Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 495/264

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11871

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript contains a collection of Philosophical texts in Greek. It is formed of two parts, both copied by the Cretan scribe and printer Zacharias Kallierges (b. before 1473, d. after 1524); they were produced probably around the same time, since the paper shows the same watermark. The two parts, however, are distinguishable by the presence of two distinct sets of signatures numbering the quires, both starting from the number 1. Part I contains Proclus' Commentaries on Plato's Republic. Zacharias Kallierges copied the text with a close collaborator (their hands alternate within the same page of text), who has been recently supposedly identified as his son Nikolaos (see Katzopoulou (2012)). Kallierges copied this same text in three other manuscripts: . Their script, decoration and layout are strikingly similar, and illustrate the scribe's working practices (see Katzopoulou (2012)). Part II contains two texts, Syrianus' Commentaries on Aristotle's Metaphysics, and an extract on providence from the Questions and Answers, a work traditionally attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias (on this quaestio see Sharples (1998), p. 390). The manuscript was donated to Gonville and Caius College by John Caius (1510-1573), the second founder of the College. The English physician travelled in Italy from 1539 to 1544, where he consulted various manuscripts (see S. Berlier, 'John Caius et le De usu partium. Contribution à l'histoire du texte de Galien', in: Revue d'Histoire des Textes n.s. 6 (2011), 1-14 (pp. 5-6)) and it was there that he probably acquired at least some of the Greek manuscripts he later bequeathed to the College. Gonville and Caius MS 495/264 was used as an exemplar for Cambridge, University Library, Ll.5.4 . Dr Erika Elia

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: iii + 1 + 226 + ii leaves. 320 × 215 mm.
Foliation:

Modern foliation in pencil, in Arabic numerals, in the top right hand corner recto, only on some leaves: [i]-[iv] + 1, [2]-[6], 7, [8]-[14], 15, [16], 17, [18]-[26], 27, [28]-[36], 37, [38]-[46], 47, [48]-[54], 55, [56]-[64], 65, [66]-[74], 75, [76]-[84], 85, [86]-[94], 95, [96]-[104], 105, [106]-[108], 109, [110]-[118], 119, [120]-[128], 129, [130]-[138], 139, [140]-[148], 149, [150]-[158], 159, [160]-[168], 169, [170]-[178], 179, [180]-[188], 189, [190]-[198], 199, [200]-[208], 209, [210]-[218], 219, [220]-[226] + [v]-[vi]

Traces of an older foliation in ink are visible in the upper right corner of the recto of the leaves from f. [200]r (183). This foliation does not correspond to the present one.

Collation

16, 2-510, 68, 7-1110, 124 | 13-2310, 248

Condition

The codex is in good condition. There are large brown stains throughout part II of the manuscript, see e.g. f. 109r and on ff. 129r-129v. Worm holes, in particular in the first and last leaves.

Binding

Western early modern binding. Full leather cover over couched-laminate boards. Blind tooling on both boards. On the spine are pasted two paper labels with the shelfmarks, ‘264’ and ‘49’ (the last number is missing, the shelfmark is 495). Gold tooling on the boards edges. The edges are coloured in green.

330 × 225 × 58 mm.

The leather is damaged on the edges and where the boards touch the spine.

Accompanying Material

F. [iii] is a paper stub, on which a slip of paper, from a manuscript in Latin, is pasted (from a 14th c. MS in Italian hand in the opinion of M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville and Caius College, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1908), p. 567).

ff. [i]-[ii], [v]-[vi] are later paper endleaves, with watermark in form of Grapes ( 37 × 20 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf (no exact parallels in the main repertoires, the motif is common in the 17th-18th c.).

History

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was donated to Gonville and Caius College by John Caius (1510-1573) . A note on f. [iii] recto attests to the donation: ‘ Collegio suo de Goneville | et Caius in Canta | brigia, Joannes Caius | dono dedit’. On the left pastedown and in the lower margin of f. 1r are pasted two bookplates, of Gonville and Caius College Library and of Gonville and Caius College.

