Jean-Daniel
Kaestli
Works authored
Works edited
In 1927 M. R. James published Latin Infancy Gospels, identified by him in two related but not identical manuscripts (one the British Library Arundel 404; the other from Hereford), together with a parallel text from the Irish manuscript known as the Leabhar Breac. Later researches brought to light more manuscripts of this Latin work, and also of the Irish text. James recognized that his apocryphal Latin Infancy text was compiled from a combination of the Protevangelium of James and a hitherto unknown text which he named "The Source". Recent research has identified a full Latin translation of the Protevangelium of James. A hitherto unrecognized Irish Infancy Narrative has also been identified in the Dublin manuscript known as the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. A deep study of this related tradition was called for. This has been carried out over the past ten years by an Irish team in conjunction with Professor Daniel Kaestli and AELAC. The fruits of this labour are published in these two volumes.
Volume 13 has a general introduction with a historical sketch of New Testament apocrypha in Ireland and a history of research on the subject. This is followed by a comparison of the Infancy Narratives in the Leabhar Breac and the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. There are special introductions to these Infancy texts, followed by critical editions of the Irish texts, accompanied by English translations and rich annotation. Next there is similar treatment of the Irish versified Narrative (from ca. 700) of the Childhood Deeds of Jesus (commonly known as the Infancy Narrative (or Gospel) of Thomas. There is then (in volume 14, but with continuous pagination) the edition and translation of an Irish thirteenth-century poem with elements from Infancy Narratives, and both Latin and Irish texts on the wonders at Christ's birth, accompanied by translations and notes. The edition of the Irish material is followed by a critical edition of the full Arundel and Hereford forms of the Infancy Narrative (here referred to as the "J Compilation"), together with a detailed study of all the questions relating to this work. The volume concludes with a critical edition (by Rita Beyers) of the Latin text of the Protevangelium of James, accompanied by a detailed study of the work.
The work contains a detailed study of the Latin translations of the Protevangelium of James and the transmission of this work in the West. The "J Compilation" (a combination of the Protevangelium and texts of Pseudo-Matthew) can be traced back in manuscript transmission to ca. 800, and must have originated some time earlier. Behind it stands an earlier "I ("I" for Irish) Compilation" without influence from Pseudo-Matthew, the form found in the Irish witnesses. It is argued that M. R. James's "Source" may be of Judaeo-Christian origin and may really be the Gospel of the Nazoreans. Among the indexes there is a list of all the Irish words found in the texts.
In 1927 M. R. James published Latin Infancy Gospels, identified by him in two related but not identical manuscripts (one the British Library Arundel 404; the other from Hereford), together with a parallel text from the Irish manuscript known as the Leabhar Breac. Later researches brought to light more manuscripts of this Latin work, and also of the Irish text. James recognized that his apocryphal Latin Infancy text was compiled from a combination of the Protevangelium of James and a hitherto unknown text which he named "The Source". Recent research has identified a full Latin translation of the Protevangelium of James. A hitherto unrecognized Irish Infancy Narrative has also been identified in the Dublin manuscript known as the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. A deep study of this related tradition was called for. This has been carried out over the past ten years by an Irish team in conjunction with Professor Daniel Kaestli and AELAC. The fruits of this labour are published in these two volumes.
Volume 13 has a general introduction with a historical sketch of New Testament apocrypha in Ireland and a history of research on the subject. This is followed by a comparison of the Infancy Narratives in the Leabhar Breac and the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum. There are special introductions to these Infancy texts, followed by critical editions of the Irish texts, accompanied by English translations and rich annotation. Next there is similar treatment of the Irish versified Narrative (from ca. 700) of the Childhood Deeds of Jesus (commonly known as the Infancy Narrative (or Gospel) of Thomas. There is then (in volume 14, but with continuous pagination) the edition and translation of an Irish thirteenth-century poem with elements from Infancy Narratives, and both Latin and Irish texts on the wonders at Christ's birth, accompanied by translations and notes. The edition of the Irish material is followed by a critical edition of the full Arundel and Hereford forms of the Infancy Narrative (here referred to as the "J Compilation"), together with a detailed study of all the questions relating to this work. The volume concludes with a critical edition (by Rita Beyers) of the Latin text of the Protevangelium of James, accompanied by a detailed study of the work.
