Notice on the Bruce Gnostic Papyrus (1891) - Page 16

THE
GNOSTIC
BRUCE
PAPYRUS.

ΠΛΟΓΟC Logos. The character seems to differ slightly from the preceding ones. However, there is a leaf where one page is written by one hand, and the other by another hand.

25 leaves which cohere 1 by another third hand, with a larger and more distinct character, beautifully inscribed.

6 leaves of the same character, tattered.

15 leaves concerning ΙΕΟΥ Ieou by the second hand 2.

1 leaf enclosed by lines, tattered, by a fourth hand 3.

As one can judge, this pro memoria does not suffer from too much clarity; however, by examining it well, one sees that it is in some way double, and that the last part, the one that begins with the title of the book, is only a clarification of the first, and that it gives the order and the number of the leaves that attach themselves, as Woïde found them in the papyrus, with the indications of the pages to put in their place. The result is that, of the 79 leaves, only 60 follow in four sequences, first 14, then 25, then 6 and finally 15. The first twelve are in disorder; the six that follow inspire great doubts, and finally the last is notoriously out of its place.

I cannot say, as of now, in what order I have arranged them; for that, one would have to enter into the examination and the very study of the two works, and, before arriving at this point, I must resolve several questions.

First of all, it is supremely regrettable that Bruce, in the account of his journey, did not see fit to let us know where he had obtained the papyrus 4. This omission, however, is not completely irreparable, because the text of the works allows us to say with certainty that Bruce acquired the

1) Fol. c. — 2) Fol. b. — 3) 79 leaves. — 4) Cf. Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des inscr. et belles-lettres, loc. cit., p. 221. Woïde affirms, however, that Bruce took it at Thebes.