Denis Diderot Joseph Rodman Drake
Franz von Dingelstedt John William Draper
Isaac D'Israeli Michael Drayton
Austin Dobson Gustav Droz
Mary Mapes Dodge Henry Drummond
John Donne William Drummond
Feodor Dostoevsky Maxime Du Camp
A. Conan Doyle George du Maurier
Holger Drachmann Jean Victor Duruy
[Illustration: _CODEX ALEXANDRINUS._
Fifth Century. British Museum.
The Alexandrine Manuscript of the Christian Scriptures is
almost complete in both Testaments, the Septuagint version of
the Old and the original Greek of the New. It consists of 773
sheets, 12-3/4 by 10-3/4 inches, of very thin gray goatskin
vellum, written on both sides in two columns of faint but
clear characters. It was made in the early part of the fifth
century, under the supervision of Thecla, a noble Christian
lady of Alexandria, in the fifth century. It was brought from
Alexandria to Constantinople by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of
Constantinople, who in 1624 gave it into the charge of the
English Ambassador for presentation to King James I.; but
owing to James' death before the presentation could be made,
it was presented instead to Charles I. It remained in the
possession of the English sovereigns until the Royal Library
was presented to the nation by George II. in 1753. With the
exception of the greater part of Matthew to Chapter xxv., two
leaves of John, and three of Second Corinthians, it contains
the whole Greek Bible, including the two Epistles of Clement
of Rome, which in early times ranked among the inspired
books. Its table of contents shows that it once included also
the "Psalms of Solomon," though, from their position and
title in the index, it is evident that they were regarded as
standing apart from the other books. The Museum has bound the
leaves of this precious manuscript in four volumes, and has
had photographic copies made of each page for the use of
students. The accompanying reproduction is from the last
chapter of the First Epistle of John, from "His Son," in
verse 9, to the end.]