information and help round out the article, especially in terms of how the manuscript has lots of errors (and I learned the word "itacism" today). Please do reply to my individual comments when you address them (or choose not to act on them; I am fully aware that this is not really my area of expertise so I can be wrong). —Kusma (talk) 19:48, 8 June 2024 (UTC)Reply
Hello @Kusma: I have updated the article as per your comments. Please review and advise if I need to sort out anything else. :) Stephen Walch (talk) 21:34, 24 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

Source spotchecks

edit

Looking at Special:Permanentlink/1225890440.

  • 1a: ok (but requires some context)
  • 2a: no information about paleography or 11th/12th century
  • 2b: "the text covering only 13.6 cm by 9.9 cm of each page." is not in that source
  • 3a: ok (you could use this to cite the 13.6 by 9.9)
  • 3b: nothing about κεφαλαια, Ammonian Sections, Eusebian Canons, tables of contents, subscriptions as far as I can see
  • 4: Internet Archive link is dead.
  • 4a: on which page does it say our specific codex is Byzantine?
  • 5a: ok
  • 4b (p. 144): the source says the corrector was Erasmus, which seems weird to leave out
  • 6: Internet Archive link is dead, but 6a is likely accurate (only had access to a different edition).
  • 7: could verify μὴ προσποιούμενος being removed from an online edition, but not the lengthy list of other texts. Again, according to Gregory 1900, the corrector was Erasmus
  • 8a: "barbarously scored with red chalk" is a quote and should be attributed (and according to Sharpe, which I cite below, the red chalk was the printer's). No information about where Rhenish florins were used in the source.
  • 9: source says the book was "the property of the Dominican Library in Basel".
  • 4c: despite its low quality, this seems to be the manuscript that has Erasmus's hand corrections and was given directly to the printers to typeset.
  • 1b: no information on Wettstein, and a 1908 book is a poor source for a statement "this siglum has remained since".

Overall, citations are imprecise, many of the sources are quite old, and few of them give a lot of detail on Codex 2 / Minuscule 2. (The title "Codex Basiliensis" is not used anywhere as far as I can tell). There are slightly newer and much more detailed treatments, for example John Lawrence Sharpe's "Observations on the Erasmian Notes in Codex 2" [1] (WP:TWL link; DOI is https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004266650_013 ).

General comments and GA criteria

edit
Good Article review progress box
Criteria: 1a. prose ( ) 1b. MoS ( ) 2a. ref layout ( ) 2b. cites WP:RS ( ) 2c. no WP:OR ( ) 2d. no WP:CV ( )
3a. broadness ( ) 3b. focus ( ) 4. neutral ( ) 5. stable ( ) 6a. free or tagged images ( ) 6b. pics relevant ( )
Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked   are unassessed
  • Prose is sometimes unclear, see above.
  • MoS: lead section is too short (and contains parts that should be also in the body). Compare MOS:LEAD.
  • Broadness: a bit short, but most things are covered
  • Not everything is cited, and some citations not covered by sources, which are rather old (see above)
  • Focus: ok except for the long list at John 8:6
  • File:Minuscule 2 (GA) Matt 1.jpg does not have a source or a US tag