Two Contemporary Gregorian Editions of Pope Gregory the Great's Regula Pastoralis in Troyes MS 504

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Scriptorium

Volume

39

Issue

1

Editor

A. V. Raynal

Publication Date

1985

First Page

89

Last Page

97

Abstract

It has long been recognized that the most authoritative MS. preserving Pope Gregory the Great's Régula pastoralis is MS. 504 in the Bibliothèque Municipale of Troyes. This Roman uncial MS. dates from the beginning of Gregory's papal reign (590-604). Jean Mabillon first suggested that this MS., if not the author's autograph, was at least written under the Pope's eyes (1). Both E. Châtelain (2) and E. A. Lowe thought that Mabillon's suggestion was probably correct. Lowe pointed to the « numerous alterations, corrections over erasure, and marginal insertions — all by a contemporary hand — which suggest that our manuscript represents the author's revision of a preliminary edition of his work ; the corrected version is closer to the text as we have it today » (3). Most recently B. Bischoff, ever cautious, has at least agreed that the MS. is a product « nell'ambiente del grande pape » (4). Unfortunately none of the editors of the 89 printed editions (1470-1953) has recognized the existence of this preliminary edition (5). However, what Lowe termed a preliminary edition is in fact a full-fledged first edition which enjoyed an independent (albeit often contaminated) existence for many centuries, and it was only with the advent of the printed text that this Gregorian first edition disappeared (6)

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