Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's outstanding manuscripts. Together with Codex Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest extant Bibles, containing the oldest complete New Testament. This treasured codex is indispensable for understanding the earliest text of the Greek Bible, the transmission of its text, the establishment of the Christian canon, and the history of the book. Over 400 leaves survive and are held across four institutions : the British Library, Leipzig University Library, St Catherine's Monastery and the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg.
To celebrate the virtual re-unification of all extant leaves of Codex Sinaiticus, on 6-7 July 2009, the British Library is hosting an academic conference on topics relating to Codex Sinaiticus. A number of leading experts have been approached to give presentations on the history, text, conservation, paleography and codicology, among other topics, of Codex Sinaiticus. Selected conference papers will be edited and published as a collection of articles.
Keynote speakers : Eldon Jay Epp.
Other speakers include : Christfried Böttrich ; Harry Gamble ; Ekaterina Krushelnitskaya ; René Larsen ; Scot McKendrick ; David Parker ; Emanuel Tov ; David Trobisch ; Klaus Wachtel.
To register, please send a completed registration form and a cheque in pounds sterling (made payable to The British Library) to Gareth Burfoot, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB. Registration fees : Standard £75 ; Students £40.
Further details about the programme will be posted in the coming months.
For further information about the conference, please contact CodexSinaiticusConference@bl.uk
Photo above : Codex Sinaiticus, Corrections on Quire 36, folio 4 recto.