It contains text of the four Gospels with a large number of lacunae. The manuscript text is in two columns, 16 lines, 12 letters in line, in large uncial letters. The lettering is in silver ink on vellum dyed purple, with gold ink for nomina sacra. It has errors of iotacisms, as the change of ι and ει, αι and ε. It can be calculated that the original codex contained 462 leaves. Before each Gospel, the tables of κεφάλαια were placed. The text is divided according to the κεφάλαια, whose numbers are given at the margin. At the top of the pages τίτλοι are preserved. The Ammonian sections and the Eusebian Canons are presented in the margin.
The text of the codex is a representative of the Byzantine text-type, with numerous pre-Byzantine readings. According to Scrivener "it exhibits strong Alexandrian forms." According to Streeter in some parts it has the Caesarean readings. Aland placed it in Category V, and it is certain that it is more Byzantine than anything else. The texts of Luke 22:43-44, and John 7:53–8:11 are omitted. In John 1:27 it has the addition εκεινος υμας Βαπτιζει εν πνευματι αγιω και πυρι.
History
It is understood that the manuscript originated in the imperial scriptorium of Constantinople and was dismembered by crusaders in the 12th century. In 1896 Nicholas II of Russia commissioned Fyodor Uspensky's Russian Archaeological Institute of Constantinople to buy the greater part of it for the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. The codex was examined by Lambeck, Montfaucon, Hermann Treschow, Alter, Hartel, Wickholf, Bianchini, H.S. Cronin, and Duchesne. Wettstein in 1715 examined 4 leaves housed at London and marked them by I. Wettstein cited only 5 of its readings. According to Scrivener it has 57 various readings. Bianchini described portions housed at the Vatican Library. The same portions examined and collated for Scholz Gaetano Luigi Marini. Vienna fragments, Codex Vindobonensis, were examined by Wettstein, who marked them by siglum N. Treschow in 1773 and Alter in 1787 had given imperfect collations of Vienna fragments. Peter Lambeck gave the wrong suggestion that Vienna fragments and Vienna Genesis originally belonged to the same codex. Tischendorf published fragments of this manuscript in 1846 in his Monumenta sacra et profana. Tischendorf considered it as a fragment of the same codex as 6 leaves from Vatican, and 2 leaves from Vienna. Louis Duchesne described the Patmos portions. Athens and New York portions were edited by Stanley Rypins in 1956. A facsimile of all fragments was published 2002 in Athens.
Present location
The 231 extant s of the manuscript are kept in different libraries:
