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Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 1:02 am
by Keith
Hi all,

I was wondering if someone could help me decipher an unfamiliar font from an A.D. 1611 Photius manuscript. The sentence captioned below is from Photius' Library. It's the section reporting Aenesidemus' views on the differences between Pyrrhonian and Academic scepticism.

The words that I understand from the highlighted section are και and πολλων δογματιζουσιν. The rest is difficult for me to read. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Screen Shot 2018-08-15 at 11.56.16 pm.png
Screen Shot 2018-08-15 at 11.56.16 pm.png (254.11 KiB) Viewed 9865 times
Cheers.

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 7:38 am
by Ken M. Penner
φράζομεν. οἱ δ’ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκαδημίας, φησί, μάλιστα τῆς νῦν, καὶ στωϊκαῖς
συμφέρονται ἐνίοτε δόξαις, καὶ εἰ χρὴ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, στωϊκοὶ φαίνονται
μαχόμενοι στωϊκοῖς. δεύτερον, καὶ περὶ πολλῶν δογματίζουσιν. ἀρετήν
τε γὰρ καὶ ἀφροσύνην εἰσάγουσι, καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ κακὸν ὑποτίθενται, καὶ ἀ-
λήθειαν καὶ ψεῦδος, καὶ δὴ καὶ πιθανὸν καὶ ἀπίθανον καὶ ὂν καὶ μὴ ὄν, ἄλλα τε
πολλὰ βεβαίως ὁρίζουσι. διαμφισβητεῖν δέ φασι περὶ μόνης τῆς καταλη-
See http://bibletranslation.ws/down/ligatures.pdf

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 7:47 am
by Jonathan Robie
Cool!

I would like to get better at reading various historical Greek scripts. Are there resources that provide transcriptions along with images for various periods?

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 7:50 am
by Ken M. Penner
Jonathan Robie wrote: August 16th, 2018, 7:47 amAre there resources that provide transcriptions along with images for various periods?
The link I added to my original reply has over a dozen such examples, ranging from the eighth to fifteenth century, but the resolution is not always good. For reference, it is http://bibletranslation.ws/down/ligatures.pdf

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 8:33 am
by Jonathan Robie
Ken M. Penner wrote: August 16th, 2018, 7:50 am
Jonathan Robie wrote: August 16th, 2018, 7:47 amAre there resources that provide transcriptions along with images for various periods?
The link I added to my original reply has over a dozen such examples, ranging from the eighth to fifteenth century, but the resolution is not always good. For reference, it is http://bibletranslation.ws/down/ligatures.pdf
Cool - If anyone knows more resources along these lines, perhaps with better images, I'd love to see them. Every once in a while I try to read a medieval manuscript and I just can't.

This index is somewhat helpful (but transcriptions are really useful for practice, and it doesn't have them):

An Index of Greek Ligatures and Contractions

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 8:55 am
by Ken M. Penner
Jonathan Robie wrote: August 16th, 2018, 8:33 amIf anyone knows more resources along these lines, perhaps with better images, I'd love to see them. Every once in a while I try to read a medieval manuscript and I just can't.
A classic is at An introduction to Greek and Latin palaeography from which many examples in the above-mentioned PDF are taken.

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 9:10 am
by Ken M. Penner
While we're talking about paleography: If you want to develop and practice your deciphering skills, why not contribute to a New Testament project that still has its call for volunteer contributors up at http://cal-itsee.bham.ac.uk/itseeweb/ig ... ibute.html
It even has tutorials.

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 12:20 pm
by Keith
Thanks so much, Ken! Your PDF will also help a lot.

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 1:27 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
Fun stuff! Let me add, the more familiar with the language, the easier it becomes to read odd but beautiful scripts.

Re: Photius' Library, 17th cent. Type Script

Posted: August 16th, 2018, 6:34 pm
by Stephen Carlson
After spending a lot of the past year on looking at medieval manuscripts, the light bulb moment for me was think more about the inputs--how the pen moves across the parchment--instead of the output, as in the final shape of the letters.