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> So we only have 9 fragments from before 1900

What exactly did you mean by this? Because it surely can't be what it sounds like...



Based on the Wikipedia article linked in that comment, it refers to papyrus fragments specifically, the most recent one being from aprox. the IXth century. [1]

More recent texts were copied into more durable materials:

> By the beginning of the fourth century A.D., the most important books began to be manufactured in parchment, and works worth preserving were transferred from papyrus to parchment. [2]

By the way, I don't know enough about history or archaeology to agree or disagree with the comment, I just looked up the sources because I was also confused by the phrasing.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_Testament_papyri [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus#History




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