The Cambridge Mishnah (MS Add.470.1)

The Mishnah, which tradition says was first compiled in written form by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi around 200 CE, is one of the fundamental texts of Jewish law, second only to the Hebrew Bible in its authority. It contains the rulings, discussions and aphorisms of generations of rabbis as they debated questions of Jewish law. Today, only three complete manuscripts of the Mishnah are in existence: MS Cambridge, MS Kauffman (Budapest, A50), and MS Parma (De Rossi 138).
The Cambridge Mishnah was produced in the 15th century in Byzantium, making it the youngest of the three. It is also the most sparsely vocalised, with only about 200 words marked with vowels. It is significant, however, both for the tradition of Mishnah text it preserves, the western, and for its linguistic features. The 19th-century Cambridge scholar Solomon Schiller-Szinessy’s description of it was perceptive: ‘Although this copy can lay claim neither to a very great age, nor to absolute correctness, we cannot hesitate to pronounce it to be a MS. beyond all price.’