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The story of how von Tischendorf found the manuscript, which contained most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, has all the interest of a romance. Von Tischendorf reached the monastery on [[January 31]]; but his inquiries appeared to be fruitless. On [[February 4]], he had resolved to return home without having gained his object.
: On the afternoon of this day I was taking a walk with the steward of the convent in the neighbourhood, and as we returned, towards sunset, he begged me to take some refreshment with him in his cell. Scarcely had he entered the room, when, resuming our former subject of conversation, he said: "And I, too, have read a Septuagint"--—i.e. a copy of the Greek translation made by the Seventy. And so saying, he took down from the corner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, and laid it before me. I unrolled the cover, and discovered, to my great surprise, not only those very fragments which, fifteen years before, I had taken out of the basket, but also other parts of the Old Testament, the New Testament complete, and, in addition, the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the [[Shepherd of Hermas|Pastor of Hermas]].<ref>See [http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/extras/tischendorf-sinaiticus.html Constantin von Tischendorf, The Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript], Extract from Constantin von Tischendorf, ''When Were Our Gospels Written? An Argument by Constantine Tischendorf. With a Narrative of the Discovery of the Sinaitic Manuscript'' [New York: American Tract Society, 1866].</ref>
After some negotiations, he obtained possession of this precious fragment, and conveyed it to Emperor Alexander, who fully appreciated its importance, and caused it to be published as nearly as possible in facsimile, so as to exhibit correctly the ancient handwriting. However, the tsar sent 9000 roubles to the monastery as a compensation.
Regarding Tischendorf's role in the transfer to Leningrad, there are several views. Although when parts of [[Genesis]] and [[Book of Numbers]] were later found in the binding of other books, they were amicably sent to Tischendorf, the ''Codex'' is currently regarded by the monastery as having been stolen, a view hotly contested by several scholars in Europe. In a more neutral spirit, New Testament scholar [[Bruce Metzger]] writes: "Certain aspects of the negotiations leading to the transfer of the codex to the Czar's possession are open to an interpretation that reflects adversely on Tischendorf's candour and good faith with the monks at St. Catherine's. For a recent account intended to exculpate him of blame, see Erhard Lauch's article 'Nichts gegen Tischendorf' in ''Bekenntnis zur Kirche: Frestabe für Ernst Sommerlath zum 70. Geburtstag'' (Berlin, c. 1961); for an account that includes a hitherto unknown receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from St. Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request'.<ref>See Ihor Šev�?enko's article 'New Documents on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus', published in the journal ''Scriptorium'', xviii (1964) pp 55-80."<br /> Bruce A. Metzger, ''The Text of the New Testament: it's Transmission, Corruption and Restoration'', Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 45.</ref>
For many decades, it was preserved in the Russian National Library. In 1933, the Soviet Union sold the Codex to the British Library for £100,000.
