Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Peterhouse, MS 269

Cicero, Curtius &c.

Contents

Introduction: A decorated late 15th-century compilation of historical and philosophical texts, mostly related to Alexander the Great. The date and description of the owner given in the colophon are brought into question by the manuscript's production being associated with the first phase of Raphael de Marcatellis's career as a bibliophile in the 1460s, when he was abbot (1463-78) of St Peter's Abbey at Oudenburg. The book may be a product of the Bruges book trade, and can be associated with several other manuscripts from the Oudenburg period of the collector's activity (Alain Arnould, 2017). De Marcatellis’s ex libris may be found on f. 158v, and his abbatial coat of arms at ff. 1r and 146r. At some point after the death of de Marcatellis, the manuscript came into the hands of one Algernon Peyton (d. 1667), rector of Doddington and fellow commoner at Peterhouse (elected 1637), who travelled extensively on the continent during the interregnum and donated the volume to the college in June of 1660 according to an ex dono inscription on f. 1r. MS 269 also represents a fine example of the interplay between manuscript and print in the later medieval period: the fourth text included here, the Historia Alexandri of Curtius, was copied not from an earlier manuscript, but from the first printed edition by Vindelin de Spira (Venice, 1470/1). The first two books of the Historia here were not written by Curtius, but are later supplements. References
Arnould, Alain, ‘Oudenburg en vroeghumanistische boeken’, in Jean Luc Meulemeester, ed., Van perkament tot papier: Het scriptorium en bibliotheek van de Sint-Pietersabdij van Oudenburg (Oudenburg, 2017), 61-9.
Arnould, Alain and Jean-Michel Massing, eds. The Splendours of Flanders (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1993), no. 73.
Binski, Paul and Stella Panayotova, eds. The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West (London and Turnhout, 2005), no. 168.
Derolez, Albert. The Library of Raphael de Marcatellis (1437-1508) (Ghent, 1979), 41-4.
James, M.R. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Peterhouse (Cambridge, 1899), 341-3.
Morgan, Nigel and Stella Panayotova, eds. Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge: A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges, part 1 (2 vols, London and Turnhout, 2009), no. 215.

Language(s): Latin

1. 1r-11r
Historia Alexandri Magni Julius Valerius
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 1r Vita Alexandri magni.
Incipit: 1r Egyptii sapientes satis genere diuino primi feruntur...
Explicit: 11r uino et ueneno superatus atque extinctus occubuit.
Final rubric: 11r Explicit ortus uita et obitus Alexandri magni regis Macedonis.
2. 1r-17r
Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem de situ Indiae
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 11r Incipit epistola Alexandri regis magni Macedonum quam ab India magistro suo Aristoli misit.
Incipit: 11r Semper memor fui tui...
Explicit: 17r optime Aristoteles iudicium.
Final rubric: 17r Et in hoc explicit Alexandri Macedonis totuis orbis imperatoris ad Aristotelem preceptorem suum epistola.
3. 17r-20r
Collatio Alexandri et Dindimi
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 17r Sequitur alia cuisde[m] ad dindimu[m] regem bracmanoru[m] cur uitam suam sine lege ducant.
Incipit: 17r Sepius ad aures meas...
Explicit: 20r Sed ea que uoluntas sibi uendicat bonestateq[ue] [plerusq[ue]] rogamus amitte.
Final rubric: 20r Responsio dindimi
4. 22r-105r
Historia alexandri magni Quintus Curtius Rufus
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 22r historiaru[m] alexandu magni Liber prim. Quinti curcii ruffi histouaru[m] alexandu magni regis macedonu[m] liber primus feliciter incipit.
Incipit: 22r ALEXANDER VESANVS IVVENIS...
Explicit: 105r ...memorie ac nois honos habetur.
Final rubric: 105r
5. 107r-158r
Disputationes Tusculanae Marcus Tullius Cicero
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 107r Tusculana[rum] questionu[m] Liber prim.
Incipit: 107r CVM DEFENSIONVM LABORIBVS...
Explicit: 158r Explicit Liber quint[um] tuscalanarum questionu[m] feliciter.
Final rubric: 158r

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r : et septum et amictum candidum.
Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Codex: ii + 158 + ii leaves. 325 × 230 mm.
Foliation:

20th century

[2], 1-158, [2] (for ff. 1r-158r )

Written in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos.

Collation

A manuscript in 21 quires consisting largely of 8 leaves.

