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Correspondence regarding the Didache manuscript

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MS-0287

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence between Daniel Coit Gilman, Basil Gildersleeve, Nicholas Murray Butler and others regarding obtaining a copy of the Didache manuscript.

Dates

  • Creation: 1885-1888

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Please contact Special Collections for more information.

Collection is open for use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical / Historical

The Didache (meaning "Teaching") is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century. The first line of this treatise is "Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the Twelve Apostles."

The text, parts of which constitute the oldest surviving written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organization. It is considered the first example of the genre of the Church Orders.

The work was considered by some of the Church Fathers as part of the New Testament but rejected as spurious or non-canonical by others, eventually not accepted into the New Testament canon. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church "broader canon" includes the Didascalia, a work which draws on the Didache.

Lost for centuries, a Greek manuscript of the Didache was rediscovered in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia in the Codex Hierosolymitanus. A Latin version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht. The Didache is considered part of the category of second-generation Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers.

Extent

0.167 Cubic Feet (27 letters and 1 letterbook )

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The collection consists of correspondence between Daniel Coit Gilman, Basil Gildersleeve, Nicholas Murray Butler and others regarding obtaining a copy of the Didache manuscript.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Legacy collection; immediate source of acquisition is unknown.

Processing Information

Formerly part of MS 034. Processed as MS 287 circa 1990.

Title
Correspondence regarding the Didache manuscript
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
The Sheridan Libraries
Special Collections
3400 N Charles St
Baltimore MD 21218 USA