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Harley MS 3997

Record Id:

040-002049834

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002049834

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000807.0x0001fd

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 3997

Title:

Horace, Ars poetica, Odes, Epodes, Epistles and Satires

Scope & Content:

This manuscript contains the major works of the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus (b. 65, d. 8 BC), also known as Horace.

Contents:

ff. 3r-12v: Horace, Ars poetica;

ff. 13r-75v: Horace, Odes;

ff. 75v-89v: Horace, Epodes;

ff. 90r-120r: Horace, Epistles;

ff. 120r-162v: Horace, Satires.

The manuscript contains later additions:

ff. 1v-2v, 163r-164v: added pen trials, written in Latin and Italian.

Decoration:

Partial border with a large white vine initial in colours and gold and an unidentified coat of arms in the lower margin (f. 3r). 8 large white vine initials in colours and gold (ff. 13r, 31r, 42v, 63v, 75v, 90r, 120r, 141r). Smaller plain initials in red or blue. Rubrics in red. Added drawing of a horse and rider in brown ink (f. 1r).

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002049834", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 3997: Horace, Ars poetica, Odes, Epodes, Epistles and Satires" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002049834

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 3997 : Horace, Ars poetica, Odes, Epodes, Epistles and Satires

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[3990]/040-002049834

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1450

End Date:

1499

Date Range:

2nd half of the 15th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Material: Paper and Parchment (ff. 1-2 and 163-164 are parchment leaves).

Dimensions: 220 x 140 mm (text space: 140 x 75/80 mm).

Foliation: ff. 164 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end); ff. 1-2 and 163-164 are ruled parchment leaves.

Script: Humanistic cursive.

Binding: Post-1600. Mottled brown leather with gold tooling.

Custodial History:

Origin: Italy, Central (Florence).

Provenance:

This manuscript was written by the Italian scribe Antonio di Giuliano Calderini (b. 1445, d. 1494) (see de la Mare, 'New Research on Humanstic Scribes' (1985), p. 482).

An unidentified Italian owner: arms of a black St. Andrew's cross on a white shield divided into 4 quadrants, with a single star in the upper quadrant (f. 3r).

John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726), dealer; sold to Harley on 22 June 1726 (see Diary (1966), p. 339 n. 16; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 162).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘22 die Junii A.D. 1726’ (f. 1r). Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Information About Copies:

Select digital coverage available for this manuscript; see the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, https://bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: [n. pub.], 1808-12), III (1808), no. 3997.

The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by Cyril Ernest Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), II: 1723-1726, p. 339 n. 16.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 162.

Albinia de la Mare, 'New Research on Humanistic Scribes in Florence', in Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440-1525: un primo censimento, ed. by Annarosa Garzelli, 2 vols, ([Florence]: Giunta regionale toscana, 1985), I, pp. 395-574 (p. 482).

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Gibson, John, book-dealer, fl 1720-1726
Horatius Flaccus, Quintus, also known as Horace, 65 BC-8 BC,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121452178,
see also http://viaf.org/viaf/100227522

Places:

Florence, Italy