NATIONAL APPEAL

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 49, 27 February 1934, Page 9

NATIONAL APPEAL

CODEX SINAITICUS

THE SOVIET OFFER

LARGE SUM NEEDED

(From 'The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, January 19.

So far about £11.000, has been received, for the purchase of tho Sinai manuscript of the Bible now in the British Museum. Tho trustees of^tho museum lias issued a .national appeal. It states: "The support of all those who are interested in tho establishment of the correct text of tho Bible is invoked by the trustees of the British Museum, who have the opportunity of purchasing for the national collections the famous manuscript of the Bible known as' tlio Codex Siriaiticus. "The earliest evidence for tho Greek text1 of tho Bibl-1 is found in papyrus manuscripts, some of which date as early as tho second century after Christ; but theso represent only fragments .of somo of tho books. The earliest substantial texts-.are vellum manuscripts of the.fourth century, and of these'there are only two; the Vati-. can; manuscript, nearly, complete, and the manuscript which it is now possible for this nation Jo ac-quire from .tho' Soviet Government. It. may bo mentioned in passing, that these are'somo five centuries earlier than any of the manuscripts of the Hebrew text of the Bible. ;..;.■ ■. , "It is ■ now .offered by tho Soviet Government to the British Museum for the sum of £100,000. .In .making a statement to this effect in tho House.of Commons .on December. 20 last, the Prime Minister said that the Government would make a special contribution towards the purchase price of one pound for every pound collected from other sources. It is therefore necessary to raise at least the sum of £50,000. It would be excellent if the whole £100,000 could be raised by voluntary contributions. : : ■■.'-. •.:-.. B.OYAI. DONATIONS. ■ ''The King has made a personal donation of £100 and the Queen one of £25, these gifts being accompanied' by an expression of their Majesties'.keen, interest in the steps which the trustees are taking in the matter. At the moment of the printing of this appeal a sum of approximately £7000 has been received from all sources, for the most part in quite small amounts. But special mention must be made of Lord Wakefield's contribution of £1000 and of the efforts of the 'Friends of the National1 Libraries,' -which have, so far brought in £1400. Much can be done by helpers who are willing to" organise collections of small sums from those who are unable to give largely, and to forward-them in bulk. VTho venders have given an1 undertaking that the money paid will be spent in: this country. In other words, the £ 100,000 will bo a credit to be used in Great Britain; /■ DESIRABLE ACQtnsiTION. ■ _ "It is unnecessary to dwell at length on the desirability of the • acquisition! But it may be observed that it is not merely for sentimental reasons that it is necessary that tho original of so precious a document should be in a place of security, and accessible to students. Scrutiny of the manuscript has already confirmed the opinion that .no facsimile, however photographically accurate, can take the place of an original when it comes to deciding finally the exact significance of a correction of tho text; and this manuscript cbntains many, corrections by students of'the time immediately following the date' of its production, students who had. earlier authorities at their disposal. The'text which it preserves is in many places different from that, of tho Vatican manuscript or other later authorities,-such as the Alexandrine codex of the fifth century, which is already in tho British Museum, or the Codex1 Bes&o at Cambridge. If it is secured for the British Museum, England, so long the chief centre of tho study of tho text of the Bible, will possess three out of the four chief sources for the 'establishment of that text. .' . ~.■-..;,

"Contributions should be sent to the Director, British Museum, London, WCI, or to tho Westminster Bank, Limited, Blooinsbury Branch; 214 High Holborn, London, WCI,~ or may be paid into any1 bank in England, Scotland, or Wales for the credit of the Sinai Bible Manuscript Account at Westminster Bank, Limited, Bloomsbury Branch, Lbndon, WCI." ■■■ : It was stated at the British5 Museum yesterday that subscriptions towards the purchase of the Sinai codex of the Bible are already in the neighbourhood of £11,000. Though this is only a small proportion of the £50,000 which, together with an equal sum .promised by the Government, is necessary for the purchase of the manuscript from the Soviet Government, the museum authorities are fully satisfied with the response of the public. It. was pointed out that the £11,000 so far subscribed consists almost entirely of unsolicited donations, many of them from persons of small means. The official appeal of the trustees" of- the museum has not yet had time to take effect.