On a Dropped Line at f. xliii r
"My arm aches; the work does not."
Brachium meum dolet; opus non dolet.
Abstract
Working through the corrected exemplar of John Climacus in the present quarter, Br. Symeon encountered at f. xliii r a marginal note left by an earlier hand. The note is here transcribed and briefly discussed; further investigation is welcomed but not, on present resources, planned.
Context
Marginalia of this kind, while common in provincial scriptoria of the early-thirteenth century, have not been adequately collected. Our running census now stands at 627, a number that grows weekly and surprises no one but the corrector.
Paleographic Note
The minim spacing is wider than the scribe's usual practice, suggesting either an exemplar held at an awkward angle or, more probably, a draught from the cloister door. The sigma terminal preserves the customary form.
Notes
- An earlier draft of this dispatch contained a stronger claim, since softened.
- All folio numberings follow our internal census; the imperial census differs.
- Br. Photios's stack collapsed during preparation; no folios were lost.
- We have, on advice, not pursued the matter of the dropped line further.
Composed at the desk between Lauds and Sext; corrected at Vespers; typeset in cinnabar where cinnabar would be tolerated.
Si error est, gratia Dei est, non scriptoris.
Other Hands
Annotations by other scribes, in the order in which they were entered into the margins.