Manuscript
Ireland, Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, W 122
Record No.
114
Former Shelfmark(s)
Phillipps 3502

Physical Description

Format
Codex
Support
Parchment
Size of Leaves
227 x 147 mm.
Number of Leaves
v + 90 + iv
Collation
I-IX (10)
Foliation
Modern foliation in pencil in upper right corner (1-90).
Layout
Single column, 28 lines.
Hands
Written in one hand.
Scribe(s)
Bartolomeo Sanvito (1435-1511)

Contents

Language(s)
Latin
Contents

1. fols 1r-90v: Dictys of Crete (Dictys Cretensis), Ephemeridos belli Troiani

Rubric: Dictys Cretensis de bello Troiano

1.1. fols 1r-1v: Prologue

Incipit: Dictys Cretensis genere Cnoso civitate ijsdem temporibus quibus et Atride fuit peritus notis ac litteris Phenicum.

Explicit: Annales vero nomine Dictys inscriptos in Graecam bibliothecam recepit quorum seriem qui sequitur textus ostendit.

1.2. fols 2r-2v: Translator’s Prologue

Rubric: Septimii in interpretationem ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani prohoemium

Incipit: Septimius Q. Rufino salutem. Ephemeridem belli Troiani Dictys Cretensis qui in ea militia cum Idomenaeo et Merione meruit conscripsit litteris Punicis quae tunc Cadmo et Agenore auctoribus per Graeciam frequentabantur.

Explicit: Tu Rufine mi ut par est faue coeptis atque in legendo Dictym.

1.3. fols 2v-14v: Book I

Rubric: Capita primi libri

[List of nine chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani Liber I.

Incipit: Cuncti reges qui Minois Iove geniti pronepotes Graeciae imperitabant ad dividendas inter se Atrei opes Cretam conuenere.

Explicit: Hoc modo ex Aulide nauigatum est.

Rubric: Liber I finit.

1.4. fols 14v-41r: Book II

Rubric: Capita secvndi libri

[List of fourteen chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani Liber II.

Incipit: Postquam ad Mysorum regionem universas classes uenti appulere propere omnes signo dato naues littori admouerunt.

Explicit: Caeterum per id tempus hyemis saepe Graeci atque Troiani singuli plures ue ut fors euenerat inter se sine ullo metu in luco Thymbraei Apollinis miscebantur.

1.5. fols 41r-54v: Book III

Rubric: Capita tertii libri

[List of eight chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani Liber III.

Incipit: Interim per totam hyemem dilato conditionibus in tempus bello Graeci cuncta quae in tali otio militia poscebat intenti animo summis studiis festinabant.

Explicit: Ita Priamus recepto Hectoris cadauere ascensoque uehiculo cum his qui secum comitati erant ad Troiam redit.

1.6. fols 55r-68r: Book IV

Rubric: Capita quarti libri

[List of nine chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani Liber IIII.

Incipit: Sed postquam Troianis palam est regem perfecto negotio inuiolatum atque integro comitatu regredi admirati laudantesque Greciae pietatem ad caelum ferunt.

Explicit: Ita composito negotio Antenor traditoque sibi Talthybio quo res fidem acciperet ad Troiam uenit.

1.7. fols 68v-81v: Book V

Rubric: Capita quinti libri

[List of nine chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani Liber V.

Incipit: Antenore Talthybioque ciuitate iucundum erat socii amici propinquorum salus patria denique incolumis retinuere in hunc diem.

Explicit: Nunc reditum nostrorum narrare lubet.

1.8. fols 81v-90v: Book VI

Rubric: Capita sexti libri

[List of six chapters]

Rubric: Ephemeridos Dictys belli Troiani liber VI

Incipit: Postquam impositis quae singuli insidiatus esset.

Explicit: Ita Vlysses ubi uim ingruentium somniorum praedictumque ab interpretibus vitae exitum animo recordatus est uulneratus ab eo quem minime crediderat triduo post mortem obiit senior iam prouectaeque aetatis neque tamen inualidus uirium.

Rubric: Finis.

History

Date of Origin
Last quarter of the fifteenth century, c. 1475-1477
Place of Origin
Rome, Italy
Notes

This manuscript is not included in the edition. Chapter divisions of the books are different than those of the edition. In the beginning of Book V, the scribe jumps from the first sentence of the first chapter to another sentence in the middle of the second chapter according to the edition; so the sentence beginning with “Antenore Talthybioque” is continued with “ciuitate iucundum erat […]” instead of “civitatem ingressis cuncti […].” The text continues as usual from middle of the second chapter afterwards. Similarly, in the beginning of Book VI, “Postquam impositis quae singuli” is continued with “insidiatus esset” from the end of the fourth chapter according to the edition instead of “bello quesiuerant […].” There is no indication in the manuscript that these mistakes were later noticed or corrected.

Additional Information

Online Facsimile

N/A

Bibliography

Edition(s)

Dictys of Crete. Dictys Cretensis. Ephemeridos belli Troiani libri. A Lucio Septimio ex Graeco in Latinum sermonem translati. Accedunt papyri Dictys Graeci in Aegypto inventae. Edited by Werner Eisenhut. 2nd edn. Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner, 1973; 1994.

Secondary Literature

De la Mare, Albinia Catherine, and Laura Nuvoloni. Bartolomeo Sanvito: The Life & Work of a Renaissance Scribe. Edited by Anthony Hobson and Christopher de Hamel. The Handwriting of the Italian Humanists 2. Paris: Association internationale de Bibliophilie, 2009. 234-35, nr. 61.

Last Updated on
February 16, 2021
License

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