Document

• Auteur(s)Anonyme
• TitrePB M
• Forme alternative du titreP.Bodmer 25+4+26; Bodmer Menander codex
• CopistesAccording to Orsini, three copyists were responsible for the extant leaves of the codex: Hand A copied folios 1-17v, line 40, and Hand B copied folio 17 verso, line 41 to the end of the codex, with the exception of folio 19 recto, which was copied by Hand C (Orsini, “I papiri Bodmer,” 64-65). Others would see an additional copyist at work (Nelson and Raymond, “Papyrus Bodmer IV”), while Kasser claimed the whole was the work of a single copyist with the exception of folio 19 recto (Kasser, Papyrus Bodmer XXV, 18-19).
• Date et lieu de créationearly 3rd cent. (Martin, Papyrus Bodmer IV, by palaeography); 4th cent. (Turner, Typology, by palaeography); late 4th cent. (Orsini, “I papiri Bodmer,” by palaeography)
• Langue(s)grc

Publication, distribution

Edition

Description matérielle

• TypeManuscript
• Volume
  Dimensions: The width of the page is 13 cm. The height of page: 27.5 cm. The ratio of the page (width/height) is 0.473. The width of written area ranges from 8.5 cm to 9.1 cm. The height of written area is 24.1 cm. There are 44-55 lines per page.
  Quires: A single quire originally composed of 16 sheets (64 pages). Facing pages have contrasting fiber orientations with the exception of the pages numbered 34 and [35] (the center of the quire, misnumbered—actually pages 32 and 33). Vertical fibers (↓) precede horizontal fibers (→) in the first half of the codex, while horizontal fibers precede vertical fibers in the second half of the book.
  Cover: No cover is preserved.
  
• Reliure
  Binding: The quire was probably originally bound by means of two tackets tied through the central fold (a form of binding well known from the Nag Hammadi codices). Faded areas near the central fold of the pages numbered page 34 and page 35 indicate the presence of parchment stays at the center of the quire. Three pairs of holes in the margins at a slight remove from the central fold (about 1.3 cm) indicate that at a later point, the quire was stab bound in a manner that would have made it difficult to open the codex fully. Still another set of holes closer to the central fold suggest a third distinct binding (according to Kasser, Papyrus Bodmer XXV, 14-15), also by means of stabbing, though it is unclear which stab binding occurred first.
• Support matérielPapyrus, soot-based black ink

Remarques

• Remarques généralesParatextual features: An opening title is present for one work (ⲇⲩⲥⲕⲟⲗⲟⲥ). The first two works conclude with end titles and authorial attribution in the form ⲥⲁⲙⲓⲁ | ⲙⲉⲛⲁⲛⲇⲣⲟⲩ and ⲙⲉⲛⲁⲛⲇⲣⲟⲩ | ⲇⲩⲥⲕⲟⲗⲟⲥ. Accents, diaireses, apostrophes, and breathing marks appear sporadically. New acts are indicated by the word ⲭⲟⲣⲟⲩ written in large letters. Corrections are present throughout. Page numbers (written in a different hand using lighter ink) appear in the upper margins of sufficiently preserved pages. At least one page (34) is numbered incorrectly.
  
  Decorations: The extant beginning title is enclosed in an ornamental frame. The end titles are decorated with coronides and enclosed in elaborate ornamental frames.
  
  Other holding institutions: Cologne, P.Köln VIII 331
  
• RésuméPapyrus codex containing Menander’s Samian (P.Bodmer 25), Dyskolos (P.Bodmer 4), and Aspis (P.Bodmer 26).
  Description: The remains of this codex consist of 52 identifiable papyrus folios and numerous fragments. The original codex would have contained complete copies of Menander’s Samian (folios 1-9v), Dyskolos (folios 10r-20r), and Aspis (folios 20v-26v). The codex may have been used in an educational setting (Blanchard, “Sur le milieu”). Letters between Louis Doutreleau and Victor Martin show that the Bibliothèque Bodmer had received parts of all three plays in September of 1956, as well as additional leaves in October 1956 (Robinson, The Story of the Bodmer Papyri, 42-44). These are said to have been purchased in Egypt through Phocion Tano. Bodmer’s assistant, Odlie Bongard, reported that Bodmer himself took possession of some leaves of the Menander codex from Mahmoud Mohasseb in Cairo in September of 1957 (Méla, Légendes, 35).
  
• Bibliographie
  LDAB number 2743
  TM number: 61594
  Digital text: DCLP
  
  Editio princeps:
  P.Bodmer 25: Kasser, Rodolphe (with Colin Austin). Papyrus Bodmer XXV. Ménandre: La Samienne. Cologny-Genève: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1969.
  P.Bodmer 4: Martin, Victor. Papyrus Bodmer IV. Ménandre: Le Dyscolos. Cologny-Genève: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1958.
  P.Bodmer 26: Kasser, Rodolphe (with Colin Austin). Papyrus Bodmer XXVI. Ménandre: Le Bouclier. Cologny-Genève: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1969.
  
  Additional bibliography:
  Blanchard, Alain. “Sur le milieu d’origine du papyrus Bodmer de Ménandre.” Chronique d’Égypte 66 (1991): 211-220.
  Méla, Charles. Légendes des siècles: Parcours d’une collection mythique, Fondation Martin Bodmer. Paris: Éditions Cercle d’Art, 2004.
  Nelson, C. A. and Joanne L. Raymond. “Papyrus Bodmer IV: The Distinction of the Hands and the Date.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 4 (1967): 43-48.
  Orsini, Pasquale. “I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri.” Adamantius 21 (2015): 60-78.
  Robinson, James M. The Story of the Bodmer Papyri: From the First Monastery’s Library in Upper Egypt to Geneva and Dublin. Eugene, Or.: Cascade Books, 2011.
  Turner, Eric G. “Emendations to Menander’s Dyskolos.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 6 (1959): 61-72.
  Turner, Eric G. The Typology of the Early Codex. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977, 57-58.
  

Identification

• ConstellationPapyri
• PID3783
• CotePB 25+4+26