constantly omits whole letters, from which however he sometimes
extracts a sentence or two, which he tacks on to the end of some
preceding letter without regard to the sense. This process makes it
exceedingly difficult to collate the MS. with the printed text. Owing
to the Eighth Book being inserted after the Twelfth, it is erroneously
labelled on the back, 'Cassiodori Senatoris Epistolae, Lib. X-XIII.'

(3) 10 B. IV. (also of the Thirteenth Century, and measuring 11 inches
by 8) contains, in a tolerably complete state, the first Three Books
of the 'Variae,' Book IV. 5-39, Book VIII. 1-12, and Books X-XII. The
order, however, is transposed, Books IV. and VIII. coming after Book
XII. These excerpts from Cassiodorus, which occupy folios 66 to 134 of
the MS., are preceded by some collections relative to the Civil and
Canon Law. The letters which are copied seem to be carefully and
conscientiously done.

These three MSS. are all in the King's Library.

Besides these MSS. I have also glanced at No. 1,919 in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. Like those previously described it is, I believe,
of the Thirteenth Century, and professes to contain the whole of the
'Variae;' but the letters are in an exceedingly mutilated form. On an
average it seems to me that not more than one-third of each letter is
copied. In this manner the 'Variae' are compressed into the otherwise
impossible number of 33 folios (149-182).

All these MSS., even the best of them, give me the impression of being
copied by very unintelligent scribes, who had but little idea of the
meaning of the words which they were transcribing. In all, the
superscription V.S. is expanded (wrongly, as I believe) into 'Viro