Codex Regius

Codex Regius, designated by siglum L or 019 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε56 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been assigned to the 8th century. The manuscript has several gaps. Textual critic Frederick H. A. Scrivener described it as "by far the most remarkable document of its age and class." Description The manuscript is a codex (precursor to the modern book), made of 257 thick parchment leaves, containing an almost complete text of the four Gospels, with the following portions missing due to the loss of leaves/pages: Matt 4:22-5:14, 28:17-20, Mark 10:16-30, 15:2-20, John 21:15-25. The text is written in two columns per page, 25 lines per page, in large but not rounded uncial letters. It has breathing marks (utilised to designate vowel emphasis), and accents (used to indicate voiced pitch changes) often added wrongly. Scrivener describes it as "carelessly written by an ignorant scribe". According to him the letter φ (phi) is enormously large, and the letter α (alpha) presents the last stage of the uncial script. He also surmises it was badly written by the copyist, who was probably more Egyptian rather than Greek, who had a tendency for writing Coptic rather than Greek letters. The text is divided according to the chapters (known as / kephalaia), whose numbers are given in the margin, and their titles (known as / titloi) written at the top of the pages. It also contains the table of contents (also known as ) before each Gospel. There is also another division according to the Ammonian sections, with references to the Eusebian Canons (an early system of dividing the four Gospels into different sections) in the margin. Lectionary markings are contained in the margin for liturgical readings (these being dates in the yearly Church calendar where specific passages are read).