Wednesday, August 01, 2012

The Green Scholars Initiative: Papyrus Series (eds. Obbink & Pattengale)

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As already conveyed by Peter Williams in February (here), Brill has partnered up with the Green Scholars Initiative to start a new monograph series. Today it has become official as Brill announces the new forthcoming series: The Green Scholars Initiative: Papyrus Series, edited by Dirk Obbink and Jerry Pattengale which will include hitherto unpublished papyri texts from the private Green Collection. Jeffrey Fish, professor of Classics at Baylor University, will be editor of volume one. Perhaps this volume will include the seven early New Testament papyri which have been discussed on this blog (e.g., here), one of which is a purported first-century fragment of Mark.

Here is the news from the Brill website:

Brill has signed an agreement to publish The Green Scholars Initiative: Papyrus Series, edited by Dirk Obbink and Jerry Pattengale – a new book series that will include rare, unpublished papyri texts from the private Green Collection. Brill is quite pleased with the collaboration and looks forward to working with the Green Scholars Initiative (GSI). The collection itself is an untapped repository of extremely significant papyri, and the GSI provides access to the leading specialists in the field working on the project.

Dirk Obbink (University of Oxford)directs the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Collection and publications, and  Jerry Pattengale (Indiana Wesleyan University and Baylor University) directs GSI, is a prolific author, international speaker, and oversees the publication of all Green Collection and GSI research projects.

The new series fits well among Brill’s strong portfolio of Classical Studies and Biblical and Religious Studies publications, as well as its extensive list of digitized primary source manuscript collections. Comprising of one to two new volumes per year, the new series will publish approximately 20 papyri with a thorough description, commentary with images, and web-based support for further resources. The first forthcoming volume in the series, planned to be released in early 2013, is dedicated to an early 3c BCE papyrus containing an extensive, undocumented work by Aristotle on reason, and is currently being analyzed by a research group at Oxford University.

The Green Collection contains over 50,000 items, and now holds nearly 15,000 papyri acquired from private collections in Europe, and continues to grow. The collection is approximately 70% Greek, 15% Coptic and 15% late Egyptian. The collection is currently unpublished and contains items of extraordinary importance, including some of the earliest Greek literary texts known, dating to the early 3c BCE. A major building near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. was purchased in July 2012 to house an international museum for these items.

For more information about this forthcoming new book series, contact Senior Acquisitions Editor Suzanne Mekking (mekking@brill.nl).

27 comments

  1. Yay. Figuring that Dr. Wallace said in Feb. 2012 that the publication of the first-century papyrus fragment of Mark was a year away, we only have eight months, tops, before we can read all about it.

    Yours in Christ,

    James Snapp, Jr.

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  2. Well if a 1st century fragment of Mark isn't high enough priority for the first volume in this series, then there must be some pretty amazing finds to publish first.

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  3. Fantastic. Dr. Fish is one of the greatest papyrologists alive today. I can't think of someone more qualified to edit and handle the papyri. I like how this release is presenting the New Testament papyri in context of other Classical papyri. Can't wait!

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  4. If Darrell was serious and not facetious (not that it's a bad thing:) ), I have to agree. There are much more exciting MSS than a would-be 1st century Marcan fragment. A good thing about Dr. Fish is that he's primarily a classicist, so his scope is much wider than most of us would hope to cover. His speciality are Herculaneum papyri/

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  5. James,
    When considering publications, one must always consider that scholarly years do not always consist of 12 month or 365 days. ; )

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  6. A clarification: the "first century papyrus of Mark", at least as of late June, is not part of the Green collection. It is, apparently, in the hands of a private collector. It is unknown whether its current owner has any plans to publish it.
    Mike Holmes

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  7. Thanks Mike. I was under the impression that Dan Wallace, who first mentioned the MS during a debate, said that it would be published within a year (by Brill). Remind me of what news you refer to as of late June.

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  9. I'd rather see a more extensive papyrus from 2nd, 3rd, or 4th century than a 1st century fragment anyway.

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  10. FWIW, as noted here on May 15:
    Christianity Today mentions the claim of a first century papyrus Mark fragment. "A publicist for the Green Collection denied that it owns the Mark fragment."

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  11. The fragment's absence in the Green Collection may be courtesy of Scott Carroll's marketing skills/leaks (c.f. his FB announcements, etc).

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  12. This is news to me. I had thought it was well established that it was the Green Collection that had the Mark fragment? Scott Carroll announced it, and he works for the Green Collection, and Wallace said it was to be published by Brill, which happens to be starting this new series.

    So now the Green Collection denies it? Has this whole thing been a cruel joke?

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  13. Scott Carroll no longer works for GSI or Baylor, as it seems.

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  14. Their website still lists Carroll:

    http://www.greenscholarsinitiative.org/ScholarsStaff

    so apparently it has not been updated?

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  15. What are you checking Pete? Is it something with the Olympic games?

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  16. What are you checking Pete? Is it something with the Olympic games?

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  17. Is cricket an Olympic sport?

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  18. I took it that Dr. Head was checking to see if Scott Carroll was still at GSI or Baylor?

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  19. An anonymous comment here suggests "Scott Carroll no longer works for GSI or Baylor, as it seems." Can anonymous tell us where this information comes from? (now that we know Peter Head is checking something else).

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  20. On the other hand, I have noticed that Carroll's facebook page has been removed, and his twitter account has not been updated since April. Moreover, I cannot find his old webpage at Baylor (http://www.isreligion.org/about-isr/scott-th-carroll/).

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  21. here is the link to the Christianity Today story referenced above.

    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/may/sensation-before-scholarship.html

    So there are a few questions then...

    1) Where is the Mark fragment?
    2) Who owns it?
    3) Who is working on it?
    4) Who is going to publish it?
    5) Whatever happened to Dr. Carroll?

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  22. This link from August 2, 2012 seems to suggest that Carroll is still with the Green Collection:

    http://dcbarroco.blogspot.com/2012/08/laus-deo-bible-museum-to-be-in-dc.html

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  23. 1) Where is the Mark fragment?

    I guess in Turkey or in London.

    2) Who owns it?

    Some private collector, although I bet Green (via Carroll) was very interested in purchasing it, but for some reason did not (if the parties are not still negotiating).

    3) Who is working on it?

    I doubt anyone is working with it at this point.

    4) Who is going to publish it?

    Who knows... Perhaps Dan Wallace took for granted that the fragment of Mark would be published together with the other fragments from the Green collection (by Brill); that was my impression from the original announcement, but then the Mark fragment has not been purchased.

    5) Whatever happened to Dr. Carroll?

    I have no idea ... I think, however, that the link from August 2 is inconclusive. It is probably a compilation of older material describing the history of the Green collection.

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  24. Thanks Tommy...I am fearful then, based on your hypothesis, if true, that the fragment did not sell, as the price Green was going to pay went up substantially when Carroll let slip what it was and how valuable it is. So now the fragment is still sitting out there sort of half-lost.

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  25. Scott Carroll is indeed no longer with the Green Scholars Initiative. His name has been wiped from the website:
    contrast http://www.greenscholarsinitiative.org/scholars (now) and http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:W4VLsLh19iEJ:www.greenscholarsinitiative.org/scholars (13 August).

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