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 Kk.5.9

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 12204

Contents

Introduction: Manuscript Kk.5.9 contains a small Greek philosophical miscellany comprising the commentary by Alexander of Aphrodias to books M and N of Aristotle's Metaphysics and a dialogue dealing with natural sciences by Theophylactus Simocatta (6th century CE), an author born in Egypt, best known for his historic work in eight books. All the texts here were copied in the 16th century by a well known scribe active in Italy, Camillo Zanetti (first half of the 16th century-after 1587; also known as Camillo Veneto). The commentary by Alexander of Aphrodias to books M and N, with the same lacuna at the end (see Contents), is found in other manuscripts copied by Camillo Zanetti, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Auct. T.1.17 (Misc. 195) and Oxford, Merton College, 304 (RGK I, 212), which was copied around 1581 in Padua from an exemplar owned by Gian Vincenzo Pinelli (see the description of the MS by N. Wilson in R.M. Thompson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford (2009), p. 268). Manuscript Kk.5.9 is currently bound as the fourth part of a single volume with three other manuscripts, Kk.5.6, 7 and 8. Dr Erika Elia

Language(s): Greek

1. f. 6r
Alexander, of Aphrodisias, Commentary on book A of Aristotle's Metaphysics In Aristotelis Metaphysica commentaria, in lib. Α
Incipit: f. 6r Ἐπειδὴ ἡ γνῶσις τελειώτης[sic] ἔστι τῆς ψυχῆς
Explicit: f. 6r ὅτι τιμιωτέρα ἐστὶ γνῶσις πράξεως||

Just a small excerpt: M. Hayduck, Alexandri Aphrodisiensis in Aristotelis Metaphysica Commentaria (Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca 1), Berlin 1891, pp. 1-837: 1 l. 5-2 l. 3

TLG 0732.004

ff. 1r-5r and ff. 6v-7v are blank

2. ff. 8r-59v
Alexander, of Aphrodisias, Commentary on book M of Aristotle's Metaphysics In Aristotelis Metaphysica commentaria, in lib. Μ
Rubric: f. 8r Σχόλια εἰς τὸ Μυ τῶν Ἀριστοτέλους Μετὰ τἀ Φυσικά
Incipit: f. 8r Ἐν τῷ Λάμβδα τῆς προκειμένης πραγματείας
Explicit: f. 59v Ὧδε μὲν οὖν πεπεράτωται τὸ Μυ τῆς Μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ πραγματείας.
Final rubric: f. 59v Τέλος τῶν εἰς Μυ σχολίων

TLG 0732.004

3. ff. 60r-81v
Alexander, of Aphrodisias, Commentary on book N of Aristotle's Metaphysics In Aristotelis Metaphysica commentaria, in lib. Ν
Rubric: f. 60r Σχόλια εἰς τὸ Νυ τῶν Ἀριστοτέλους Μετὰ τἀ Φυσικά
Incipit: f. 60r Ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου βιβλίῳ ζητήσας εἰ δυνατὸν εἶναι τὰ μαθηματικὰ χωριστά
Explicit: f. 81v καὶ χωρὶς ὁ νοῶν νοήσει τὸ ἕν||

The text is incomplete, it ends at M. Hayduck, Alexandri Aphrodisiensis in Aristotelis metaphysica commentaria (Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca 1), Berlin 1891, pp. 1-837: 825 l. 14; on f. 81v the scribe left blank the last lines of the leaf writing in the margin a note stating the the rest was missing, λείπει

ff. 82r-83v are blank

TLG 0732.004

4. ff. 84r-89v
Simocatta, Theophylactus, Quaestiones physicae
Rubric: f. 84r Θεοφυλάκτου σχολαστικοῦ τοῦ Σιμοκάτου διάλογος
Incipit: f. 84r Ἡ δὲ διάλεξις τοῦ διαλόγου. Τὰς χελιδόνας φασὶν ὑπὸ τῶν μητέρων
Explicit: f. 89v τῶν δυσπορίστων λόγων, τὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀπείληφα
Final rubric: f. 89v Τέλος. Δόξα τῷ μόνῳ θεῷ

TLG 3130.007

ff. 90r-93v are blank

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1-93 Western paper, folded in folio. Watermarks: ff. 1-4, [91]-[92], 93 Lily with rectangular body ( 37 × 20 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, comparable to Briquet Fleur de lis 7007 , which is dated to 1593, and to Heawood Fleur-de-lis 1386, 1389 , which are dated to 1589 and 1589-1590. It is a French watermark. ff. 5-82, 84-89 Crown surmounted by a six-point star, with letters ‘ G B(?) ’ ( 50/60 × 32 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, similar to M.L. Sosower, ‘Greek Manuscripts acquired by Henry and Thomas Savile in Padua’, in Bodleian Library Record 19 (2006), pp. 157-184: fig. 8, which is dated ca. 1581 (Padua), and to D. Woodward, Catalogue of watermarks in Italian printed maps ca 1540-1600, Firenze 1996, Crown 276 , which is dated in 1592. ff. 83/90 Letter M on a shield ( 62 × 40 mm. ), in the centre of the leaf, very similar to Sosower Lettre 6 , which is dated in the middle of the 16th c., and comparable to Briquet Letter M 8390-8392 , which are dated to 1529, 1578-79, and 1580.
Extent: Codex: 93 leaves., 328 × 230 mm.
Foliation: The leaves are foliated 1-93 in the upper margin, right, recto, in pencil, in Arabic numerals; there are two blank unnumbered leaves between ff. 90 and 93: 1-90, [91]-[92], 93.

