Vetus Latina manuscripts are handwritten copies of the earliest Latin translations of the Bible (including the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the Deuterocanonical books, and the New Testament), known as the "Vetus Latina" or "Old Latin". They originated prior to Jerome from multiple translators, and differ from Vulgate manuscripts which follow the late-4th-century Latin translation mainly done by Jerome.

Vetus Latina and Vulgate manuscripts continued to be copied alongside each other until the Late Middle Ages; many copies of the Bible or parts of it have been found using a mixture of Vetus Latina and Vulgate readings.

Studies

Textual critics such as the Cambridge scholars Alan Brooke, Norman McLean and Henry S. J. Thackeray (1906–1935, 8 volumes) have used the blackletter (𝕷) as a sign (known as a siglum) for categorising Vetus Latina manuscripts. David L. Everson (2014) used "" (an abbreviation of "Old Latin") as siglum instead.

In 1949, the Vetus-Latina-Institut of Beuron Archabbey introduced a new numerical system for Vetus Latina manuscripts, of which there are several hundreds altogether. These Beuron numbers are designed to provide unambiguous identification of witnesses in academic usage, yet they are not used very widely in general literature, as they may cause confusion with the Greek minuscule manuscripts.

The Vetus-Latina-Institut allocated numbers up to 99 to all existing Vetus Latina manuscripts of the New Testament, depending on what parts of NT they include, and how old their text is. The lowest numbers are allocated to the gospels, and to the most complete manuscripts. For example, Codex Sangermanensis (g) is a witness for the Gospel of Matthew and sparingly in the remaining gospels (Gosp), and four Old Testament Books, and as it is a full manuscript of the Bible is allocated number 7.

Manuscripts 1-49 are witnesses to one or more Gospels. Manuscripts 50-74 are witnesses to Acts, General epistles or the Book of Revelation (Rev). Manuscripts 75-89 are witnesses to Pauline epistles (Paul). Manuscripts 91-96 are glosses in Spanish Bibles.

From Beuron no. #100 onwards, most Vetus Latina manuscripts are of the Old Testament, the Psalter, and the Apocrypha. There is occasional overlap between them, for example Old Testament glosses found in Spanish Bibles, or when a manuscript contains both Old and New Testament texts.

