NOTICE

ON

THE GNOSTIC PAPYRUS BRUCE.

The document I am publishing is written on papyrus; it was brought to Europe by the famous Scottish traveler Bruce. On September 15, 1882, I had the honor of drawing the attention of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres to this papyrus original: "Cf. Comptes rendus de l'Académie des inscr. et belles-lettres, 4e série, t. X, p. 184, 1882."; I can only repeat here, regarding this document, what I said at that time; there is nothing to change: "From the journey he undertook in 1769 to discover the sources of the Nile, the famous Scottish traveler Bruce brought back to Europe a fairly large number of Coptic manuscripts which are now in various libraries in England. Among these manuscripts, there was one written on papyrus and containing a Gnostic treatise. As of the year in which it was brought to England, this papyrus was already very damaged. For a century, the action of the humid climate of the British Isles has completed the ravages of time, and today the letters are so erased that they defy the sharpest eyes. Furthermore, the tissue of the papyrus itself has suffered from humidity and some pages have literally fallen into shreds. However, the Administration of the Bodleian Library, to which Bruce had entrusted the care of this precious manuscript..."