Grammatical Treatise quoting the Margites, fragment of a scroll, in classical Greek, on papyrus

a fragment, 150mm. by 125mm., plus another smaller fragment 50mm. by 12mm., with remains of two entire columns of 17 lines (with upper and lower margin visible) in an accomplished and professional Biblical majuscule, citing the Margites in the first five lines of second column, verso blank, slight rubbing to surface, else good condition, mounted in glass

Unique. The only known witness to part of a lost classical text, and the oldest witness to any part of the Margites

From the collection of Anton Fackelmann (1916-85); his MS. 6, and is published in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 34 (1979), pp. 14-18 & pl.2, and online as Mertens-Pack 2151.1 and LDAB 2269. From mummy cartonnage.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Margites is both the hero and title of a popular comic epic poem, which was composed c. 700 BC. Most of the ancients, including both Plato and Aristotle, believed it to have been the work of Homer, but Suidas (a Greek lexicon of the tenth century AD.) claims it as the work of Pigres of Caria, either brother or son to Queen Artemisia and author of the Batrachomyomachia. The hero is a fool, proverbial for his stupidity. He could not count beyond five, and did he know whether his father or his mother had given birth to him. His follies are played out for purely comic effect, and he was perhaps meant to represent some ludicrous popular figure known to the author and his audience.

The text, while well known in antiquity and highly esteemed by the Greek scholar Callimachus (c.305-c.240 BC.), is now almost entirely lost. Aside from some brief and garbled medieval quotations, there are only four witnesses to the text: the present manuscript, which has been previously published as first century BC. but recently re-dated to the early part of that century or late in the preceding one; and three Oxyrhynchus papyri, all now in the Sackler Library, Oxford: P. Oxy. 22 2309, either of the first century BC. or first century AD.; P. Oxy. 59 3964, of the first century AD.; and P. Oxy. 59 3964, second century AD.