Old Testament Dates are estimated to the nearest 50 year increment. Beu indicates the number of the manuscript according to the Beuron system of the Vetus-Latina-Institut. Unless specified otherwise, details in the below taken from Fitzmyer, Tobit. Beu s. Name Date Contents Editor Custodian Location 7 G Codex Sangermanensis 4fonds lat. 11553 825 Tobit 1:1–13:2 Brooke et al. Bibliothèque nationalede France Paris, France 91133 L Codex GothicusLegionensis glosses 960 Genesis (fragments)TobitJudith Sancho (author)Alban Dold &J. Schildenberger Basilica ofSan Isidoro León, Spain 94 Valvanera Polyglot Bibleglosses copy 7721561 Heptateuch Rg Par Jb Prv Ecl SapIs Mcc Cath Apc (fragments) Dold & Schildenberger Incunable Escorial54.V.35 Madrid, Spain 95 Madrid glosses 1150 Genesis (fragments) Real Academia dela Historia 2–3 Madrid, Spain 96 Calahorra Codex 2 glosses 1183 Exodus–Chron., Job (fragm.) – Calahorra Cathedral Calahorra, Spain 100 𝔏 Codex LugdunensisLyons Octateuch 650 Gen–Lev; Deut–JudgesExodus (695 vv.) Ulysse Robert Bibliothèquemunicipale de Lyon Lyon, France 101115 𝔏 Vienna PalimpsestPalimpsestus Vindobonensis 450 Gen–Lev (fragments)1 Samuel 1–14 (partial)2 Samuel 4–18 (partial) Johannes BelsheimBonifatius Fischer Biblioteca Nazionale Naples, Italy 102 Codex Ottobonianus lat. 66 700 Gen–Judges Vg/OL mixture Carlo Vercellone Vatican Library Vatican City 103 𝔏 Würzburg PalimpsestPalimpsestus Wirceburgensis 450 Exodus (503 vv.) Ernst Ranke UniversitätsbibliothekWürzburg Würzburg, Germany 104 𝔏 Munich PalimpsestMonacensis Clm 6225 550 Exodus–Deuteronomy(609 vv. of Exodus) Leo Ziegler Bavarian State Library Munich, Germany 105 𝔓 Oxy.1073 Oxyrhynchus PapyrusVIII 1073 450 Genesis 5:4–13, 5:29–6:2 British Museum;Inv. 2052 London, UK 109 X Codex Complutensis I 850 Tobit F. Vattioni Complutense UniversityBiblioteca Centr. 31 Madrid, Spain 111 Oxford pericopes 825 Gen, Exo, Deut, Songs,Psalm 41, Is, Minor Prophets Bodleian Library;Auct. F.4.32 Oxford, UK 116 𝔏 Magdeburg fragment 2 Samuel 2:29–3:5 116 𝔏 Quedlinburg Itala fragment 450 1 Samuel 5:9–6:121 Samuel 9:1–8, 10:10–18 Adalbert Düning Berlin State LibraryQuedlinburg Abbey Berlin, GermanyQuedlinburg, Germany 130 M Codex Monacensis Clm 6239 800 Tobit, Judith, Esther Johannes Belsheim Bavarian State Library Munich, Germany 135 J Codex Bobbiensis E.26 875 Tobit, Esther 1–2, 2 Macc. Antonio Maria Ceriani Biblioteca Ambrosiana Milan, Italy 145 C Codex Reginensislat. 7 850 Tobit 1:1–6:12 Brooke et al. Vatican Library Vatican City 148 Q Codex Regius fonds lat. 93or Regius 3564 850 Tobit Brooke et al. Bibliothèque nationalede France Paris, France 150 P Codex Corbeiensis fondslat. 11505 822 Tobit Brooke et al. Bibliothèque nationalede France Paris, France 253 𝔏 Einsiedeln fragment 1420 1 Samuel 2:3–10 S. Berger (1893) Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln, Switzerland 𝔏 Haupt fragments 2 Samuel 10:18–11:17, 14:17–30 Joseph Haupt 𝔏 Julius Toletanus fragment 2 Samuel 24:11–16 Carlo Vercellone

Editions s. Name Date Contents Editor Location 𝔏 Bibliorum sacrorum latinae versiones antiquae 1750 Entire Bible Paris 𝔏 Variae lectiones Vulgatae Latinae bibliorum editionis 1860–64Volume 1: Genesis-Deuteronomium; Volume 2: Josue-IV Regum Carlo Vercellone Rome Vetus Latina: die Reste der altlateinischen Bibel 1945–present Entire Bible (half completed, in progress) Genesis 1951–1954 Ruth 2005 Esra I 2008–2016 Judith 2001–2020 Hester 2003–2008 Canticum Canticorum 1992 Sapientia Salomonis 1977–1985 Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1987–2005 Esaias 1987–1997 Danihel 2021–2022 Vetus-Latina-Institut Beuron

New Testament

The table below employs the following conventions. Dates are estimated to the nearest 50-year increment (but 'first half of 5th century' = '425', 'second half of 5th century' = '475'). Content is given to the nearest book (or sometimes chapter); verses and lacunae are not listed. Editions are those consulted by UBS4; in many cases, better editions are also available. Locations are given in anglicised form, unless linked to sources in other languages. Manuscripts will sometimes be referred to as "it" followed by the siglum. Beu indicates the number of the manuscript according to the Beuron system of the Vetus-Latina-Institut. Unless specified otherwise, details taken from Piggin, The Original Beuron Numbers of 1949.