Part 1 [Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 495/264, ff. [iv], 1-[108]]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

1. ff. 1r-[107]r
Proclus, Commentaries on Plato's Republic In Platonis rem publicam commentarii
Rubric: f. 1r Πρόκλου Λυκίου, πλατωνικοῦ διαδόχου περὶ τοῦ τίνα χρὴ καὶ πόσα, πρὸ τῆς συναναγνώσεως τῆς Πολιτείας Πλάτωνος κεφάλαια διαρθρῶσαι, τοὺς ὀρθῶς ἐξηγουμένους αὐτήν.
Incipit: f. 1r Τοὺς προλόγους τῶν Πλατωνικῶν διαλόγων
Explicit: f. [107]r καὶ ὧν ταῦτα αἴτια, μειζόνως αἴτιον ἂν ὑμνοῖτο.
Final rubric: f. [107]r Τέλος

Ed. W. Kroll, Procli Diadochi in Platonis rem publicam commentarii , 1, Leipzig 1899 [repr. Amsterdam 1965], pp. 5-296

The lower part of f. [6]r and f. [6]v have been left blank in order to point out to a common lacuna to the text tradition: οἱ συνόντες ἀλλήλοις … δυνατώτερόν ἐστιν τοῦ δεομένου (Kroll 1899, pp. 19 l. 25-20)

TLG 4036.001

ff. [107]v-[108]v are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: ff. 1-[107] Anchor in a circle surmounted by a six-point star ( 70 × 42 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, very similar to Harlfinger Ancre 11 , which is dated in 1504. f. [iv] Flower with five petals ( ca. 35 × ca. 35 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, comparable to Briquet Fleur 6376 and 6378 , which are dated to 1492, 1494 and 1508 (Venice).

Collation

Part I is formed mainly by quinions.

  • One endleaf, f. [iv] (15th-16th c.)
  • Quire 16 ff. 1-[6](αον 1)
  • Quires 2-510 ff. 7-[46] (βον 2-εον 5)
  • Quire 68 ff. 47-[54](ϛον 6)
  • Quires 7-1110 ff. 55-[104] (ζον 7-ιαον 11)
  • Quire 124 ff. 105-[108](ιβον 12)

Signatures in red ink, formed by Greek numbers and, below, Αrabic numbers, original to the production of the manuscript, on the first leaf of the quires, under the last line of the text, right, from αον 1 ( f. 1r) to ιβον 12 ( f. 105r). Vertical catchwords, written from the top down, by the scribes, in the lower margin, verso, of the last leaf of the quires, near the gutter.

Layout

A single column of 31 lines. 215 × 120 mm.

Hand(s)

Hand A: Zacharias Kallierges (b. before 1473, d. after 1524) (Ζαχαρίας Καλλιέργης, RGK I, 119; on him see also RGK II 156; RGK III, 197). The scribe alternates in the copy with a collaborator (hand B) throughout all this part of the manuscript.

The text is written in a brown ink; titles and initials in red.

Hand B: an anonymous collaborator of Zacharias Kallierges (for the identification see Chatzopoulou (2012), pp. 23-24, esp. n. 84, who thinks he could be his son Nikolaos), who displays a minuscule script similar to Kallierges' hand. Hand B alternates in the copy with Kallierges (hand A) throughout all this part of the manuscript.

The text is written in a brown ink.

Decoration

On f. 1r, over the title, and on f. [107]r, after the end of the text, there are ornamental interlace motifs in red ink. Small rinceaux in red ink are at both sides of the title.

Initials in ekthesis in red ink are decorated with a simple vegetal motif, with rinceaux, see e.g. f. 1r.

Minor initials in red ink with or without small ornamental motifs.

Additions

On f. [iv] recto there is a note concerning the donation of the manuscript to the College by John Caius (see Acquisiton for transcription). Over the note are pasted two paper labels: the first reports the number of the MS in E. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae (Oxford, 1697), ‘ 1010’, the second the shelfmark, ‘ 495’.

History

Origin:

Part I of the manuscript was copied by Zacharias Kallierges and a close collaborator in the first two decades of the 16th c., as the watermarks suggest; Chatzopoulou places the copy in particular around the middle of the first decade of the century (see Chatzopoulou (2012), p. 24).

