Fonds Coislin

The majority of these manuscripts were collected between 1643 and 1653, by Père Athanase the Rhetor, who bought them for Pierre Séguier (1588–1672), chancellor of France from 1635.

Athanase bought the manuscripts in Cyprus, Constantinople, Mount Athos, and in other territories bordering the northern and western Aegean.

After Séguier's death, all this collection was inherited by his grandson, Henri-Charles de Coislin (1664–1732), bishop of Metz.

A large part of the collection was burned in 1793, and in 1795 Fonds Coislin was deposited in the National Library of France, where it has been held until the present day.

The collection also includes further witnesses to the text of the New Testament, as well as to the Septuagint, Josephus, and other ancient, and medieval authors.