Manuscripts used for the Pasquali edition
the letters: a general introduction his deeply affectionate nature and his capacity for friendship and gratitude; letter 6 attests the extraordinary affection he could inspire among the ordinary people as a pastor in his local church. Letters
12 and 21 are expressions of the most exquisite charm and courtesy. Letter 27 shows him at playful and witty repartee, quite in the manner of Gregory Nazianzen.
On the other hand, the most sober and forensic theological mind is revealed in letters 3, 5, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35. At the opposite end of urbane Hellenism letter 17 attests in Gregory a fervent pastoral solicitude for the churches wholly in the apostolic manner. Gregory's character was nothing if not rich and versatile.
Manuscripts used for the Pasquali edition The following are the manuscripts collated by Pasquali:
M codex Marcianus Venetus 79 (Pasq. xi–xv, xxxvii), parchment, 12th cent., beautifully written with few abbreviations; once belonged to Bessarion; an epistolary containing 138 Letters of GNaz, 308
Letters of Basil and a few of other authors; Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1 appears among some mixed Letters in the final part of Nazianzen's collection (f. 73v–77v), initially copied without attribution to an author; the learned scribe or contemporary reviser has added in the margin 'This letter is by Gregory of Nyssa, not the Theologian'. Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 2 is assigned to the right author (f. 306–308).
G codex Laurentianus Mediceus plut. IV 14 (Pasq. xv–xvi), parchment, end of 10th cent., written by a very fine cursive hand, mutilated by the loss of some folios; contains letters of both
Gregory Nazianzen and Basil; Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1 appears as the last of the Nazianzen collection (f. 85v) with no sign of attribution to Gregory of Nyssa.
B (for Letters 1–2) codex Londinensis Musei Britannici Add. 36749, first part in parchment, 2nd part on paper, end of 10th cent., written in an upright hand using abbreviations at the Greek monastery of Holy Saviour, Messina Sicily; contains 230 Letters of Gregory Nazianzen and several middle Byzantine authors;
Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1 appears at the end of the Nazianzen collection (f. 114–121v) assigned to Gregory Nazianzen.
A codex Romanus Angelicanus 13, parchment, 11th cent., an ex-
the letters: a general introduction
tensive epistolary; contains many Letters of Basil and Gregory Nazianzen and selections from Photios' Questions and Answers intermingled, other early Byzantine Church writers follow; Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1 appears on f. 160 as if by Nazianzen.
E codex Laurentianus Conv. Soppr. 627, paper, 13th cent., written in a very small, consistent hand with few abbreviations; brought to the Benedictine abbey in Florence in 15th c., filled with various Byzantina, some quite rare, e.g. the Eroticos, and the Letters from Emperor Theodore Dukas Laskaris; contains a large collection of Nazianzen's letters, besprinkled with some of Basil's and concluding with Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1, as if by Nazianzen
(f. 138).
D codex Vaticanus graecus 435, paper, 13th cent., written meticulously by one hand; the spine of the huge volume having unravelled at an early stage, the order of folios is disturbed; a mini-library of Byzantine religious and literary writings (including some Maximus the Confessor), dominated by an interest in Gregory Nazianzen.;
Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 1 appears in the very middle of the collection, amid Nazianzen's writings (f. 175v–177). D tends to preserve trustworthy readings more often than the other codices. p edition of Gregory of Nyssa, Paris, 1615 by Morell, only of value for Letter 1; evidently based on a codex very like E; but since the last part of E has perished, p preserves genuine readings in at least two places.
O codex Parisiensis graecus 1268, parchment, 12th cent.
T codex Taurinensis bibliothecae nat. C I II (71), paper, beginning of 14th cent. Jaeger's siglum is Q.
C codex Parisiensis bibliothecae de l'Arsenal 234, parchment, 11th cent.
H codex Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulchri 264, of both parchment and paper, contains Gregory of Nyssa's Letter 2 written on paper,
14th cent.
X codex Parisiensis graecus 1335, paper, 14th cent.
K codex Vaticanus graecus 1455, paper, 13th–14th cent. f codex Laurentianus Mediceus plut. LVIII, 16, paper, 15th cent. b codex Londinensis Musei Britannici Burneianus 75, paper, beginning of 15th cent.
F common exemplar of f and b. v codex Vindobonensis theologicus graecus 173 Nesse, papet, 15th cent.