Early Christian Books in Egypt

Roger S. Bagnall is professor of ancient history and director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. His books include "Egypt in Late Antiquity" (Princeton).

• List of Figures ix Preface xi A Note on Abbreviations xv Chapter I: The Dating of the Earliest Christian Books in Egypt General Considerations 1 Chapter II: Two Case Studies 25 Chapter III: The Economics of Book Production 50 Chapter IV: The Spread of the Codex 70 Notes 91 Bibliography 99 Index of Subjects 105 Index of Papyrological Texts Discussed 110

"This book was well written, intelligent and cleverly argued; I can see it becoming the 'instant and major classic in the field' that its back cover predicts."--Charlotte Booth, Heritage Key "This book confirms that not many, if any, know more about this subject than Roger Bagnall... Overall, it is an extremely useful book, which should press scholars to greater precision dating NT papyri in the future... [T]his superb book is a must-read for anyone interested in the matters upon which it touches."--Simon J. Gathercole, Journal for the Study of the New Testament "This is a provocative and informative book that deserves detailed interaction and wide consideration of the ideas it advances."--Paul Foster, Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism "This very informative volume offers, by all means, anything but a tedious read. The reader is urged to question the interference of non-academic criteria and agendas into the issue of dating the earliest Christian papyri, as well as in our general understanding of their testimony for those centuries. All in all, this surely is an unavoidable read for any scholar working on Early Christianity with an interest in the early Christian manuscripts."--Dan Batovici, Sacra Scripta