Image: Manchester Odyssey P53

Description: Physical Location: The John Rylands Library Classmark: Greek P 53 Alternative Identifier(s): 60947; P. Ryl. Gr. 1 53; Mertens-Pack 01106.000 Title: Odyssey Language(s): Greek Subject(s): Classical literature; Mythology, Greek Author(s): Homer Date of Creation: 3rd-4th century CE Associated Person(s): Hunt, Arthur Surridge (1871-1934); Grenfell, Bernard Pyne (1869-1926); Lindsay, James Ludovic (1847-1913); Rylands, Enriqueta Augustina (1843-1908) Format: Codex Material(s): Parchment Extent: Fragment: remains of folios 1-30 and 52-101. Leaf height: 168 mm, width: 130 mm. Foliation: The original compass of the codex is clear from the occurrence in the top left-hand corner of folio 79 recto, the first page of a quire, of the number κδ (cf. folio 87 recto κε), showing that twenty-three gatherings had already preceded. The gatherings are quaternions and the number of lines on a page ranges from 28 (30 commonly in the earlier remaining portions) to 34. If 29 lines be taken as the average, the resulting total up to folio 79 is approximately that of the lines contained in the twenty-one preceding books. There is no foliation of individual leaves, but with the assistance of the quire-mark κδ their number can be deduced as 207.

Collation: The sheets are usually arranged so that the recto (flesh-side) and verso (hair-side) are uppermost alternately, the recto of one leaf facing the recto of the next.
Usage Terms: Public domain