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900-year-old codex fragments discovered in one of BME’s libraries
2025. 12. 16.
Fragments of St Ambrose’s commentary on the Gospels were found hidden beneath the spine lining of a 19th-century architectural work kept in the library of the Department of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation.
Five fragments of a 12th-century codex were discovered on the spine of a book by Mária Leitgéb, a member of staff at the library of the Department of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation at BME. The spine lining of the second volume of Les plus beaux édifices de la ville de Gênes et de ses environs, written by Martin Pierre Gauthier (1790–1855) and published in 1818, had partially come loose, revealing the strips of codex fragments.
After examining the fragments, Gábor Sarbak and Fanni Hende, researchers at the HUN-REN–OSZK Fragmenta et Codices Research Group of the National Széchényi Library within the Hungarian National Museum Public Collections Centre, established that the text visible on the fragments comes from the commentaries on the Gospel of St Luke by St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan – specifically from Books IX and X of the work (Aurelius Ambrosius, 339–397; Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam).
On the basis of the script visible on the fragments, the original parchment codex was produced in the 12th century, and the five strips together formed a single folio. The pieces of parchment were probably glued to the book’s spine by French bookbinders in the 19th century, after cutting them lengthwise and crosswise. The sturdy parchment served to protect the spine beneath the cover.
| The library of the Department of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation, which has existed for more than 160 years and preserves documents representing the specialist library background of architectural education at BME, is unique and exceptional even by national standards. In addition to current professional literature, the collection, comprising over 23,000 volumes of books and 3,000 volumes of journals, includes a valuable historical section, within which are priceless documents, among them works representing architectural literature from the 16th to the 18th centuries. |
According to the inventory records, the host volume was added to the departmental library’s collection in 1962; however, this is not the actual date of accession, as the collections were re-catalogued when predecessor departments of architectural history and their libraries were merged. Earlier records are no longer available, but on the basis of inscriptions and ownership stamps found in the book, it is presumed that it previously belonged to the architect Antal Wéber (1823–1889), and that it was transferred to the University of Technology in the 1880s, to the Department of Dry Construction, Artistic and Decorative Architecture headed by Alajos Hauszmann, where it has remained ever since.
Entry by renowned Hungarian architect Ignác Alpár, who performed the duties of department librarian for a time
The removal of the fragments from the host volume and their restoration could allow for even more detailed analysis and for the fragments to be positioned on a hypothetical parchment folio on the basis of a modern critical edition. “The aim, of course, is for the fragments to remain here at BME even after they are removed; the appropriate conditions are in place, and the library is equipped with humidity monitoring. Naturally, the detachment and the proper preparation for storage will involve costs, since this is not a simple conservation task, so we will probably try to cover the expenses from some form of grant funding,” János Krähling, Head of the Department of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation said in response to an enquiry by bme.hu.
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