The work contains a detailed study of the Latin translations of the Protevangelium of James and the transmission of this work in the West. The "J Compilation" (a combination of the Protevangelium and texts of Pseudo-Matthew) can be traced back in manuscript transmission to ca. 800, and must have originated some time earlier. Behind it stands an earlier "I ("I" for Irish) Compilation" without influence from Pseudo-Matthew, the form found in the Irish witnesses. It is argued that M. R. James's "Source" may be of Judaeo-Christian origin and may really be the Gospel of the Nazoreans. Among the indexes there is a list of all the Irish words found in the texts.
Contributions to journals
This article is part of a research on the Latin transmission of the Protevangelium Jacobi. It contains a critical edition and a French translation of the homily Inquirendum est, composed for the feast of the Nativity of Mary. The text transmits the first part of the Protevangelium Jacobi (ch. 1-8), within an homiletical framework. In three of the six manuscripts used for the edition, the homily belongs to a Carolingian sermonary, known as «homéliaire de Saint-Père de Chartres». It was originally composed as part of this sermonary, some time between 820 and 950, «in the British Isles or at some centre on the Continent where insular influence was apparent» (J. E. Cross). The author of the homily Inquirendum est used an expanded version of the Protevangelium Jacobi (translation II). This translation is also represented by three other witnesses: the Paris manuscript, Sainte-Geneviève 2787 (PJlatG); the Latin Infancy Gospels published by M. R. James (JAr et JHer, Arundel and Hereford forms of the «J compilation»); the Irish Infancy narrative of the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum (InfLFF). Some expansions of the original narrative are extant in all these texts (translation IIa), for example the story of the miraculous revelation of Mary’s name (PJ 5,2). The homily shares some others peculiarities only with JAr-JHer and/or InfLFF (translation IIb), for example the amplification of Joachim’s instruction to his shepherds (PJ 4,3). Apart from these «traditional» elements, the present study points out to the «redactional» features of the homily (omitted, rewritten and added passages). The author is particularly concerned with the fact that Mary’s parents conceived her in a natural way.
This article is part of a research on the Latin transmission of the Protevangelium Jacobi. It contains a critical edition and a French translation of the homily Inquirendum est, composed for the feast of the Nativity of Mary. The text transmits the first part of the Protevangelium Jacobi (ch. 1-8), within an homiletical framework. In three of the six manuscripts used for the edition, the homily belongs to a Carolingian sermonary, known as «homéliaire de Saint-Père de Chartres». It was originally composed as part of this sermonary, some time between 820 and 950, «in the British Isles or at some centre on the Continent where insular influence was apparent» (J. E. Cross). The author of the homily Inquirendum est used an expanded version of the Protevangelium Jacobi (translation II). This translation is also represented by three other witnesses: the Paris manuscript, Sainte-Geneviève 2787 (PJlatG); the Latin Infancy Gospels published by M. R. James (JAr et JHer, Arundel and Hereford forms of the «J compilation»); the Irish Infancy narrative of the Liber Flavus Fergusiorum (InfLFF). Some expansions of the original narrative are extant in all these texts (translation IIa), for example the story of the miraculous revelation of Mary’s name (PJ 5,2). The homily shares some others peculiarities only with JAr-JHer and/or InfLFF (translation IIb), for example the amplification of Joachim’s instruction to his shepherds (PJ 4,3). Apart from these «traditional» elements, the present study points out to the «redactional» features of the homily (omitted, rewritten and added passages). The author is particularly concerned with the fact that Mary’s parents conceived her in a natural way.
