Script: Estrangela script Binding: Dark blind-tooled leather over thick wood boards, leather surviving on rear board and part of spine only. Spine heavily damaged and sewing exposed. Fabric spine lining and headband with red thread partially intact. Binding: Evidence of leather ties, now missing. Manuscript waste fragments in Armenian have been used to reinforce spine and repair damaged page edges; these are possibly among the aspects "renewed" in 1632-33. Rear board lined with two pieces of a resist-dyed, block-printed cotton textile, possibly 17th century. Evidence of fabric page marking tabs adhered to some leaves. Lacking the first quire (Matthew 1-9). First and last surviving leaves damaged, lacking colophon. Quires re-numbered in Armenian, possibly during the 17th century renewal, to account for missing quire. Provenance: Acquired by Alpheus N. Andrus in Siirt, Eastern Turkey, in the course of his work there as a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, circa 1890s. Donated by Alpheus N. Andrus (Williams 1864), 1897. Manuscript Peshitta version of the New Testament. Manuscript noted as missing in 1923 library inventory; rediscovered by student J. Haviland in the basement of Berkshire Hall in 1928 (see Williams Record, 11-17-28); lost again; rediscovered by the Chapin Librarian in the basement of Fayerweather (old South) in 1978. Condition: Lacking the first quire (Matthew 1-9). First and last surviving leaves damaged, lacking colophon. Quires re-numbered in Armenian, possibly during the 17th century renewal, to account for missing quire. A note in Arabic on page 196, the second column at the end, reads: "Priest Sarkis [=Sergius] son of Serabion of Siirt renewed this blessed book which is the book of the New [Testament], at the door of the Church of Our Lady in Siirt. May anyone who reads it call upon Him [viz. Christ] and His mother for the forgiveness of sin. The one who took care of this was the wakil Meru, son of Abdu I-Aziz, of house Kiro, and this was in year 1944 of the Greeks [=1632-1633 CE]." --Translation provided by Dr. Aaron Butts, 2021. An earlier attempt at the translation, by Andrus, is available in the collection notes.
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