صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

Contains recension IIb, printed once on each page, but, exceptionally, standing upright on every page, so that the book can be read right through, from page to page, without turning it right round. To this arrangement there are only a few exceptions; on 14 pages (out of a total of 74 printed ones) the imprint is reversed, and these are clearly accidental errors. There are 12 forms, which at first seem not to agree with the arrangement, all the imprints on them being reversed. But they only require to be folded the other way, and to be turned, when they all come right. With respect to these forms, therefore, the book has only been carelessly bound.

No. V. Book. (Plate X, fig. 2.)

Same as "Block-print " in Proceedings. Belongs to M. 3. Size, 9×4 inches. Number of forms, 34. Riveted exactly like No. IV. Paper, variety IIIa. Many stains, but no burns. Printing similar to that in No. IV.

Contains recension IIb, printed twice on each page, so that the two impressions stand head to foot, the lower one being complete (13 lines), the upper, more or less incomplete (as a rule 6 or 8 lines, i.e., ll. 13–8, or 11. 13-6) owing to want of space. There are only four exceptional pages on which they stand foot to foot, viz. form 7, p. 4; f. 17, p. 3; f. 23, p. 1, and f. 26, p. 1; and these, of course are careless misprints. There are also two pages on which there is only one impression; viz. form 17, p. 4 and f. 26, p. 2.

In the ordinary, head-to-foot, arrangement, the pairs of impressions stand upright and reversed on alternate pages.15 The two varieties of arrangement may be represented thus, the parallel lines representing the inner edge of the pages or the fold of a form.

[blocks in formation]

The ordinary arrangement is very curious for two reasons: (1) because the page commences with the incomplete member of the pair of texts, which must have been awkward in reading the book, if it was meant for reading; (2) because it compels the reader to begin with the left hand pages, that is, at the wrong end of the book, assuming

15 There are some three or four exceptional pages which do not keep the alternate order. These evidently are misprints.

J. 1. 15

that the proper way of reading these books is from the right to the left in the Semitic fashion. It is, however, by no means certain that the direction of the scripts is from the right to the left. See also the General Remarks on the Orientation of the Books.

No. VI. Book.

Not mentioned in the Proceedings. Belongs to M. 6. Acquired from the Rev. Mr. Högberg. Size, 9 x 4 inches. Number of forms, 8; but the book is a mere fragment; a large portion, including beginning and end and the rivets, is wanting. Paper, variety IIIa; some stains, but no burns. Printing similar to that in Nos. IV and V, but even worse; ink has run so badly through the paper that many pages could not be printed at all, the print on one side showing through on the other.

Contains recension IIb, printed exactly as in No. V, two impressions on each page, standing head to foot, the lower being complete, the upper, incomplete.

THIRD SET.

This set comprises three books. The peculiarity of them is that their forms are not placed one upon the other, as in the bound books of all the other sets, but are inserted one within the other. Moreover the printing does not commence upon the fourth, but on the second page, and does not stop on the ante-ante-penultimate, but on the penultimate page.

The text of this set consists of two short formulas A and B. Formula A is made up of five short lines, of about 5 or 6 letters each. It is found in all three books. Formula B consists of four longer lines of about 7 or 8 letters each, and is only found in two books, Nos. II and III. For printing these two formulas, two separate blocks must have been used. This is evident from the lines, enclosing the formulas, as well as from the different size of the two blocks. Measured between those lines, the dimensions are 1x13" and 21 x 17" respectively. There is nothing to indicate what is top and bottom of the formulas. No. I. BOOK. (Plate XI.)

Belongs to M. 3. Size, 14 x41". Number of forms, 16. It was originally bound with three twists of paper. These having broken, the book has been re-stitched with fresh thread, apparently by the finder, or in Mr. Macartney's office. It is, therefore, not certain whether the number of the forms is complete. Paper, variety II1b. Leaves much burned and torn.

