The collection of manuscripts from the White Monastery in Atripe near Panopolis (Sohag, Upper Egypt) is vast, vibrant and fascinating. In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Archimandrite Shenoute, the third superior of the monastery and a prolific writer, made a significant contribution to Coptic literature in Sahidic. The library of the White Monastery continued to expand until the eleventh century with additions of works written in Arabic. Over time, manuscripts in Coptic became less prevalent and were almost forgotten. Manuscripts fell into such disrepair that Western travellers found their folios easy to collect. By sifting through this rich collection dispersed throughout the world's archives, libraries and museums, it is possible for scholars to conduct significant research while approaching the manuscripts from different perspectives.

Paola Buzi's book, the seventh catalogue of the Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland series, offers excellent research on the homiletic and liturgical collection of Coptic manuscripts of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz – Orientabteilung, adding to the body of work on the White Monastery. This Coptic Berliner collection, currently housed at the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Carl von Ossietzky in Hamburg, is an important collection of well-preserved parchment leaves of dismembered codices; the majority originate from the library of the White Monastery.

The volume provides a thorough codicological description (among other aspects quires, ruling, layout on the page and decoration supplemented with some palaeographical remarks). Following the Borgian Coptic Fragments in Naples, Paola Buzi wears her erudition regularly. Indeed, once again, she does an admirable job of identification and attribution of the folios to related fragments in other collections. The volume begins with a well-constructed introduction organized in four chapters including a useful explanation of the method (pp. 64–88). A substantial bibliography (pp. 15–56), alongside the abbreviations (pp. 13–4) adopted, complements this first part. The catalogue (pp. 89–226) consists of manuscripts dating from the fourth to the tenth/eleventh centuries. This covers mainly literary and liturgical manuscripts: Ms. or. fol. 1348–1350, 1605–1610, Ms. or. fol. 3065, Ms. or. oct. 409 and Ms. or. oct. 987 from the White Monastery; two papyri from Thebes: Ms. or. fol. 2097 and two manuscripts from Lower Nubia: Ms. or. quart. 1019 and Ms. or. quart. 1020. Buzi's meticulous analysis can be appreciated in her description of each codicological leaf, unit and lemma. Using Tito Orlandi's sigla system of the Corpus dei manoscritti copti letterari, the compilation of the descriptions can add to our excitement and understanding of the reconstructed codices in their entirety. The volume is enhanced by the comprehensive set of indexes (pp. 227–60) – fragments and related works, authors, related fragments belonging to other collections, ruling patterns, names and places, sigla etc. – and plates (pp. 261–78). More important is the synoptic index (pp. 255–60) of the published and unpublished catalogues. This includes the description of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin codices and the correspondences between the current inventory numbers of the manuscripts and their previous designations.

The Manuscripts of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Part 4: Homiletic and Liturgical Manuscripts from the White Monastery. With Two Documents from Thebes and Two Old-Nubian Manuscripts will remain an important tool. Scholars and students of Coptic codicology and literature will be effectively served by this volume.