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Commentaria ad Rhetoricam Ciceronis Oversize Ms. Codex 1629
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Manuscript Overview
References
Binding Images

Abstract

Early Renaissance commentary on most of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, the earliest comprehensive Latin treatise on rhetoric, attributed to Cicero throughout the Middle Ages. Frequent notes appear in the margins, including the names of the figures of diction in Book 4 (f. 43r-48v). Some leaves are palimpsests, written on parchment previously used for Italian legal documents (some previous text faintly visible perpendicular to the later text, f. 11v, 14r, 28r, 34v, 39r, 51v). One gathering, with text from the end of Book 3 and the beginning of Book 4, is missing between the fourth and last gatherings.

Physical Description

Support: parchment; Extent: 52 leaves : 278-289 x 205 (223-235 x 157-167) mm. bound to 295 x 213 mm; Foliation: Parchment, ii (modern paper) + i (14th-century parchment) + 52 + i (14th-century parchment) + ii (modern paper); 1¹² 2¹⁰ 3¹² 4⁸ 5¹⁰; 1-52, early modern foliation in ink, upper right recto. Gatherings signed 1-4, 6, in roman numerals, upper center first recto (f. 1r, 13r, 23r, 35r, 43r); contemporary gathering (letter) and leaf (arabic numeral) signatures faintly visible on many leaves, lower right recto. Horizontal catchwords on first 2 gatherings, lower center last verso (f. 12v, 22v).

Layout

Written in 2 columns of 58 to 71 lines; frame-ruled in lead.

Script

Written in Gothic script by at least 2 hands, one that of Monterillus Perutii (Peruzzi?; colophon, f. 34v; new hand begins, f. 35r), with marginal notes in additional hands.

Decoration

14-line initial in red ink, with red infill and black penwork (f. 1r); 2-line initials, underlining of lemmata, and paragraph marks in red throughout; some initials in marginal notes touched with red; occasional manicules (for example, f. 1r, 1v, 5v).

For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.

Notes

Ms. codex.

Title from inscription added in lower margin of first page in an early modern hand (f. 1r); commentary also known as Plena et perfecta, from its incipit (f. 1r).

Incipit: Plena et perfecta locutio triplici comparatur adminiculo (f. 1r); explicit: ... dudum ipse et hospites sui sederent (f. 52v).

These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.

Spine

Keywords
14th century
Annotated
Commentary
Italy
Italian
University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Place of Origin

Italy

Date

Written in northern Italy, perhaps Venice or Bologna (Les Enluminures), in 1342 (colophon, f. 34v).

Binding

19th-century limp parchment (Les Enluminures); the parchment flyleaves are probably from the original binding.

Language

Latin

Provenance

Possible ownership inscription: Bertholinus, written by a 14th- or 15th-century hand on the possible original binding (parchment flyleaf following text, verso).

Formerly owned by the Dominican convent of San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice (note dated 1876, first flyleaf).

Sold by the Dominican convent of San Giovanni e Paolo to Baron Charles Alexander de Cosson (1846-1929) in 1876 (armorial bookplate inside upper cover; note on first flyleaf); later owned by his son, Baron Claude Augustin de Cosson.

Sold at auction as property of the late C. A. de Cosson at Sotheby's, 27 Mar. 1950, lot 30, to William A. Foyle (catalog description, first flyleaf).

Formerly owned by William A. Foyle (Beeleigh Abbey, Essex; leather bookplate inside upper cover).

Sold at auction as part of Foyle's collection at Christie's, 11 July 2000, lot 78.

Sold by Les Enluminures (Paris and Chicago), 2012.

return to search Commentaria ad Rhetoricam Ciceronis Oversize Ms. Codex 1629

Place of Origin

Italy

Date

Written in northern Italy, perhaps Venice or Bologna (Les Enluminures), in 1342 (colophon, f. 34v).

Language

Latin

Provenance

Possible ownership inscription: Bertholinus, written by a 14th- or 15th-century hand on the possible original binding

Formerly owned by the Dominican convent of San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

Sold by the Dominican convent of San Giovanni e Paolo to Baron Charles Alexander de Cosson

Sold at auction as property of the late C. A. de Cosson at Sotheby's, 27 Mar. 1950, lot 30, to William A. Foyle

Formerly owned by William A. Foyle

Sold at auction as part of Foyle's collection at Christie's, 11 July 2000, lot 78.

Sold by Les Enluminures

Manuscript Overview

Abstract

Early Renaissance commentary on most of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, the earliest comprehensive Latin treatise on rhetoric, attributed to Cicero throughout the Middle Ages. Frequent notes appear in the margins, including the names of the figures of diction in Book 4 (f. 43r-48v). Some leaves are palimpsests, written on parchment previously used for Italian legal documents (some previous text faintly visible perpendicular to the later text, f. 11v, 14r, 28r, 34v, 39r, 51v). One gathering, with text from the end of Book 3 and the beginning of Book 4, is missing between the fourth and last gatherings.

Notes

Ms. codex.

Title from inscription added in lower margin of first page in an early modern hand (f. 1r); commentary also known as Plena et perfecta, from its incipit (f. 1r).

Incipit: Plena et perfecta locutio triplici comparatur adminiculo (f. 1r); explicit: ... dudum ipse et hospites sui sederent (f. 52v).

Script note

Written in Gothic script by at least 2 hands, one that of Monterillus Perutii (Peruzzi?; colophon, f. 34v; new hand begins, f. 35r), with marginal notes in additional hands.

Decoration Note

14-line initial in red ink, with red infill and black penwork (f. 1r); 2-line initials, underlining of lemmata, and paragraph marks in red throughout; some initials in marginal notes touched with red; occasional manicules (for example, f. 1r, 1v, 5v).

For a full list of Decorations in this manuscript please see the Content and Decorations section by clicking on the [i] button in the top left corner of the image viewer above.

References
Binding Images

These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.

Spine

Keywords
14th century
Annotated
Commentary
Italy
Italian
University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
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