One of the oldest and best manuscripts of the Old
Latin is the CODEX
VERCELLENSIS (a ), of
which a facsimile is given in Plate XXIV.
It contains the four Gospels,
in the order usual in the Western Church - namely, Matthew, John, Luke,
Mark.
It is written in silver letters, in very narrow columns, on extremely
thin vellum stained with purple.
The passage shown in the Plate is John
xvi.23-30.
In verse 26 this MS. has a curious reading, due to an accidental
omission of words:
instead of "Ye shall ask in my name;
and I say
not unto you that I will pray the Father for you,"
it has "ask
in my name, and I will pray for you."
The passage may be seen at
the top of the second column:
"in nomine meo petite et ego rogabo propter vos," the words "et
ego"
being added above the line.
This manuscript was written in the fourth
century, and is consequently as old as the oldest Greek uncials of the
Bible.
It is now at Vercelli in Italy.
Description & picture from 'Our Bible & the
Ancient Manuscripts' by Sir Frederick Kenyon (1895 - 4th Ed. 1939) Page
172
& Plate XXIV. (Illustration: 18 x 10.5cm - Original page-size: 24
x 16cm. )
