Scribes and Scripts in the Library of the Monastery of the Archangel Michael at Phantoou. Two Case Studies

The present paper takes into account the codicological and palaeographical features of some Coptic codices belonging to the library of the Phantoou Monastery. The first part of the paper is devoted to the codices New ork, Morgan Library and Museum, M592 ( CLM 222) and M602 ( CLM 225): they are demonstrated to be twin volumes, written by the same scribe and intended as a coherent set containing a collection of texts dedicated to the same subject (Saint Michael). The second part of the paper is focused on three more Phantoou manuscripts now preserved in the Morgan Library: M583 ( CLM 241), M595 ( CLM 243) and M591 ( CLM 228), all of them hagiographic and homiletic miscellanies. They are demonstrated to have been written by three scribes, in some way connected to each other. The first scribe, named Epima, copied M583 (dated to 848) and the first part of M595 the second scribe, named Apa yrillos, completed M595 (dated to 855) after Epimas death and, then, copied M591 (dated to 861) with the assistance of the third scribe, named Apa yri.