The Quedlinburg Itala: New Text-Critical Insights from an Almost Forgotten Manuscript

Recent research into the Old Latin of Samuel–Kings has shown the usefulness of this manuscript tradition for textual criticism, while also showing the complex nature of its individual witnesses. This article looks at the Quedlinburg Itala, La116, one of only two remaining manuscript witnesses of the Old Latin text of Samuel–Kings. Even though only six leaves are preserved, the Quedlinburg Itala represents an important and extremely valuable witness to the complexity of the textual history of the Old Latin. The aim of this article is to look at the text-critical value of the preserved textual segments by discussing important variants preserved in Quedlinburg, specifically 2 Sam 2:29, 2 Sam 2:31, 1 Kgs 5:30, and 1 Kgs 6:3. Quedlinburg is an unaligned document that has seen several changes in its transmission history. It nonetheless provides us with useful new insights in multiple text-critical issues.