Catalogue of the Greek Manuscripts on Mount Athos / Κατάλογος τῶν ἐν ταῖς βιβλιοθήκαις τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὄρους ἑλληνικῶν κωδίκων. 2-vol. set (Complete)
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1895 (Vol. 1); 1900 (Vol. 2). First edition. Hardcover. Small folio (12 x 9 1/2"). viii, [2], 438pp (Vol. 1); vii, [3], 597, [1]pp (Vol. 2). Modern blue cloth, with gold lettering to spines.
Rare first edition of this first catalogue of the Greek manuscripts on Mount Athos, a mountain and peninsula in northeastern Greece, and an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
In this 2-volume set, the author lists no less than 6618 fully annotated religious manuscripts at the time of publication (1895-1900).
From the time monks first settled on the Holy Mountain and formed an organized monastic community there was a need for books to satisfy their devotional and liturgical needs and also to cultivate the mind. These factors proved decisive in determining the types and content of the manuscripts which gradually began to accumulate in the monasteries and other foundations and which were eventually to form the manuscript collection of each.
Includes an extensive Index and bibliography at the end of second volume (pp. 477-597).
Ex-library bookplate on inside of each front cover, and reference sticker on inside of back covers. Stamp at top and bottom edges. Some ink staining at verso of title page and first text page of second volume, with one stain slightly affecting lettering. Title pages in English and Greek. Catalogue in Greek. Binding in overall good+, interior in good+ to very good condition. g+ to vg. Item #45326
Price: $475.00