The Manuscript Tradition of the Etymologicum Gudianum

Among the Byzantine etymological lexica, the "Etymologicum Gudianum" enjoyed the widest circulation, being transmitted in over forty direct witnesses. This volume provides the first comprehensive study of the lexicon’s manuscript tradition since Richard Reitzenstein’s pioneering studies (late 19th/early 20th c.). It assesses each manuscript as a written artefact and witness to the cultural environments in which it was produced and circulated. Consequently, the study sheds light on the cultural and knowledge transfer from antiquity to the Byzantine era and into the Renaissance. In particular, it offers a fresh evaluation of the archetype, the unique multilayered "Vaticanus Barberinianus graecus 70" (second half of the 11th /early 12th c.). It also features detailed descriptions of all relevant textual witnesses and uncovers their affiliations. The resulting new "stemma codicum" provides a firm foundation for the new critical edition, which is published jointly.