Steven Avery
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CARM
https://forums.carm.org/threads/con...he-codex-siniaticus.14383/page-5#post-1153314
The Discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus as Reported in the Personal Letters of Konstantin Tischendorf
By J. M. Featherstone
Trieste, 10 January 1859p. 278
He departs for the East amidst preparations for war.Alexandria, 17 January 1859p. 281The Prussian consul and Russian consul [from Cairo] are old acquaintances of Tischendorf. The Russian vice-consul in Alexandria tells Tischendorf that during the past year the Russian consulate has done much in favour of the Sinai monastery :Good preparation ! All correspondence from the Synod in Petersburg goes through the Russian vice-consulate, and there is nothing to arouse suspicion. The goal of his journey is known at least here in Alexandria, but there is no connexion here with the monastery. He has heard again of the stories told by Simonides. He is in a hurry to go to Cairo and then further on to his goal
Cairo, 15th of February, 1859 (received 25th of February, at 6 :00 PM)
Page 288
https://www.academia.edu/1123038/Th...he_personal_letters_of_Konstantin_Tischendorf
Cairo, 21 January 1859p. 285
He will leave in two days for Sinai. He could almost have lost hope of success, for the Sinai monks here [in Cairo] have remained true to their former character. But he is none the more stupid ; and to his great joy, he has learnt that his Cyril is still alive. He is very eager to see what will be possible. God grant His blessing to the journey ! The Russian general consul is an excellent man, if rather young and not completely experienced. When Tischendorf comes home he will certainly have Sinai sausages in his suitcase, and let us hope they will be packed with other treasures, so that he may bring his children – and also the emperor – something fitting.Cairo,
15 February 1859 (received 25 February, at 6 :00 PM)p. 287
The Lord has given victory and given His blessing to his researches. He was received in the monastery in the most excellent way, although he had not brought the letter of introduction, but only the official letter of the Russian general consul. The oikonomo shimself came personally straigthway to greet him and took him through the garden into the monastery. Very soon Cyril, his old friend, came to him from the superior,who was ill. Cyril was very warm ; just a few days ago he had spoken with the superior, who had wanted to meet Tischendorf in Constantinople, where he was supposed to have been with his wife. As Cyril accompanied him to the superior, Tischendorf was treated like a good spirit sent from Above. They spoke of his great work for the Church as if it was something they knew with precision. They wished only that the Lord should help him find that what he sought, for the good of the Church.p. 288 He was very surprised by this reception ; but he happily went along with it. Cyril told him that he asked most of the visitors who had come since 1853 for news of him ; and most of them had something to tell him. The report was that he was now in one place, now in another. There were also reports about his wife. When Cyril had heard that Tischendorf had come without his wife, he told the superior at once that something must have happened to her. The library was at his disposal. He was able to take in his hands and look through almost every MS, in order to see which ones he wanted to study afterwards. Already this was a great blessing, and he thought his trip was a success, even if nothing else came out of it. He announced openly his intention to make acquisitions with the name and the gold of the emperor, though the direct, official way did not lead to the goal, so it was considered a private agreement. He comported himself more like a Russian prince than a Saxon professor. He gave gifts at every opportunity. His favour and mediation in Petersburg were much sought after. And imagine what happened ! The oikonomos and he saw the golden MS and others in the room of [=bei] the old skeuophylax ; and then the oikonomos had in his room [=in seiner Stube] and showed to Tischendorf the MS of which the Codex Friderico-Augustanus is undoubtedly a part and of which Tischendorf had seen another fragment containing Isaiah and other parts of the Old Testament on his first trip to Sinai. But the MS was no longer the fragment of 70-80 folia, but 346. Tischendorf was beyond himself with joy as he rushed with it into his cell. There he saw that the whole New Testament was in it : the only such MS in the world ! Neither the Codex Vaticanus nor the London Alexandrinus has all the New Testament, and the Sinai Codex is certainly older than both of them. This find is an event for all Christian scholarship. Of course, no one in the monastery knew what the MS contained. And now more surprises : At the end of the book there is