Collation

The manuscript is formed for the major part by quinions. The structure of the last three quires, where there are no catchwords, given the condition of the manuscript, has been reconstructed mainly on the basis of the watermarks.

  • Quire 14 ff. 1-4
  • Quire 22 ff. 5-6
  • Quires 3-910 ff. 7-76
  • Quire 106 ff. 77-82
  • Quire 118 ff. 83-90
  • Quire 124-1 ff. [91]-93

Vertical catchwords from the top down in the scribe's hand on the verso of the last leaf of the quires, near the gutter; they are present from f. 16v to f. 76v.

Condition

The codex has been bound together with MSS Cambridge, University Library, Kk.5.6 , Kk.5.7 , and Kk.5.8 . The spine is broken, and the textblock is split in four parts. As for MS Kk.5.9 specifically, it is in good condition.

Layout

A single column of 30 lines. 210 × 115 mm.

Hand(s)

ff. 6r, 8r-81v, 84r-89v Hand A: the texts have been written by Camillo Zanetti (16th c., first half-after 1587) (Camillus Zanettus, RGK I, 212; on him also RGK II 299; RGK III, 351)

The text is written in black/grey ink; titles and initials in red.

Hand a: a contemporary or slightly later hand wrote a few notes in the margins on ff. 84r-89v (see e.g. ff. 86v-87r) , in a light brown ink.

Decoration

Undulated linear frieze with clover leaves at both ends on ff. 8r, and 84r

Initials in ekthesis in red ink are decorated with a simple vegetal motif, see e.g. f. 8r

Additions

On f. 1r is written in pencil te shelfmark, ‘Kk-5-9’.

On f. 5v there is a small table of contents of the manuscript written by a hand which recurs in various manuscripts owned by J.B. Hautin (see Provenance): ‘

  • 1. Scholia in Aristotelis Metaphysica
  • 2. Theophilacti Simocatae dialogi
’; on the same leaf, over this table of contents, another hand wrote a title, ‘ Scholia in Aristotelis Metaphysica’.

In the upper margin, right, of f. 6r is written, in black ink, the shelfmark, ‘ Kk-5-9’.

Binding

Modern western binding. Paper over couched-laminate boards. Leather spine tooled in gold with title ‘ Miscellanea Graece M.S.’ and shelfmark only partially readabe ‘Kk.5.6… ’.

342 × 240 × 53 mm.

Two leather page markers are placed on ff. 59 and 83, to open the book where a new text begins.

The boards are loose. The textblock split in four parts, the spine is broken.

History

Origin:

The manuscript was written by Camillo Zanetti, who was active in the second half of the 16th century. The scribe copied the commentary by Alexander of Aphrodias also in MSS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Auct. T.1.17 (Misc. 195) and Oxford, Merton College, 304 (RGK I, 212). Since MS Kk.5.9 shows a 'similar variety' to the paper of both manuscripts, the crown watermark (see M.L. Sosower, ‘Greek Manuscripts acquired by Henry and Thomas Savile in Padua’, in Bodleian Library Record 19 (2006), pp. 157-184: pp. 159, 164, 167, and fig. 8), and since MS Merton College 304 was copied around 1581 in Padua (see the description by N. Wilson in R.M. Thompson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts of Merton College, Oxford (2009), p. 268, and Sosower (2006), p. 164), its origin could be possibly dated more precisely around this period.

Provenance and Acquisition

The manuscript was owned by a certain J.B. Hautin, probably to be identified with Jean Baptiste II Hautin, son of the French scholar and numismatist Jean-Baptiste Hautin (ca. 1580-1640) : on f. 5v there is a small table of contents, written by the hand, which occurs in almost all Hautin's manuscripts (see also Jackson 2006, p. 30).

John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 983 in the handwritten supplementary list of Moore's manuscripts, now MS Oo.7.50(2), compiled by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735) after the publication of Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697).

Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I (1660-1727) : donation bookplate engraved by John Pine (1690-1756) in 1736 on the left pastedown.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Description (2020) draws partly on A catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, vol. 3: Gg-Kk (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1858), pp. 678-679.

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, 3: Gg-Kk, Cambridge University Press, 1858) 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) Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten, 800-1600 Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (Wien, I. Grossbritannien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981) The Greek Manuscripts of John Moore and Etienne Baluze Codices Manuscripti, Jackson, Donald F. (56/57, 29-42, 2006)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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