Codex Alexandrinus

The Codex Alexandrinus is currently held in the British Library in London, where it has been housed since 1753. It is recognized as one of the most important and earliest surviving manuscripts of the Greek Bible.

The Codex Alexandrinus is largely complete, but it is famously missing parts of Matthew and Genesis. It also originally contained two extra books, the First Epistle of Clement and the Second Epistle of Clement, which were not universally accepted into the biblical canon.

The manuscript is named after the city of Alexandria in Egypt, where it was believed to have been kept for centuries. According to historical tradition, it was sent as a gift to King James I of England by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril Lucaris, in the early 17th century.

Paleographers date the Codex Alexandrinus to the early-to-mid 5th century, making it one of the four great uncial codices. It is written on vellum in Greek majuscule letters, reflecting the manuscript traditions of the late Roman era.