the entire Epistle of Barnabas, one of the disciples of the Apostles, of which a considerable part has until now been considered to be lost in the Greek original, and for which the extant parts are transmitted only in later, unreliable MSS. He had tears in his eyes, and his heart had never been so moved. When he recovered he thought how there might also be the Shepherd of Hermas text here ; and then he took a folio and read :‘The Shepherd’ ! He lost all control. He thought that it could only have been the Lord’s calling that led him to this discovery. The whole MS, such as it is, is an incomparable treasure for scholarship and the Church. The Hermas is not complete like the Barnabas, with about a third of the text, the first part, preserved. What a sensation this will make everywhere, especially in Leipzig ! His views on Hermas were wrong, but in one thing he was right : the Athos text is not only much inferior than the Sinai one, but is also certainly corrupted from the Latin. What was to be done now ? One thing was certain : Not one letter was to remain uncopied by his own hand. He attempted to acquire it, but this failed. Then he requested to have the MS taken to Cairo. But the old Vitalios [=Skeuophylax in the Praktika =Sinai Archive2207, Arith. 20, 28 December 1862, p. 299] could in no way be convinced, though the whole monastery became very cross with this old stubborn ox. He left on the condition of coming back for 5-6 weeks, or else the MS was to be sent in care of the monastery in Cairo. Unfortunately, the excellent superior Dionysios had left for Cairo the day before the discovery, upon news of the death of the archbishop partiarch Constantios. Yesterday Tischendorf has achieved what he wanted : A messenger has been dispatched from the Cairo monastery p. 290 who is to bring the MS here (Cairo) by next Wednesday, in order that Tischendorf can copy it with ease. Perhaps he will succeed in more. He would offer 10.000 thalers outright, if it was for sale, though only as a gift—with a gift in return, of course. But even if he does not possess the original MS, the discovery has been made. It will be the most important and greatest of his works. His plan to edit it in the name of the emperor is already fixed. He will write with the next ship to the emperor and the grand duke Constantine. Also to his minister : he will leave it to Falkenstein to give the news to the Saxon newspapers. He asks his wife not to say anything about it to anyone except best friends. He has already copied Barnabas and Hermas in the monastery. He will need a good six weeks in Cairo to finish the work of copying. He describes his departure from Sinai : it was a affair of state. The Russian imperial flag was raised over the monastery ; three rifle shots were fired ; and the oikonomos, Cyril and other brothers accompanied him on his way out.
Cairo, 16 February 1853p. 296
He had to give all the copies of his edition of the New Testament to the Sinai monks. It is a good sign for them that they had so great a desire for such a thing. After thesuccess he has had, he would like to go home at once ; but should it, contrary to all expectation, prove possible to acquire as a gift the precious Sinai Bible which he wishes to copy immediately letter-for-letter, he will have to change his plans. In that case he would not dare carry the MS about nor to send it off, but he would have to take it to Petersburg himself and put it in the emperor’s hands. He has also acquired all the Arabic Pauline Epistles amongst which was the fragment of the Epistle to the Hebrews which Prof Delitzsch was so delighted with.
Cairo, 15 March 1859p. 301
Contrary to his wish, he has not dared wait any longer in announcing his find, because even the English have stuck their noses and eyes into the monastery here, so that word must have gone through all Europe. He has written to Falkenstein in the most official manner and asked him to have the news printed in the Leipzig newspaper. Whatever impression the find makes—probably a mixed one – it is a splendid success, which will make his trip unforgettable in the annals of Christian literature, and this is more important to him than anything Hinz and Kunz [ho polloi] might say. He has found a doctor med. L’Orange from Königsberg and a pharmacist from Leipzig to help with the copying of the MS, though he must revise everything himself. By Reminiscere-Sunday all the New Testament will be finished ; then all the rest, God willing, in the Laetare-week in April. There is still a glimmer of hope of acquiring the splendid, inestimable original ; this would make him exceedingly happy. He is making three photographic facsimiles, which he hopes will turn out well.Cairo,
30 March 1859p. 307
There is great interest in Alexandria and Cairo concerning the discovery, and in German and English circles etc. it is much talked about. People come to him to see it.