Part 2 [Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 495/264, ff. 109-[226]]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

2. ff. 109r-[225]r
Syrianus, Commentaries on Aristotle's Metaphysics In Aristotelis Metaphysica commentaria
Rubric: f. 109r Συριανοῦ τοῦ Φιλοξένου, περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ τῆς μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ Ἀριστοτέλους πραγματείας λογικῶς ἠπορημένων, καὶ διαίτης ἠξιωμένων
Incipit: f. 109r Ἐν τῷ μείζονι Α τίς ἡ παροῦσα σκέψις εἰπών
Explicit: f. [225]r τἀληθέστερα καὶ θεοφιλέστερα
Final rubric: f. [225]r Τέλος

TLG 4017.001

3. ff. [225]v-[226]v
Quaestiones et solutiones, Excerptum (Quaestio 1.25)
Rubric: f. [225]v Εἰς τὰ περὶ προνοίας, τίνα συντελοῦντα
Incipit: f. [225]v Τῶν οὐσιῶν κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην
Explicit: f.[226]v καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις ποικίλης κινήσεως.
Final rubric: f.[226]v Τέλος

The text is usually attributed to Alexander of Aphrodisias but is considered spurious

Only one question and answer: I. Bruns, Alexandri Aphrodisiensis praeter commentaria scripta minora, Berlin 1892, pp. 39 l. 9-41 l. 19

TLG 0732.012

ff. [v] recto-[vi] verso are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: ff. 109-[226] Anchor in a circle surmounted by a six-point star ( 70 × 42 mm. ) in the centre of the leaf, very similar to Harlfinger Ancre 11 , which is dated in 1504.

Collation

Part II is formed by 11 quinions and a quaternion.

  • Quires 13-2310 ff. 109-[218] (αον 1-ιαον 11)
  • Quire 248 ff. 219-[226](ιβον 12)

Signatures in red ink, formed by Greek numbers and, below, Αrabic numbers, original to the production of the manuscript, on the first leaf of the quires, under the last line of the text, right, from αον 1 ( f. 109r) to ιβον 12 ( f. 219r). Vertical catchwords, written from the top down, by the scribe, in the lower margin, verso, of the last leaf of the quires, near the gutter.

Layout

A single column of 31 lines. 215 × 120 mm.

Hand(s)

Hand A: the texts have been copied by Zacharias Kallierges (b. before 1473, d. after 1524) (Ζαχαρίας Καλλιέργης, RGK I, 119; on him also RGK II 156; RGK III, 197).

The text is written in a brown ink; titles and initials in red.

Hand a: a contemporary hand wrote marginal annotations (mostly corrections) in the margins, in a minuscule informal script (see e.g. ff. [116]v, [200]r).

The ink is black.

Hand b: a contemporary or slightly later hand wrote a few marginal annotations in Greek and in Latin (see e.g. ff. [202]r, [210]r).

Light brown ink.

Decoration

On ff. 109r, 159r and f. [198]v there are friezes in a rope motif in red ink.

Initials in ekthesis in red ink are decorated with a simple vegetal motif, with rinceaux, see e.g. f. 109r.

Minor initials in red ink with or without small ornamental motifs.

On f. 109r, over the title, there is an ornamental motif similar to a flower, in red ink. Small rinceaux in red ink form a sort of frieze on f. [143]v; similar elements are present to the sides of the ending of the text forming a cul-de-lampe on f. [158]v.

Small diagrams in red ink by the scribe, see e.g. f. [130]r.

History

Origin:

Part II of the manuscript was copied by Zacharias Kallierges in Italy, probably around the first two decades of the 16th century, the same period in which he copied part II, as the leaves show the same watermark.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2021) draws partly on M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville and Caius College, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1908), p. 567.

Availability

Visitors to Gonville and Caius College who wish to consult Lower Library material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Gonville and Caius College: Library Information.

Bibliography

    A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Gonville and Caius College, James, M.R. (Cambridge, University Press, 1907) Inventaire des manuscrits grecs d'Aristote et de ses commentateurs: contribution à l'histoire du texte d'Aristote., Wartelle, André (Paris, Société d'édition Les belles lettres, 1963) Specimen eines Repertoriums der griechischen Kopisten Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (27, 293-322, 1978) Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, 800-1600 Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, I. Grossbritannien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981) Alexander and pseudo-Alexanders of Aphrodisias: Scripta minima. Questions and Problems, makeweights and prospects Gattungen wissenschaftlicher Literatur in der Antike ScriptOralia, Sharples, R. W. (Tübingen, 95, 383-408, Narr, 1998) L'étude de la production manuscrite d'un copiste de la Renaissance au service de l'histoire des textes: le cas du Crétois Zacharie Calliergis Revue d'histoire des textes, Chatzopoulou, V. (7, 1-36, 2012)

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The Polonsky Foundation

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