posted on 22 March 2009 16:46
by
Peter Stockwell
High Tech
I was reading about a few verses of St Mathew's Gospel on a fragment of papyrus in the library of Magdalen College,Oxford. Some scholars say it is the earliest extant Gospel text, dating from the mid first century AD. Indeed, maybe it was written in the lifetime of the apostle himself. This would be quite exciting in its way. Of course other scholars say it is nothing of the kind and the debate will continue. But what really interests me is the technology we now have to look at such material. This fragment was subjected to a confocal laser-scanning microscope, no less, which measured the height and depth of the ink. It was able to detect the imprint of the scribe's pen and separate writing from unintentional ink blots. All very amazing, but it does not seem to have finally resolved the date the manuscript was written.
I am now reading volume five of A Dance to the Music of Time. I came across a Youtube clip of the TV film, which had very accurate dialog. It moved the early action from an unnamed public school to Eton College. Well, I suppose they had to film it somewhere and Eton College has nice buildings. I wondered which unnamed University would be chosen for the next few scenes, but they weren't on Youtube.
I found a copy of The Bonfire of the Vanities in my other bookshop (not Oxfam, Caffe Nero). It is tempting to take a sabbatical from A Dance to the Music of Time and read it. I am holding out at the moment.