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Harley MS 4704
- Record Id:
- 040-002050547
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002050547
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000859.0x0000de
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 4704
- Title:
-
Titus Maccius Plautus, Comoediae, with prologues and arguments
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains copies of a number of Latin comedies written by the Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus (b. c. 254, d. 184 BC): Amphitryon, Asinaria (The One with Asses), Captivi (The Captives), Curculio (The Weevil), Casina, Cistellaria (The Casket), Epidicus, and Aulularia (The Little Pot). The text features accompanying marginal glosses, added to the manuscript at a later date, some written in Greek.
Contents:
pp. 2-39: Titus Maccius Plautus, Amphitryon;
pp. 39-72: Titus Maccius Plautus, Asinaria;
pp. 72-109: Titus Maccius Plautus, Captivi;
pp. 109-135: Titus Maccius Plautus, Curculio;
pp. 135-166: Titus Maccius Plautus, Casina;
pp. 166-183: Titus Maccius Plautus, Cistellaria;
pp. 183-207: Titus Maccius Plautus, Epidicus;
pp. 207-234: Titus Maccius Plautus, Aulularia.
[pp. 235-236 are blank].
Decoration:
1 large white vine initial in colours and gold (p. 2). 4 large initials in red or blue with brown penwork decoration (pp. 36, 45, 53, and 186). Large plain initials in red or blue, usually alternating, throughout the text. Rubrics and abbreviations of protagonists names in red.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002050547", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 4704: Titus Maccius Plautus, Comoediae, with prologues and arguments" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002050547 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 4704 : Titus Maccius Plautus, Comoediae, with prologues and arguments - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[4703]/040-002050547
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Greek, Ancient
Latin - Scripts:
- Greek
Latin - Start Date:
- 1425
- End Date:
- 1449
- Date Range:
- 2nd quarter of the 15th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 260 x 185 mm (written space: 180 x 100 mm).
Pagination: pp. 236 (+ 3 unfoliated paper and 1 parchment flyleaves at the beginning + 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).
Script: Semi-humanistic.
Binding: British Museum in-house. Rebound 9 May 1967. Red half-leather binding with the Harleian armorial bookplate, gold-stamped on the upper and lower covers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Central Italy (possibly Florence).
Provenance:
This manuscript was written c. 1440, possibly in Florence, according to unpublished notes of A.C. de la Mare at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
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. 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://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts
- Publications:
- A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 4704.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Names:
- Plautus, Titus Maccius, Roman playwright, c 254-184 BC
- Places:
- Florence, Italy