The Biblical Manuscripts in the Freer Collection, a collection of six biblical manuscripts, date from the 3rd to 6th centuries. Most of the manuscripts are written in Greek, one in Coptic. They are important witnesses of the history of the text of New Testament and Septuagint. The collection was established by Charles Freer (1854–1919), an industrialist from Detroit, Michigan and is held at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. All these manuscripts were purchased at the beginning of the 20th century in Egypt by Charles Freer. Four manuscripts were bought on 19 December 1906 from an Arab dealer named Ali in Giza, not far from Cairo. Freer paid £1,600. Upon the next expedition to Egypt, Freer met with Ali and acquired a Coptic codex of the Psalms and the earliest papyrus codex of the Minor Prophets. Formerly these manuscripts were held in Detroit, Michigan, in Freer's private collection. He gave his art collections to the United States together with funds for a building to house them. The building cost $1,000,000, all of which was paid by Freer. The Freer Gallery of Art was opened in 1923.

Manuscripts

Gallery of Biblical Manuscripts