Shelfmark
MS 151
Author
Baptista, 1447 - 1516 Mantuanus
Title
Parthenice secunda sive Catharinaria [manuscript]
Varying form of title
Title in M. R. James catalogue: Baptistae Mantuani Secunda Parthenice
Varying form of title
Title in Ker, MLGB II: Baptista Mantuanus, Ord. Carm.
Publication, distribution, etc.
Italy, 1475-1525.
Physical description
1 v. : 211 x 141 mm.
Language
Written in Latin.
Note
Secundo folio: strare putat.
Note
Material: membrane; Gregory's rule (irregular; see "Decoration").
Note
Format: codex.
Note
Written space: 132 x 86 mm.
Note
Number of leaves: ii + 48 + ii.
Note
Collation: 1² 2-6⁸ 7⁶.
Note
Quire and leaf signatures and catchwords: leaf signatures are a combination of letters (a-f; the first bifolium is not numbered) and Arabic numerals; no quire signatures; catchwords with minimal decoration.
Note
Page preparation: ruled in ink; horizontal lines traced faintly, while vertical lines have the aspect of plummet ruling. No pricking visible.
Note
Mise-en-page: single columns (27 lines) written in a set script above the top line. Rubrics.
Note
Decoration: decorated purple initials (3-9 lines) on blue background; that on folio 3r incudes the biblical phrase "in Deo salutari meo". Folio 3r also shows Bernardo Bembo's arms surrounded by branches of laurel and palm with his motto "virtus et honor" in the bas-de-page. The pattern of Gregory's rule of this quire (FHHF) does not follow that of the first bifolium (HFFH), possibly because it would have been easier to paint on the flesh side of the animal than the hair side. Capital letters have been traced with yellow paint. Occasional penwork decoration in black ink on the capitals of the first or last line of the column.
Note
Handwriting: southern littera textualis; the poem by Pietro Bembo (f.2v) is written in purple ink. One scribe.
Note
Abbreviation and punctuation: Tironian nota. Puncti and puncti elevati.
Note
Correction: little to none. Spelling mistakes corrected interlinea by someone different from the main scribe. Gaps in the text of the poem for Pietro Bembo have been filled by a humanistic hand using black ink.
Note
Marginalia, later additions: Bernardo Bembo has added verses, a maxim, and an extract from St Jerome's letter to the virgin Demetrias on ff.1r-v. Maniculae to the main text.
Formatted contents note
Contents: f.1r-v: Bernardo Bembo's notes; f.2r: blank; f.2v: poem dedicated to Pietro Bembo; f.3r: dedication letter from Battista to Bernardo; ff.4v-5r: Parthenice's argumentum (topic); ff.5v-45r: Parthenice secunda sive Catharinaria; ff.45v-48v: ruled but blank.
Citation/references note
N.R. Ker, Medieval manuscripts in British Libraries, v. 2 (1977), p. 762
Citation/references note
M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Eton College (1895), pp. 82-83
Citation/references note
Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae, 1697, 94
Citation/references note
N. Giannetto, Bernardo Bembo: umanista e politico veneziano (Florence, 1985), pp. 339-340
Summary, etc.
Scope and content: This work tells the life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in verse, and follows a previous "parthenice" which focused on the Virgin Mary. Battista Spagnoli (1447-1516), also known as Mantovano after his birthplace Mantova, was an ordained Carmelite friar and humanist often praised for incorporating classical style and themes into Christian narratives. He befriended Bernardo Bembo when he was in Rome in the 1480s.
Cite as
Eton College Library, MS 151
Additional physical form available
Reproduction available; Bodleian Library; Eton College Library should be contacted for permission to reproduce; SFW 2552
Provenance
Origin: Italy. The exemplar of this copy was a printed book, as suggested in the explicit: "Secundae Parthenices opus divinum Bononie impressum solerti animadversione Francisci Cereti Parmensis, communibus imprensis Benedicti Hectoris bibliopolae Platonisque eiusdem impressoris accuratissimi civium Bononiensium anno nativitatis dominicae MCCCCLXXIX quinto idus februaris" (f.45r). However, as Giannetto points out, the incunable that the scribe was referring to dates from 1489 rather than 1479 -- likely a distraction error (see ISTC ib00066000).
Provenance
Provenance: owned by Bernardo Bembo in the 15th century. It was very likely brought to Eton by Sir Henry Wotton, who acquired part of Bembo's library when it was sold in Venice during one of his stays. Former ECL shelfmark: Bl.6.6.
Binding
18th-century calfskin over pasteboards by John Slatter, c.1715. Covers decorated with blind double fillers to form a border; blind roll to form a panel in the centre of the board with blind tools at its outer corners; gilt roll on board edges. Spine rebacked with four raised bands, decorated with blind fillets and tools, and gilt titling over red morocco label ("Mantuan. Parthenic"). Endleaves of laid paper; two flyleaves at both ends of the textblock. 20th-century repairs done by R. L. Day.
Subject
Baptista, 1447 - 1516 Mantuanus
Subject
Catherine of Alexandria, Saint
Subject
Christian poetry, Latin (Medieval and modern) Manuscripts.
Added entry--name
Added entry--name
Bembo, Bernardo, 1433 - 1519 former owner.
Added entry--name
Wotton, Henry (), 1568 - 1639 Sir former owner.
Added entry--name
Added entry--name
Day, R. L. binder.
Added entry--place
Italy.
Language code
lat
Identifier
B50117