The manuscript tradition of the Ethiopic 'Qalementos'. A short note

In the absence of any edition whatsoever, whether critical or not, what is known of the Ethiopic 'Qalementos', 'Clement', the seven-book Revelation of Peter to Clement, still mainly depends upon the contributions by A. Dillmann 1858, S. Grébaut 1911 ff. and A. Bausi 1992. Dillmann was the first to recognize the transpositions of contents that occurred in the only ms. at his disposal, i.e. Tübingen, Universitätsbibliothek, M. aeth. 1 = M. a. IX 1; he also realized that they had to be imputed to an undetermined antecedent; although Grébaut does not seem to have realized it, the same happens in ms. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, d'Abbadie 78. A larger analysis of the manuscript tradition of book II of the 'Qalementos' yields further elements of evaluation and stimulates methodological reflections, on one side on the application of mechanical criteria to Ethiopic manuscript traditions, and on the other side on the possible existence of phenomena of 'contamination', with all its implications