  • Quires 1-28 (ff. 1-16 )
  • Quire 36-1 (ff. 17-21 : 6th leaf missing)
  • Quire 46 (ff. 22-27 )
  • Quires 5-138 (ff. 28-99 )
  • Quire 148-1 (ff. 100-106 : 8th leaf missing)
  • Quires 15-208 (ff. 107-154 )
  • Quire 214 (ff. 155-158 )

1-28 36-1 (6 missing) 46, 46 5-138 148-1 (8 missing) 15-208 214

Quire signatures present in a late-medieval hand.

 Catchwords present in a late-medieval hand.

Hand(s)

Written by a single hand in a Northern Textualis script with some Humanistic features.

Also present are two other hands: regular marginal annotations in the hand of Marcatellis, as well as twelve lines written in a smaller, rounder script following the end of the Historia Alexandri Magni at f. 105r .

Decoration

On 22r , a blue foliate initial on a gold ground with flowers and fruit, and a left bracket border in the Ghent-Bruges style featuring gold and silver acanthus and other leaves, fruit, flowers, insects, birds, and a monkey, all on a ground divided into rectangles of gold, red, and blue.

Foliate initials, most often blue on a gold ground, sometimes featuring knotwork. Beside the intials are marginal panels with coloured acanthus and gold balls: ff. 23v , 28r , 68r , 78r , 90r , 98v , 107r , 120r , 127r , 136v (excised) , and 146r .

A single large red and blue flourished initial with partial border at f. 1 ; very occasional blue initials flourished in red..

Yellow wash on capitals.

In the lower margin of ff. 22r and 78 , and IHS Christogram in green, blue, and gold. M.R. James had some doubt as to whether this is truly a Christogram, calling it rather 'a device, a gold S with the letter ly upon it, the whole in a knot' (341).

Blue and red paraphs present in the Epitome (ff. 1-11 ).

Additions

Binding

Per Thomson, a 19th-century binding of goatskin over pasteboard, to which brass bosses, corner-pieces, and a label under horn (all possibly original) have been affixed. Originally, there were two straps going from the front board to the rear, where they were attached with pins; one remains, of gold textile. Gilt edges. Placemarkers consisting of knobs or 'roses' of coloured string wound around a parchment core are pasted to the leaves.

History

Origin: c. 1478-98

Dating from Rod Thomson's catalogue, derived from Marcatellis' biography. See Provenance, below, for more.

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was made for Raphael de Marcatellis (sometimes called Raphael of Burgundy), a noted bibliophile. His abbatial coat of arms may be found in the lower margin at ff. 1r and 146r , as well as his ex libris at f. 158v : Hoc uolumen comparauit Raphael de Marcatellis Dei gratia episcopus Rosensis abbas Sancti Bauonis iuxta Gandauum et quoad potuit correxit anno Domini 1495.

The book was subsequently owned by Algernon Peyton (d. 1668), rector of Doddington, Cambridgshire, and fellow commoner of Peterhouse (elected 1637). See Acquisition, below, for more information.

The book was given to Peterhouse by Algernon Peyton (d. 1668). The following inscription is found in the upper margin of f. 1r regarding his donation: Ex dono Algernonis Peyton S. T. D. quondam huius collegio commensalis Iunii 16, 1660. Pluteo australi. Peyton was a great benefactor of the College, and in addition to this manuscript, gave many printed books to the Perne Library, as well as MS 270.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on the description provided by Rod Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of Peterhouse, Cambridge (Cambridge, 2016) and M.R. James A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Peterhouse (Cambridge, 1899). Also on Arnould, Alain, ‘Oudenburg en vroeghumanistische boeken’, in Jean Luc Meulemeester, ed., Van perkament tot papier: Het scriptorium en bibliotheek van de Sint-Pietersabdij van Oudenburg (Oudenburg, 2017), 61-9.) 341-3.

Availability

Researchers should note that Peterhouse's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Peterhouse manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

    Arnould, Alain, ‘Oudenburg en vroeghumanistische boeken’, in Jean Luc Meulemeester, ed., Van perkament tot papier: Het scriptorium en bibliotheek van de Sint-Pietersabdij van Oudenburg (Oudenburg, 2017), 61-9.
    Arnould, Alain and Jean-Michel Massing, eds. The Splendours of Flanders (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1993), no. 73.
    Binski, Paul and Stella Panayotova, eds. The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West (London and Turnhout, 2005), no. 168.
    Derolez, Albert. The Library of Raphael de Marcatellis (1437-1508) (Ghent, 1979), 41-4.
    James, M.R. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Peterhouse (Cambridge, 1899), 341-3.
    Morgan, Nigel and Stella Panayotova, eds. Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge: A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges, part 1 (2 vols, London and Turnhout, 2009), no. 215.

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