Seminar on editing Byzantine texts

The University of London Seminar on editing Byzantine texts was established in 1985 through the co-operation of Dr Joseph A. Munitiz, SJ, the Late Julian Chrysostomides and Dr Athanasios Angelou, initially with the aim of studying Byzantine literary works, the first of which was Nicephorus Blemmydes' Autobiography. It later developed into a working Seminar on editing Byzantine texts, joined by graduate students and visiting scholars who happened to be in London.

The Seminar, the only of its kind in London, has been the focus of Byzantinists specializing in various areas, such as textual criticism, language and literature, palaeography, history and historiography, theology and art history. The Seminar always tries to reach its decisions by common consent, in a spirit of friendly co-operation and discussion, each member contributing his/her own expertise and experience. More importantly, graduate students have the opportunity to learn and practise the editorial process, from the transcription of manuscripts to the final stages of publication of critical editions and annotated translations of Byzantine texts.

The Seminar has produced an annotated critical edition and translation of The Letter of the Three Patriarchs to Emperor Theophilos and Related Texts (eds. J.A. Munitiz, J. Chrysostomides, E. Harvalia-Crook and Ch. Dendrinos [Porphyrogenitus: Camberley, 1997]) and has edited a number of texts, including two unpublished religious works by the 15th-century scholar Manuel Calecas.

At present, an annotated critical edition and translation of the extensive Correspondence of George of Cyprus (Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory II, 1283-89) is under preparation. Members are asked to prepare a transcription of a letter or a group of letters from the principal manuscripts (Mutinensis graecus 82 and Vaticanus graecus 1085), followed by an edition with an apparatus criticus and an apparatus fontium, together with a translation and notes to the text. Their work is then presented and discussed at the Seminar. So far over fifty letters have been edited, translated and annotated.

The Seminar will be meeting during the second term on Fridays in February and March 2017, starting from 10th February, between 15:45-17:45 at The Warburg Institute, Classroom 2, Ground floor, Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AB.

Scholars and graduate students who are interested in Byzantine texts are welcome to participate.

For further information please contact the co-convenors, Dr Charalambos Dendrinos and Dr Christopher Wright.