p. 308
The copying is advancing. Yesterday he collected the last 125 folia from the monastery. His doctor and pharmacist (named Voss, from Leipzig, who calls the bookseller in Leipzig his uncle) write about fifty folia per week. But he tells his wife that he still has hope of taking away the precious MS as a gift for their imperial Majesties. Just yesterday both of the monastery superiors fully confirmed him in this hope. But the matter must be presented to the others —the subordinates, so Tischendorf understands, of the superior in Cairo, Agathangelos– who are coming (probably next week) from Constantinople and Wallachia for the election of a new archbishop. In hope of this, Tischendorf has stopped with the revision, since he could revise the remaining folia on the return trip. He is not sure how to proceed after receiving the treasure. The best way seems to be to complete the trip as quickly as possible, as he has promised the imperial minister. It is probable that he will be charged by Petersberg with bringing the emperor’s gift in recompense to the monastery, so that he will have to come back to Cairo, if not to Sinai ; but this latter only of other MSS can also be acquired together with the gift. As a minimum he would ask for 25.000 franks=6.000 thalers ; but 10.000 or 20.000 thalers would be an‘imperial’ sum. With what great joy will he receive the MS ! In this case he will telegraph Prince Volkonskij immediately.
Cairo, 14 April 1859
p. 312 There is still no definitive solution in the matter of the Bible treasure from Sinai ; forrien n’est fait que ce qui est fait. But it is very close to the desired decision. The monastery and almost all its – many – superiors, who have come together from various lands have expressed to him, in a decided and definitive way, their intention of giving the precious MS through him as a gift to the emperor Alexander. In the week of Easter the election of the archbishop will take place in the Cairo monastery ; it may take longer, but in all probability it is already decided. Immediately afterwards the formalities concerning the MS are to be observed, which may take two weeks. One of the monks, perhaps the superior of the monastery here, a very learned
man who is already personally acquainted with the emperor, will probably be given
to him as an escort. As soon as this is done, he will leave immediately for Europe by
way of Trieste, Vienna, Dresden and Leipzig, to Petersburg. For he has understood
that he must not leave here until the treasure comes with him. This is a case like that
of the merchant in Scripture who
p. 313
finds the costly pearl. He would have preferred things to go more simply, but there is
no changing the situation now. It will all be a great triumphal procession for him.
Everything is the Lord's doing. In the meantime, the copying is finished, but he must
now revise everything.
Alexandria, 1 May 1859
p. 316
The bishop has been elected in the monastery in Cairo during Easter Week. But for
his formal installation he must be consecrated by the partriarchs of Jerusalem and
Constantinople. This will take two months. Tischendorf has spoken with the new
archbishop, who told him decidedly that the MS would be given to the emperor as a
gift through Tischendorf as intermediary. Indeed, the first man after the archbishop,
the superior of the monastery in Cairo, told the Russian general consul that even if
Tischendorf wanted to return to Leipzig, the MS would still be given to the emperor
through him as intermediary. This is a sign of their recognition that without him the
monks would not have known the worth of their treasure. Tischendorf has thus
decided to travel to Jerusalem and Mar Saba, and to return to Cairo in July to receive
the MS. He knows that they wanted to send a delegation from the monastery with
him, not so much for the MS as for the purpose of informing the Holy Synod in
Petersburg of the election of the archbishop ; and Tischendorf declared himself ready
to take such a delegation with him at his, that is, imperial expense, desiring the
protosyncellus [the superior of the monastery in Cairo] as his escort. This gave great
pleasure. The general consul repeatedly told Tischendorf with what 'enchantment'
they spoke of him in the monastery.
