[9] D'Agincourt's famous mistake in attributing these miniatures to the 12th or 13th century, and Ottley's ascription of those in the Saxon "Aratus" of the 9th century to the 2nd or 3rd, are among those slips of the learned which prove that even great men are fallible. [10] "Iste liber est beati Dionysii." [11] The palimpsest Homer of the British Museum, discovered by Mr. Cureton, is of equal importance in Grecian palæography. [12] In the case of the "de Republicâ," they are written in the same direction. See facsimiles in Sylvestre and Ferdinand Seré. [13] "Iliadis Fragmenta antiquissima cum Picturis," ed. Angelo Maio. [14] Petri Lambecii "Commentaria de Bibliotheca Vindobonensi," vol. ii. [15] The Bible formerly belonging to Theodore Beza, now at Cambridge, and one in the Vatican, are rival claimants to this honour. [16] It was given to Charles I. of England, by Cyrillus Lucaris, Patriarch of Constantinople. [17] In his "Origin and Progress of Writing." [18] "Treasures of Art in Great Britain," vol. i. p. 97. [19] Text to "Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments," page 4. [20] For a full description, with references to numerous commentators, see Westwood's "Palæographia Sacra Pictoria," cap. 49. [21] Tome ii. article "Manuscrits," fig. 15. [22] "Treasures of Art in Great Britain," vol. i. p. 96. [23] Dr. Kugler ("Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte," p.401), in speaking of Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts, observes, "dass wir diese Arbeiten als ein der ersten Zeugnisse des germanischen Kunstgeistes in seiner Selbständigkeit, und zugleich als das Vorspiel oder als den ersten Beginn des romanischen Kunststyles, zu betrachten haben." [24] As represented in the plates to Salzenberg's fine work, "Alt-Christliche Baudenkmale von Constantinopel, vom V. bis XII. Jahrhundert." Folio, Berlin, 1854. [25] The whole are given in Shaw's "Illuminated Ornaments," plates 1, 2, 3, and 4. [26] It is on this account that we have refrained from giving any specimens of manuscripts anterior to the 6th century. [27] "Palæographia Sacra Pictoria," cap. Syriac MSS. [28] O'Conor and others were of course earlier in the field. [29] "Palæographia Sacra Pictoria," Book of Kells, page 1. [30] Catalogue of the Libri collection of MSS., Introduction by M. Libri, pages xiv. and xxvi. London, 1859. [31] Giraldus Cambrensis, speaking probably of this very book, says, "Sin autem ad perspicacius intuentum oculorum aciem invitaveris, et longe penitus ad artis arcana transpenetraveris, tam delicatas et subtiles, tam actas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas, notare poteris intricaturas, ut vere hæc omnia angelica potius quam humana diligentia jam asseveraveris esse composita."