Tischendorf's vanity was well known, and remarked on, but making an error in the MS. date wasn't possible in the case of Sinaiticus: it would have taken a LIFETIME to forge, per Dean Alford (even if one were capable of it).
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Tischendorf -
The Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript & Other writings
p.23 "In visiting the library of the monastery, in the
month of May, 1844, I perceived in the middle
of the great hall a large and wide basket full of
old parchments,
and the librarian, who was a
man of information, told me that two heaps of
papers like these, mouldered by time, had been
already committed to the flames. What was
my surprise to find amid this heap of papers a
considerable number of sheets of a copy of the
Old Testament in Greek, which seemed to me
to be one of the most ancient that I had ever seen.
The authorities of the convent allowed
me to possess myself of a third of these parchments,
or about forty-three sheets, all the more
readily as they were destined for the fire.
But I could not get them to yield up possession
of the remainder. T
he too lively satisfaction
which I had displayed, had aroused their suspicions
as to the value of this manuscript. I
transcribed a page of the text of Isaiah and
Jeremiah, and enjoined on the monks to take
religious care of all such remains which might
fall in their way.
On my return to Saxony there were men of
learning who at once appreciated the value ofthe
treasure which I brought back with me. I did
not divulge the name of the place where I had
found it, in the hopes of returning and recovering
the rest of the manuscript. I handed up
to the Saxon Government my rich collection of
oriental manuscripts in return for the payment
of all my travelling expenses, I deposited in
the library of the University of Leipzig, in the
shape of a collection, which bears my name,
fifty manuscripts, some of which are very rare
and interesting. I did the same with the
Sinaitic fragments, to which I gave the name
of Codex Frederick Augustus, in acknowledgment
of the patronage given to me by the King
of Saxony ; and I published them in Saxony in
a sumptuous edition, in which each letter and
stroke was exactly reproduced by the aid of
lithography.
But these home labours upon the manuscripts
which I had already safely garnered, did not
allow me to forget the distant treasure which I
had discovered. I made use of an influential
friend, who then resided at the court of the
Viceroy of Egypt, to carry on negotiations for
procuring the rest of the manuscripts. But his
attempts were, unfortunately, not successful.
"The monks of the convent," he wrote to me
to say, "have, since your departure, learned
the value of these sheets of parchment, and will
not part with them at any price."
.
.
.
p.30 "the Sinaitic Bible, the transcription of
which is to be referred to the first half of the
fourth century and about the time of the first
Christian emperor."
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Dean Alford on "The Gospels and Modern Criticism " in the Contemporary Review, V. 360
"A correspondent of The Guardian of June 12 of this
year [1867] is anxious to know whether the internal
evidence of the genuineness of the Sinaitic MS. is satisfactory,
having had his faith in that genuineness somewhat
shaken by the narrative prefixed to this tract of
Dr. Tischendorfs [Wann Wurden Unsere Evangelien Verfasst? (1865)],
which has been translated for the Religious Tract Society by B. H. Cowper].
We are persuaded that he may set his mind at rest on this point.
The text of this MS. bears to us the strongest possible
marks of originality and genuineness.
If any man were
capable, from his knowledge of ancient MSS., of forging
such a text, it would take him almost the duration of a
life to accomplish the forgery. Besides which, we are
unable to see in the very straightforward narrative of
Dr. Tischendorf any grounds of suspicion.
Our friend
is given to blow his trumpet before him somewhat loud,
and this narrative is certainly not wanting in examples
of his habit. We confess, too, to a certain anxiety—undispelled
by anything he says at the end—as to whether
the good monks of St. Catherine have got back, or are
likely to get back, their precious document, which was
borrowed to be taken to St. Petersburg. — See p. 17 of
the German, p. 34 of the translation."