Contains both formulas A and B, printed in two rows on each page, but without any particular order. This is illustrated by the subjoined diagrams, which also indicate the relative position of the two formulas and occasional irregularities in printing them. The straight lines indicate the fold of the sheet. As a rule, the formulas occur 5-8 times in a row, and occupy alternate rows. There are only three exceptions; on the 15th sheet the formula B occurs alone; on the outside of the 13th sheet, each formula occupies both rows of a page; and on the outside of the 2nd, and the inside of the 9th sheet, there is only one row on one page, and that row is filled with prints of formula B alone; probably the A row has been simply forgotten by the printer, as its proper space is left blank.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

Belongs to M. 6. Acquired from the Rev. Mr. Högberg. Size 8x6". Number of forms 13. Paper, variety IIIa. A few fatty stains, and marks of singeing. Stitched in three places with loops of loosely twisted thread.

Contains both formulas A and B, printed in three and four columns, each column containing as a rule five impressions. As may be seen from the subjoined diagrams, there is no order whatever in the arrange

ment of the impressions. Occasionally formula A occupies the whole page, in which case there are four columns, with five (or six) impressions in each; total 20 (or 24) impressions. At other times formula B occupies the whole page, when there are only three columns, with five impressions in each; total 15 impressions. But in many cases both formulas occur promiscuously on the page, in which case also there are only three columns, with a total of 15 or 16 impressions. Clearly this book cannot have been intended for intelligent reading.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Belongs to G. 7. Size, 9x7". Number of forms 18. Paper,
A few burns and fatty stains. Riveted with three

variety IIIa.

[blocks in formation]

Contains only formula A, printed in three columns on each page, the two inner columns consisting of seven, and the outer, of six impressions, which latter stand at right-angles to the former; otherwise there is no sort of order in the relative position of the imprints, as the marginal example may show.

FOURTH SET. (Plate XII).

This set comprises eight books. Two of the books contain also other texts in addition to their own, viz., No. VII contains also the text of the Fifth Set, and No. VIII, of the Seventh Set.

The text of the Fourth Set consists of a formula, containing five lines of writing. There appear to have been two blocks, from which this formula has been printed off; for I have noticed a very slight difference in the dimensions of the print: in Books I, III, V, the lines differ by to of an inch in length from those in Books II, IV. The enclosing lines of the block of the longer print alone are preserved in book No. VII, and this block measures, within the enclosing lines, 3×21 inches.

I

a b c

def 6

g

hi a b c

Two of the books seem to afford indications whereby to determine what is top or bottom, right or left, and beginning or end of the text. These are Nos. II and VI. No. II is printed with three columns on each page, and a column consists, as a rule, of six impressions of the formula; but there are two pages on which the columns contain 63 impressions, and one page on which they contain only 5 impressions; as illustrated by diagram I on the margin. On the other hand book No. VI is printed with 2 columns on each page; that is, two columns contain, each, two complete impressions of the formula, while the third column contains only two half-impressions of it; as illustrated in diagram II. It would seem right to conclude from diagram I, that abc must be the top-line; for if ghi were taken to be the top-line, the printing would have commenced with a mutilated formula. Similarly diagram II would show that a is right and c left of the formula, and that the reading of the latter must commence, not with C, but with a; or in other words that the formula must be read from the left to the right. It would follow, therefore, that if the formula is to be read in the European fashion, it commences in the left-hand upper corner, as shown in the photographic facsimile on Plate XII; or, if it is to be read in the Chinese fashion, its commencement lies in the right-hand upper corner. Unfortunately, as the case of the Fifth Set shows, the argument is not so conclusive as would be desirable.

def

II

103

[ocr errors]

• abc ab

.abc ab

2

[ocr errors]

No. I. BOOK.

Belongs to M. 7. Said to have Size, 23 × 131." Number of forms, 36.

been found at Aq Tala Tūz. Riveted with three copper pegs,

« السابقةمتابعة »