Yačaxapatoum čark, Armenian sermons, manuscript on parchment [Greater Armenia, 12th century]

Yačaxapatoum čark, an extremely early sermon collection, in Armenian, manuscript on parchment[Greater Armenia, twelfth century] Six leaves, with double column of 21-23 lines in two sizes and styles of Armenian Uncial (erkat'agir: 'iron writing'), two areas of erasure, one leaf darkened and damaged at one corner, other darkened at outer edges, some cockling and a few losses there, else fair condition, 275 by 210mm.; in black-cloth covered case Provenance: 1. Bernard Rosenthal (1920-2017), of San Francisco, California. 2. Quaritch cat. 1147, Bookhands of the Middle Ages V, 1991, no. 90.3. Schøyen Collection, Oslo and London, their MS 726, acquired from Quaritch in March 1991. Text and script: Armenian is an important script for the history of Christianity. At the beginning of the fourth century Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity officially (reportedly under the leadership of a proposed author of the sermons here: see below), and the first text translated into the language in a written form was the Bible. The earliest writings are in the proud uncial forms found here, doubtless influenced as much by the Greek Uncials of the codices they translated from as much as from earlier Armenian inscriptions. However, in Armenia Uncial script, despite its laboriousness to write, remained in use far longer than in Byzantium or the medieval West, and was the only script used for the language until the mid-twelfth century. These sermons have been traditionally ascribed to St. Gregory the Illuminator (c. 257-c. 331), who is identified as the figure who converted Armenia in 301 and was the first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, or alternatively the fifth-century saint, Mesrob. Moreover, modern scholarship has suggested yet another candidate in the fifth-century author Agat'angeghos. St. Gregory is the preferred candidate, and thus it should be noted that these sermons were perhaps composed at the dawn of Armenian Christianity, within three decades of the conversion of that people, and within a handful of years of the translation of the Bible into that language. The original collection comprised twenty-three sermons, and the present manuscript begins with part of the table of contents that opens ch. 14, followed by a third of the first sermon and approximately a half of the second.To view a video of this item, click here.