• Statii surculi tolosani Achilleidos ... [etc.]

Extent:
  • 102 leaves : paper ; 209 x 145 (145-175 x 90-96) mm bound to 217 x 153 mm.
Date:
  • 1450-1500
Language:
Abstract:
  • A collection of classical and humanistic texts.
Contents:
  • 1. fol. 1r-22v: Statii surculi tolosani Achilleidos. Statius' unfinished epic poem on the life of Achilles. Books 1-2.
  • 2. fol. 22v-25v: [Florilegium of extracts from classical and humanistic texts]. Includes extracts from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Oedipus Tyrannus, Pope Pius II's In Turcham, and Sophocles' Ajax.
  • 3. fol. 25v-38v: [Elegiae] / [Maximianus]
  • 4. fol. 38v-50v: Priapea Uirgilii.
  • 5. fol. 50v-55r: [Florilegium of extracts from classical and humanistic texts]. Includes extracts from Decius Magnus Ausonius' Caesares, Guarino da Verona's De ortu VII sapientium, a poem on the muses, Francesco Petrarca's Epistulae familiares, and lines of verse.
  • 6. fol. 55v-58v: [Blank]
  • 7. fol. 59r-100v: [Carmina and Vita] / Tibullus. Carmina 1-3 and Vita.
  • 8. fol. 101r-102r: Saphos poetissa Mitilena ad phaon / [Ovid]. Section XV:1-78 with variant wording.
Description:
  • Incipit: [Statii surculi] "Statii surculi tolosani Achilleidos liber primus Incipit. Magnanimum eaciden formidatamque tonanti progeniem et patrio vetitam succedere coelo…" -- [Elegiae] "Emula quid cessas finem properare senecte, Cur in hoc fesso corpore tarda uenis ..." -- [Priapea Uirgilii] "Carminis incompti [l]usus lecture procaces, Conueniens latio pone supercilium, Non soror habitat phoebe non uesta sacello ..." -- [Carmina and Vita] "Epistula prima. Auli Tibulli equitis Romae poetæ clarissimi quod danda est opera amori omissis cæteris. Diuitias alius fuluo sibi congerat auro, Et teneant culti Iugera magna soli ..." -- [Saphos] "Saphos poetissa Mitilena ad phaon. [N]unquid ubi aspecta es studiose littera dextræ, Protinus est oculis cognita nostra tuis ..."
  • Explicit: [Statii surculi] "Hactenus annorum comites clementa meorum, Et memini et meminisse iuuat scit cætera mater, Talibus auditis veniens ad littora puppis, Hesit et hinc campos læti tenuere petitos" -- [Elegiae] "Infelix qui iam defecto corporis surgo, Hac me defunctum uiuere parte puto, Talibus insectat deponis uerba senectæ. S[c]riptus ab Esimacho maximiano lupo. Finit gallus poeta forliuiensis. carmina sunt 682. Quem scripsit totum polydorus quattuor horis. qui uiuat felix tempora multa prospere." --[Priapea Uirgilii] "... huc ades et nervis tente priape faue. Finit priapea uirgilii." -- [Carmina and Vita] "Obiit adolescens ut indicat epigramma suprascriptum. Finit Tibullus." -- [Saphos] "Cui colar infelix aut cui placuisse laborem, Ille mei cultus unicus auctor abes."
  • Ms. composite codex.
  • Title from incipit of first work (fol. 1r).
  • A commemorative bookplate for the Elizabeth Foundation is on fol. i verso. Stamps on fol. 1a.
  • Collation: Paper ; fol. i (lifted parchment pastedown) + i + 103 + i (lifted parchment pastedown) ; catchwords ; modern foliation in pencil.
  • Layout: 24-26 lines per page ; ruled.
  • Description: Watermarks (f. 1-24: dragon; f. 25-58: cross within a circle; f. 59-102: lion).
  • Decoration: Each booklet opens with a decorated initial: 7-line mauve initial M, with yellow and red on gold ground, outlined, red, red and mauve foliate partial border (fol. 1r); 4-line blue initial E with red penwork (fol. 25r); 4-line blue and red initial D, with blue and red penwork in margin (fol. 59r).
  • Origin: Miscellany of three booklets written by different scribes in northeastern Italy in the second half of the 15th century. Booklet 2 copied by Polydorus (fol. 38v).
Binding note:
  • Later binding. Italy, 15th century. Brown calf over beech boards (6 mm thick). Blind-tooled decoration. Endbands. Holes and one star-head rivet for no longer extant clasps. Lower board partially missing.
Provenance:
  • Early and intermediate provenance is unknown. In 1894 a Florentine bookseller offered the manuscript to Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. The Princeton University Library purchased the manuscript with funds from the Elizabeth Foundation. The Library accessioned the manuscript on 2 February 1905, as no. 188806 and catalogued it as ExMS 2926.312.002.
Contributor:
  • Princeton University. Library. Manuscript. Princeton MS. 46.
References:
  • Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 2, pages 234-237.
Alternative:
  • Humanistic miscellany
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