On the one hand, mr.scrivener has done a good reconstruction of the last page of Mark based on the work of James Snapp Jr, and using accurate fonts and the original photos here:
http://nttextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2011/01/codex-vaticanus-book-borders-cont.html
The photos are good resolution, and you can click to enlarge them.
At the same time, there seems to be a new controversy regarding Codex Aleph (Sinaiticus): Originally, it was claimed that the second scribe "D" (also a corrector of Aleph) had replaced two pages there in exactly the same spot (the ending of Mark), and had stretched the letters to make the empty space less conspicuous.
But on the new Sinaiticus site (British Museum photos online), at least ten consecutive pages are listed as by the corrector, scribe "D".
Most of the rest of the manuscript, including Mark (before the ending) and Luke (after the replacement-pages) is written by scribe "A".
It should be noted that scribe "D" replaces a handful of pages at various other points in the manuscript, and that Tischendorf attributes Judith and a few other books to him as well.
The kicker, is that 'scribe "D"' was identified as the very same scribe that wrote Vaticanus. This is played down and denied by some, not just because of the suspicious replacement of two pages of Mark's ending, but also because it severely reduces the independence of the two manuscripts generally, and in fact would often reduce their testimony to one (MS and/or Scribe).
It is already admitted by most critics that both manuscripts spent some time in the same scriptorium in Caesarea quite early in their history. If so, the identity of Scribe "D" in Sinaiticus as "Scribe A" of Vaticanus is quite plausible.
But the shenanigans regarding the expansion/contraction of text to 'fill the gap' is bizzare and suspicious in any case, and suggests not only that both manuscripts knew of the long ending (Traditional ending), but that this omission by "both MSS" was part of a policy in place and enforced by the scribe of Vaticanus at the scriptorium in Caesarea in the 4th century.
Reasonable photos of both MSS have been posted at TC-Alternate-List on Yahoo groups, for viewing, and photos of all the seams in the OT portion of Vaticanus are also online from mr. scrivener's blog.
peace
Nazaroo
http://nttextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2011/01/codex-vaticanus-book-borders-cont.html
The photos are good resolution, and you can click to enlarge them.
At the same time, there seems to be a new controversy regarding Codex Aleph (Sinaiticus): Originally, it was claimed that the second scribe "D" (also a corrector of Aleph) had replaced two pages there in exactly the same spot (the ending of Mark), and had stretched the letters to make the empty space less conspicuous.
But on the new Sinaiticus site (British Museum photos online), at least ten consecutive pages are listed as by the corrector, scribe "D".
Most of the rest of the manuscript, including Mark (before the ending) and Luke (after the replacement-pages) is written by scribe "A".
It should be noted that scribe "D" replaces a handful of pages at various other points in the manuscript, and that Tischendorf attributes Judith and a few other books to him as well.
The kicker, is that 'scribe "D"' was identified as the very same scribe that wrote Vaticanus. This is played down and denied by some, not just because of the suspicious replacement of two pages of Mark's ending, but also because it severely reduces the independence of the two manuscripts generally, and in fact would often reduce their testimony to one (MS and/or Scribe).
It is already admitted by most critics that both manuscripts spent some time in the same scriptorium in Caesarea quite early in their history. If so, the identity of Scribe "D" in Sinaiticus as "Scribe A" of Vaticanus is quite plausible.
But the shenanigans regarding the expansion/contraction of text to 'fill the gap' is bizzare and suspicious in any case, and suggests not only that both manuscripts knew of the long ending (Traditional ending), but that this omission by "both MSS" was part of a policy in place and enforced by the scribe of Vaticanus at the scriptorium in Caesarea in the 4th century.
Reasonable photos of both MSS have been posted at TC-Alternate-List on Yahoo groups, for viewing, and photos of all the seams in the OT portion of Vaticanus are also online from mr. scrivener's blog.
peace
Nazaroo