https://forums.carm.org/threads/con...he-codex-siniaticus.14383/page-5#post-1153314
The Discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus as Reported in the Personal Letters of Konstantin Tischendorf
By J. M. Featherstone
Trieste, 10 January 1859p. 278
He departs for the East amidst preparations for war.Alexandria, 17 January 1859p. 281The Prussian consul and Russian consul [from Cairo] are old acquaintances of Tischendorf. The Russian vice-consul in Alexandria tells Tischendorf that during the past year the Russian consulate has done much in favour of the Sinai monastery :Good preparation ! All correspondence from the Synod in Petersburg goes through the Russian vice-consulate, and there is nothing to arouse suspicion. The goal of his journey is known at least here in Alexandria, but there is no connexion here with the monastery. He has heard again of the stories told by Simonides. He is in a hurry to go to Cairo and then further on to his goal
Cairo, 15th of February, 1859 (received 25th of February, at 6 :00 PM)
Page 288
https://www.academia.edu/1123038/Th...he_personal_letters_of_Konstantin_Tischendorf
Cairo, 21 January 1859p. 285
He will leave in two days for Sinai. He could almost have lost hope of success, for the Sinai monks here [in Cairo] have remained true to their former character. But he is none the more stupid ; and to his great joy, he has learnt that his Cyril is still alive. He is very eager to see what will be possible. God grant His blessing to the journey ! The Russian general consul is an excellent man, if rather young and not completely experienced. When Tischendorf comes home he will certainly have Sinai sausages in his suitcase, and let us hope they will be packed with other treasures, so that he may bring his children – and also the emperor – something fitting.Cairo,
15 February 1859 (received 25 February, at 6 :00 PM)p. 287
The Lord has given victory and given His blessing to his researches. He was received in the monastery in the most excellent way, although he had not brought the letter of introduction, but only the official letter of the Russian general consul. The oikonomo shimself came personally straigthway to greet him and took him through the garden into the monastery. Very soon Cyril, his old friend, came to him from the superior,who was ill. Cyril was very warm ; just a few days ago he had spoken with the superior, who had wanted to meet Tischendorf in Constantinople, where he was supposed to have been with his wife. As Cyril accompanied him to the superior, Tischendorf was treated like a good spirit sent from Above. They spoke of his great work for the Church as if it was something they knew with precision. They wished only that the Lord should help him find that what he sought, for the good of the Church.p. 288 He was very surprised by this reception ; but he happily went along with it. Cyril told him that he asked most of the visitors who had come since 1853 for news of him ; and most of them had something to tell him. The report was that he was now in one place, now in another. There were also reports about his wife. When Cyril had heard that Tischendorf had come without his wife, he told the superior at once that something must have happened to her. The library was at his disposal. He was able to take in his hands and look through almost every MS, in order to see which ones he wanted to study afterwards. Already this was a great blessing, and he thought his trip was a success, even if nothing else came out of it. He announced openly his intention to make acquisitions with the name and the gold of the emperor, though the direct, official way did not lead to the goal, so it was considered a private agreement. He comported himself more like a Russian prince than a Saxon professor. He gave gifts at every opportunity. His favour and mediation in Petersburg were much sought after. And imagine what happened ! The oikonomos and he saw the golden MS and others in the room of [=bei] the old skeuophylax ; and then the oikonomos had in his room [=in seiner Stube] and showed to Tischendorf the MS of which the Codex Friderico-Augustanus is undoubtedly a part and of which Tischendorf had seen another fragment containing Isaiah and other parts of the Old Testament on his first trip to Sinai. But the MS was no longer the fragment of 70-80 folia, but 346. Tischendorf was beyond himself with joy as he rushed with it into his cell. There he saw that the whole New Testament was in it : the only such MS in the world ! Neither the Codex Vaticanus nor the London Alexandrinus has all the New Testament, and the Sinai Codex is certainly older than both of them. This find is an event for all Christian scholarship. Of course, no one in the monastery knew what the MS contained. And now more surprises : At the end of the book there is the entire Epistle of Barnabas, one