Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.6.56

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12162

Contents

Introduction: This small octavo manuscript contains the 16th-century Latin translation of Plutarch's essay Περὶ ἀδολεσχίας (De garrulitate, entitled De futili loquacitate) by John Christopherson (d. 1558), Master of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1553 and bishop of Chichester in 1557. The translation is preceded by a dedication epistle to Princess Mary Tudor , while her brother Edward VI was king, and followed by a copy of the same text in Greek. The manuscript is bound with CUL Dd.6.55, a copy, dated 1454, on parchment and paper, of the Quadriga Spirituale by Nicholas of Osimo (d. 1453) , in Italian. Dr Matteo di Franco

Language(s): Greek and Latin

1. f. 1r
Title page
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: f. 1r Plutarchi Chaeronei philosophi libellus de futili loquacitate à Graeco in Latinum per Ioannem Christofersonum conversus
2. ff. 2r-9v
Christopherson, John, -1558, Dedicatory epistle to Mary Tudor
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: f. 2r Honoratissimae illustrissimaeque Principi D. Mariae Regiae Maiestatis Sorori Ioannes Christofersonus perpetuam optat felicitatem
Incipit: f. 2r Non sum nescius, Princeps illustrissima
Explicit: f. 9v et me, quod mihi solum in optatis erat, cumulate certe este consecutum, existimabo. Vale. Tuae celsitudinis studiosissimus Ioannes Christofersonus
3. ff. 10r-51r
Plutarch Christopherson, John, -1558 (trl) On Talkativeness
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: f. 10r Plutarchi Chaeronei Philosophi de futili loquacitate libellus
Incipit: f. 10r Ardua plane et difficili est illa quidem curatio
Explicit: f. 51r ut ait Hippocrates, sed dolore etiam caretet molestia. Finis
4. ff. 52r-82v
Plutarch, Περὶ ἀδολεσχίας (Moralia 35 = Plan. 14) De garrulitate
Language(s): Greek
Rubric: f. 52r ΠΛΟΥΤΑΡΧΟΥ ΧΑΙΡΩΝΕΩΣ περὶ ἀδολεσχίας βιβλίον
Incipit: f. 52r Δύσκολον μὲν ἀναλαμβάνει θεράπευμα
Explicit: f. 82v ὥς φησιν Ἱπποκράτης , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλυπον καὶ ἀνώδυνον

TLG 0007.101

ff. 83r-[iii] verso blank

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Western paper, folded in octavo. Watermarks barely visible in the gutter.
Extent: Codex: iii + 83 + iii leaves. 146 × 95 mm.
Foliation: i-iii + 1-83 + [iv-v]. Modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in the top right-hand corner, recto. (Dd.6.55 consists of iii + 118 folios; the foliation starts again with Dd.6.56).

Collation

The manuscript consists of 10 quaternions, a single leaf and a bifolium. Quire 1 starts from f. 2, as f. 1 probably served as endleaf before the manuscript was bound together with Dd.6.55.

  • Single leaf f. 1 (aa)
  • Quires 1-68 ff. 2r-49v (bb, a-e)
  • Quire 78 ff. 50r-51v (f)
  • Quires 8-118 ff. 52r-83v (A-D)

Henry Bradshaw added the bifolium signatures and a general note on collation on the pastedown at the end.

Modern quire signatures in pencil in the lower right-hand corner of the rectos by Henry Bradshaw (1831-1886), University Librarian 1867-1886.

Condition

In general good condition; folios are yellowed by time and stained.

Layout

ff. 2r-82v: A single column of 17 or 18 lines. Written space 100 × 65 mm.

Hand(s)

The Greek text is written in a minuscule script by a practiced western scholar's hand, with persistent effort made towards aesthetic accuracy, and probably derived from printed models. The script is characterized by different capital forms, enlarged letters and marked oblique strokes, especially in delta.

Binding

Binding in quarter with marbled paper and leather over couched-laminate boards.

The classmarks are tooled in gold on the spine.

155 × 114 × 39 mm.

History

Origin: Between 1547 and 1553.

The dedicatory epistle addresses Mary Tudor as the king's sister, thus the manuscript can be dated between Edward VI's accession in 1547 and Mary's in 1553.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2019) draws on A catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1856, p. 309.

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card. 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

    A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge, 1, Cambridge University Press, 1856) How to Hold Your Tongue: John Christopherson’s Plutarch and the Mid-Tudor Politics of Catholic Humanism Canadian Review of Comparative Literature / Revue Canadienne de Littérature Comparée, Taylor, Andrew (41, 4, 411-431, 2014)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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