Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.16.36

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12051

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript, copied in western Europe in the late 17th century, contains the text of Aristophanes's comedy Lysistrata, accompanied on facing pages by the standard ancient scholia commenting on this text and preceded by the usual prefatory hypothesis. Occasional rarer scholia appear in the margins of the text itself (e.g. ff. 4r, 7r). The first few folios of the text of Lysistrata and its scholia were copied from a manuscript belonging to the Dutch scholar and book collector Isaac Vossius (1618-1689) , which is now Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijkuniversiteit, Voss. gr. Fo 52. That manuscript contains only a fragment of the text, and from the point where it comes to an end the text here was copied from the edition edited by Sigmund Gelen and published in Basle by Hieronymus Froben in 1547. The point of transition in text and scholia is noted in the margins of ff. 5v-6r. In the margins to the standard scholia were noted variant readings appearing in a second manuscript, referred to as the property of one Browne, presumably the English scholar and physician Thomas Browne (1605-1682) , who was a friend of Vossius. At the end of the manuscript is a single page of text, again with facing scholia, a fragment of another play by the same author, the Birds, copied from the Froben edition. Dr Christopher Wright
1. f. 1r
Language(s): Latin and Greek
Title page
Rubric: f. 1r Aristophanis Lysistrata. et in eam scholia Graeca inedita
Incipit: f. 1r Πλάτων τὸν ἀποθανόντα οὕτω ἀτίμησεν ἐν ἐπιγράμματι ἡρωελεγείω. Thomas Magister in vitam Aristophanis. Χάριτες τέμενός τι λαβεῖν ὅπερ οὐλὶ πεσεῖται Ζητοῦσαι ψυχὴν εὗρον Ἀριστοφάνους. Ut templum Charites quod non labatur haberent, invenere tuum poetus Aristophanes

The text given here is the full content of the item

f. 1v is blank

2. f. 2r-2v, line 19
Language(s): Greek
Hypothesis to Lysistrata (scholia vetera)
Rubric: f. 2r Αριστοφανους Λυσιστρατη ὑπόθεσις
Incipit: f. 2r Λυστιστράτη τίς Ἀθήνησι τῶν πολιτιδῶν καὶ Πελοπονησίων[sic]
Explicit: f. 2v σπονδὰς θέμενοι, τὸν πόλεμον ἐξέῤῥησαν

TLG 5014.010

3. f. 2r-2v, lines 20-24
Language(s): Greek
Dramatis personae of Lysistrata
Rubric: f. 2v Τὰ τοῦ δράματος πρόσωπα
Incipit: f. 2v Λυσιστράτη. μυρρίνη. στρυμοδώρα
Explicit: f. 2v στρατηλάτης. ὑπηρέτης. θεράπων
4. ff. 3v-52v (verso folios)
Language(s): Greek
Scholia in Lysistratam (scholia vetera)
Filiation: Copied as far as f. 5v, line 20 from Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijkuniversiteit, Voss. gr. Fo 52, and thereafter from the Froben edition.
Incipit: f. 3v Εκλήθη Λυσιστράτη παρὰ τὸ λῦσαι τὸν στρατὸν
Explicit: f. 52v Καὶ ταν σιαν δ'αὐταν] καὶ τὴν θεὰν Ἀθηνᾶν
Final rubric: f. 52v Τελος

TLG 5014.010

5. ff. 4r-53r (recto folios)
Language(s): Greek
Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Filiation: Copied as far as f. 6r, line 11 from Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijkuniversiteit, Voss. gr. Fo 52, and thereafter from the Froben edition.
Rubric: f. 4r Αριστοφανους Λυσιστρατη
Incipit: f. 4r Αλλ'εἴ τις ἐς βακλεῖον αὐτὰς ἐκάλεσεν
Explicit: f. 53r καὶ τὰμ σίαν δ'αὐτὰν κτατίσταν Χαλκίοικον ὕμνει τὰν πάμμαχον
Final rubric: f. 53r Τελος

TLG 0019.025

6. f. 53v
Language(s): Greek
Scholia in Aves (scholia vetera)

