notes on the condition of ancient parchment mss

[Steven Avery]

Such information tends to be piecemeal, so as it comes along I will place it here.

Keep in mind that exceptional information (e.g. the condition of Sinaiticus) may actually mean an exceptional history (e.g. forgery).

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Practically all Greek papyri use carbon ink, but from the fourth century A.D., and perhaps earlier, Greek parchment manuscripts used metallic ink: notable examples of the use of metallic ink are the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Alexandrinus; the latter has sustained serious damage as a result of the ink eating through the parchment. -

Cambridge History of the Bible
https://books.google.com/books?id=jTWlhe7wlN8C&pg=PA61

In fact, very little is known about the composition of the Sinaiticus ink.

The papyri have large dating issues, those can get their own thread. In recent years Brent Nongbri has been the pioneer in questioning early dates, and the far too early terminus ante quem dates that are often assigned.

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There have also been developments in the dating of certain manuscripts. The Freer Gospels (032. W), famous for their unique text in the Longer Ending of Mark, were initially assigned to the fourth or fifth century. However, following the redating of the manuscripts used for the original comparison and the subsequent discovery of similar material, including the Cologne Mani Codex. Schmid has suggested that it may have been copied at least a century later. 29 Parker and Birdsall's consideration of the palaeography and catena of Codex Zacynthius (040, E) prompt them to propose a date of around 700 for the majuscule underwriting, rather than Hatch's suggestion of the sixth century. 30 The date of the earliest surviving fragment of the New Testament, P52, has also been the subject of a recent review by Nongbri 31 This cautions against the uncritical adoption of the earliest suggested date of 125 CE and demonstrates that a date in the late second or early third centuries remains palaeographically possible. As more and more comparative material becomes available online, it will not be surprising if the dating of other manuscripts is reassessed.

H.A.G. Houghton, "Recent Developments in New Testament Textual Criticism"
Early Christianity 2.2 (2011) 245-68
http://eprints.bham.ac.uk/627/2/2011_EarlyChristianity-preprint.pdf

Zacynthius and Vaticanus in one such "comparative material". As for Sinaiticus, noting the "truly exceptional" nature of its condition is an example of a comparative distinction that should have been a major consideration.

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On Bezae, Scrivener said preservation of the vellum was fair. One puzzling point, some ink was like yesterday he says
https://books.google.com/books?id=qdNJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR12
"some being as clear and fresh as if written yesterday"