Book Hunting

Beatus Pamphilius Martyr, cujus vitam Eusebius Caeseriensis Episcopus, tribus ferme voluminibus explicavit, cum Demetrium Phalereum, et Pisistratrum in sacrae Bibliothecae studio vellet aequare, imaginesque ingeniorum, quae vera sunt, et aeterna monumenta, toto orbe perquireret, tunc vel maxime Origenis libros impensius prosecutus, Caeseriensi Ecclesiae dedicavit: quam ex parte corruptam, Acacius dehinc, et Euzoius ejusdem Ecclesiae sacerdotes in membranis instaurare conati sunt. Hic cum multa repererit, et inventorum nobis indicem dereliquerit, centesimi vigesimi sexti Psalmi Commentarium, et Phe litterae Tractatum, ex eo quod non inscripsit, confessus est non repertum. Non quod talis tantusque vir (Adamantium dicimus) aliquid praeterierit, sed quod negligentia posterorum ad nostram usque memoriam non durarit. Sanctus Hieronymus, Epistola XXXIV, Ad Marcellam Source: Migne PL 22 448

The blessed Martyr Pamphilus, whose life Eusebius the Bishop of Cæsarea set forth in near enough three volumes, wishing to equal Demetrius Phalereus and Pisistratus in his zeal for a sacred library, sought though out the whole world for images of great minds, which are true and everlasting monuments, but most of all, at great expense, he hunted down the books of Origen, and bestowed them on the church of Caesarea, a part of which was later destroyed, but Acacius and then Euzoius, priests of the same church, tried to reestablish the library in parchment volumes. The latter recovered many texts and he left to us an inventory of them, but in not writing of them he confesses that he could not find Origen's Commentary on the Hundred and Twenty Sixth Psalm and his Tract on the Letter Phe. Not that such an author (whom we call Adamantine) would have neglected something, but that through the negligence of those who came after him such works did not survive to our times. Saint Jerome, from Letter 34, To Marcella

A Charitable Scholar

Ipse enim Eusebius amator et praeco et contubernalis Pamphili tres libros scripsit elegantissimos, vitam Pamphili continentes: in quibus cum catera miris laudibus praedicaret, humilitatemque eius ferret in coelum, etiam hoc in tertio libro addidit: Quis studiosorum amicus non fuit Pamphili? Si quos videbat ad victum necessariis indigere, praebebat large quae poterat. Scripturas quoque sanctas non ad legendum tantum, sed et ad habendum, tribuebat promptissime. Nec solum viris, sed et feminis, quas vidisset lectioni deditas. Unde et multos codices praeparabat, ut cum necessitas poposcisset, volentibus largiretur. Et ipse quidem proprii operis nihil omnino scripsit, exceptis epistolis, quas ad amicos forte mittebat; in tantum se humilitate dejecerat. Veterum autem tractatus scriptorum legebat studiosissime, et in eorum meditatione jugiter versabatur. Sanctus Hieronymus, Apologia Adversus Libros Rufini, Liber Primus Source: Migne PL 23.404a-b

Eusebius himself, a close friend, herald and companion of Pamphilus, wrote three most elegant books containing the life of Pamphilus in which he proclaims with praise other admirable traits and lifts to the sky his humility, and in the third book he says further: 'What lover of study was not a friend of Pamphilus? If he knew of any of them being in want of the necessaries of life, he helped them to the utmost of his power. He would not only provide them copies of the Holy Scriptures to read, but to keep, and that most readily. And he gave not only to men, but to women also if he saw that they were given to reading. He therefore kept many volumes, so that when necessity pressed he could give to those who asked. He himself however, wrote nothing of his own, except letters which he sent to friends, so humble he judged himself. But the works of the old writers he read most diligently and was constantly occupied in meditation upon them.' St Jerome, from the Apology Against The Books Of Rufinus, Book 1