of the disciples of the Apostles, of which a considerable part has until now been considered to be lost in the Greek original, and for which the extant parts are transmitted only in later, unreliable MSS. He had tears in his eyes, and his heart had never been so moved. When he recovered he thought how there might also be the Shepherd of Hermas text here ; and then he took a folio and read :‘The Shepherd’ ! He lost all control. He thought that it could only have been the Lord’s calling that led him to this discovery. The whole MS, such as it is, is an incomparable treasure for scholarship and the Church. The Hermas is not complete like the Barnabas, with about a third of the text, the first part, preserved. What a sensation this will make everywhere, especially in Leipzig ! His views on Hermas were wrong, but in one thing he was right : the Athos text is not only much inferior than the Sinai one, but is also certainly corrupted from the Latin. What was to be done now ? One thing was certain : Not one letter was to remain uncopied by his own hand. He attempted to acquire it, but this failed. Then he requested to have the MS taken to Cairo. But the old Vitalios [=Skeuophylax in the Praktika =Sinai Archive2207, Arith. 20, 28 December 1862, p. 299] could in no way be convinced, though the whole monastery became very cross with this old stubborn ox. He left on the condition of coming back for 5-6 weeks, or else the MS was to be sent in care of the monastery in Cairo. Unfortunately, the excellent superior Dionysios had left for Cairo the day before the discovery, upon news of the death of the archbishop partiarch Constantios. Yesterday Tischendorf has achieved what he wanted : A messenger has been dispatched from the Cairo monastery p. 290 who is to bring the MS here (Cairo) by next Wednesday, in order that Tischendorf can copy it with ease. Perhaps he will succeed in more. He would offer 10.000 thalers outright, if it was for sale, though only as a gift—with a gift in return, of course. But even if he does not possess the original MS, the discovery has been made. It will be the most important and greatest of his works. His plan to edit it in the name of the emperor is already fixed. He will write with the next ship to the emperor and the grand duke Constantine. Also to his minister : he will leave it to Falkenstein to give the news to the Saxon newspapers. He asks his wife not to say anything about it to anyone except best friends. He has already copied Barnabas and Hermas in the monastery. He will need a good six weeks in Cairo to finish the work of copying. He describes his departure from Sinai : it was a affair of state. The Russian imperial flag was raised over the monastery ; three rifle shots were fired ; and the oikonomos, Cyril and other brothers accompanied him on his way out.
Cairo, 16 February 1853p. 296
He had to give all the copies of his edition of the New Testament to the Sinai monks. It is a good sign for them that they had so great a desire for such a thing. After thesuccess he has had, he would like to go home at once ; but should it, contrary to all expectation, prove possible to acquire as a gift the precious Sinai Bible which he wishes to copy immediately letter-for-letter, he will have to change his plans. In that case he would not dare carry the MS about nor to send it off, but he would have to take it to Petersburg himself and put it in the emperor’s hands. He has also acquired all the Arabic Pauline Epistles amongst which was the fragment of the Epistle to the Hebrews which Prof Delitzsch was so delighted with.
Cairo, 15 March 1859p. 301
Contrary to his wish, he has not dared wait any longer in announcing his find, because even the English have stuck their noses and eyes into the monastery here, so that word must have gone through all Europe. He has written to Falkenstein in the most official manner and asked him to have the news printed in the Leipzig newspaper. Whatever impression the find makes—probably a mixed one – it is a splendid success, which will make his trip unforgettable in the annals of Christian literature, and this is more important to him than anything Hinz and Kunz [ho polloi] might say. He has found a doctor med. L’Orange from Königsberg and a pharmacist from Leipzig to help with the copying of the MS, though he must revise everything himself. By Reminiscere-Sunday all the New Testament will be finished ; then all the rest, God willing, in the Laetare-week in April. There is still a glimmer of hope of acquiring the splendid, inestimable original ; this would make him exceedingly happy. He is making three photographic facsimiles, which he hopes will turn out well.Cairo,
30 March 1859p. 307
There is great interest in Alexandria and Cairo concerning the discovery, and in German and English circles etc. it is much talked about. People come to him to see it.