Scholia to lines 1493-1522

Incipit: f. 53v Ταντιδέξια[sic]]. ὀφθαλμοὺς. κεφαλὴν. οἷον τὰ δεξιὰ
Explicit: f. 53v μεταξὺ ὡς ἐκείνων ἀποκεκλεισμένων

TLG 5014.009

7. f. 54r
Language(s): Greek
Aristophanes, Birds Aves

Excerpt: lines 1492-1523

Rubric: f. 54r Aristophanis ὀρνίθων fragmentum. vide pagina 424. editionis Froben
Incipit: f. 54r Γυμνὸς ἦν πληγεὶς ὑπ'αὐτοῦ πάντα
Explicit: f. 54r Εἰ μὴ παρέξει τἀμπόρι, ἀνεωγμενα

TLG 0019.024

f. 54v is blank

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1-34 Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms ( 87 × 94 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, similar but not identical to Heawood 348, 430. These examples are dated to 1662 and 1684. ff. 35, 46-54 Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Coat of arms ( 103 × 73 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, similar but not identical to Gravell 1896. This example is undated. ff. 36-45 Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Foolscap ( 133 × 63 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, similar to Heawood 2087. This example is undated.
Extent: Codex: i + 54 + i leaves. 315-325 × 200-210 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i] + 1-54 + [ii], in pencil, in Arabic numerals, recto, upper right.

Collation

The manuscript consists of 5 quires, of which one is a quaternion, one a quinion and the rest are of twelve folios each.

  • Quires 1-212 ff. 1-24
  • Quire 310 ff. 25-34
  • Quire 412 ff. 35-46
  • Quire 58 ff. 47-54
    • There is an additional endleaf pasted to f. 54.

Condition

There is a tear in f. 49, minor tears and wear to the edges of other folios, mild staining towards the edges and some areas of dirt.

Layout

Recto folios: A single column of 24-31 lines. 253-285 × 135 mm. Vertical margins have been ruled, sometimes in ink, sometimes in pencil.

Verso folios: A single column of 5-42 lines, varying according to the extent of the scholia corresponding to the facing text. 39-298 × 135 mm. Vertical margins have been ruled, sometimes in ink, sometimes in pencil.

Hand(s)

The manuscript was copied in an upright western European mixed minuscule script, resembling early printing, in black ink. Headings are in majuscule script of the same type.

Additions

As part of the original production of the manuscript, marginal notes have been added, including collation of the text of the scholia with the variants present in the Browne manuscript, and additional scholia in the margins of the main text (e.g. ff. 4r, 7r).

A note regarding ownership of the manuscript by Bentley has been added on f. 1r: ‘Codex Richardi Bentleii’.

There is a note of Bentley's donation, by a different hand, on f. [i] recto: ‘Bibliothecae Trin. Coll. Cant Dono dedit Richardus Bentley S.T.P huius Coll. Socius Senior. 1757’.

A further note, in a third hand, appears on the left pastedown: ‘The Lysistrata of Aristophanes, copied from the printed text, with various readings from two MSS (Domini Browne, et Domini Vossii) and some unpublished Scholia, presented by Dr R. Bentley in 1757’. This appears to be a misinterpretation of the previous note, as Bentley died in 1742. The date 1757 may refer to the writing of the note, or may indeed be a later addition to it, as it is not clear that it is by the same hand.

Binding

19th-century quarter leather binding over millboards, with marbled paper covering and plain pastedowns. The title ‘Arist<ophanis> Susi<strata>[sic] Scho<lia> Ined<ita> MS’ is tooled in gold on a red label on the spine.

330 × 215 × 20 mm.

History

Origin: This manuscript was probably copied in the second half of the 17th century, as indicated by the watermarks. This would be consistent with the cited ownership of the manuscripts used in its production.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the classical scholar Richard Bentley (1662-1742) , Master of Trinity.

Donated to Trinity College by Bentley.

Additional Information

Availability

Visitors to Trinity College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Trinity College: Information for Readers.

Bibliography

    The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge: a descriptive catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, 2, Cambridge University Press, 1901) Codices Vossiani graeci et miscellanei Codices manuscripti Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. Bibliotheek, Meyier, K.A. de (Lugduni Batavorum, In Bibliotheca Universitatis, 1955)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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