p. 308
The copying is advancing. Yesterday he collected the last 125 folia from the monastery. His doctor and pharmacist (named Voss, from Leipzig, who calls the bookseller in Leipzig his uncle) write about fifty folia per week. But he tells his wife that he still has hope of taking away the precious MS as a gift for their imperial Majesties. Just yesterday both of the monastery superiors fully confirmed him in this hope. But the matter must be presented to the others —the subordinates, so Tischendorf understands, of the superior in Cairo, Agathangelos– who are coming (probably next week) from Constantinople and Wallachia for the election of a new archbishop. In hope of this, Tischendorf has stopped with the revision, since he could revise the remaining folia on the return trip. He is not sure how to proceed after receiving the treasure. The best way seems to be to complete the trip as quickly as possible, as he has promised the imperial minister. It is probable that he will be charged by Petersberg with bringing the emperor’s gift in recompense to the monastery, so that he will have to come back to Cairo, if not to Sinai ; but this latter only of other MSS can also be acquired together with the gift. As a minimum he would ask for 25.000 franks=6.000 thalers ; but 10.000 or 20.000 thalers would be an‘imperial’ sum. With what great joy will he receive the MS ! In this case he will telegraph Prince Volkonskij immediately.
Cairo, 14 April 1859
p. 312 There is still no definitive solution in the matter of the Bible treasure from Sinai ; forrien n’est fait que ce qui est fait. But it is very close to the desired decision. The monastery and almost all its – many – superiors, who have come together from various lands have expressed to him, in a decided and definitive way, their intention of giving the precious MS through him as a gift to the emperor Alexander. In the week of Easter the election of the archbishop will take place in the Cairo monastery ; it may take longer, but in all probability it is already decided. Immediately afterwards the formalities concerning the MS are to be observed, which may take two weeks. One of the monks, perhaps the superior of the monastery here, a very learned
man who is already personally acquainted with the emperor, will probably be given
to him as an escort. As soon as this is done, he will leave immediately for Europe by
way of Trieste, Vienna, Dresden and Leipzig, to Petersburg. For he has understood
that he must not leave here until the treasure comes with him. This is a case like that
of the merchant in Scripture who
p. 313
finds the costly pearl. He would have preferred things to go more simply, but there is
no changing the situation now. It will all be a great triumphal procession for him.
Everything is the Lord's doing. In the meantime, the copying is finished, but he must
now revise everything.
Alexandria, 1 May 1859
p. 316
The bishop has been elected in the monastery in Cairo during Easter Week. But for
his formal installation he must be consecrated by the partriarchs of Jerusalem and
Constantinople. This will take two months. Tischendorf has spoken with the new
archbishop, who told him decidedly that the MS would be given to the emperor as a
gift through Tischendorf as intermediary. Indeed, the first man after the archbishop,
the superior of the monastery in Cairo, told the Russian general consul that even if
Tischendorf wanted to return to Leipzig, the MS would still be given to the emperor
through him as intermediary. This is a sign of their recognition that without him the
monks would not have known the worth of their treasure. Tischendorf has thus
decided to travel to Jerusalem and Mar Saba, and to return to Cairo in July to receive
the MS. He knows that they wanted to send a delegation from the monastery with
him, not so much for the MS as for the purpose of informing the Holy Synod in
Petersburg of the election of the archbishop ; and Tischendorf declared himself ready
to take such a delegation with him at his, that is, imperial expense, desiring the
protosyncellus [the superior of the monastery in Cairo] as his escort. This gave great
pleasure. The general consul repeatedly told Tischendorf with what 'enchantment'
they spoke of him in the monastery.
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