Marston MS 4     Oxford, s. XV 3/4
Cicero, De officiis, De oratore, etc.

Arts. 1-4 are excerpts from an 11th- or early 12th-century supplement to
Curtius Rufus, Historia Alexandri Magni; see E. R. Smits, "A Medieval 
Supplement to the Beginning of Curtius Rufus's Historia Alexandri:  An Edition
with Introduction,"  Viator 18 (1987) pp. 100-112.

1. f. 1r-v blank; f. 2r  [Heading:]  Oratio heschinis.  [text:]
[R]eminiscor Athenienses Alexandrum hac nostra in vrbe liberalibus 
artibus eruditum.  Et Aristotelis...si nos obsequentes sibi supplices 
que [sic] inuenerit.

Oratio Aeschinis; R. Sabbadini, "Antonio da Romagno e Pietro
Marcello," Nuovo Archivio Veneto n.s. 30 (1915) p. 241.

2. f. 2r  [Heading:]  Oracio demadis.  [text:]  [A]dmirans vehementer
admiror viri Athenienses quonammodo timiditatem incutiens Eschines
in deditionem et potestatem...suis custodibus consiliis et viribus
vacuam facilius diripiat.

Oratio Demadis; Sabbadini, op. cit., pp. 241-42.

3. f. 2r-v  [Heading:]  Oratio demostenis.  [text:]  [A]pud vos in
questione verti videor.  vtrum sumenda sint nobis arma aduersus
Alexandrum...nec dicamus nolle parere alexandro qui seruiuimus philippo.

Oratio Demosthenis contra Demadem; Sabbadini, op. cit., p. 242.

4. ff. 2v-4r  [Heading:]  Oracio demostenis ad Alexandrum.  [text:]  [N]ichil
habet Rex alexander vel fortuna tua maius quam vt possis...nullam de
tuis laudibus fore quam eam quam [hodie crossed out] hodierno die
consequuturus es.

Oratio Demosthenis ad Alexandrum; Sabbadini, op. cit., pp. 243-44;
Baron, p. 179.  A short quotation from this oration has also been added on
f. 123v.

5. f. 4r  [Heading:]  Responsio alexandri.  [text:]  [F]acundissime ac
disertissime Demosthenes audiui et intellexi...me omnia que petunt
effecturum.  ffinit.  f. 4v ruled, but blank

Ps.-Alexander the Great, Oratio.

6. ff. 5r-82r  [Heading, added in upper margin:]  Marcij tullij Ciceronis
Philosophi Amplissimi.  liber primus Officiorum ad marcum filium suum
incipit.  [text:]  [Q]uamquam te marce fili.  annum iam audientem Cratippum.
idque athenis...sed multo fore cariorem, si talibus monumentis
preceptisque latebre.  [added in the same hand as heading on f. 5r:]
Excellunt cunctos hij libri philosophorum/ Libri quos scripsit tres tullius
officiorum/...lux orbis patrieque Salus meus tota Senatus/ hic plus sole
micat cruciatus propter honestum.  ff. 82v-84v blank

Cicero, De officiis;  C. Atzert, ed., Teubner fasc. 28 (1963) pp.
1-123.  Text is annotated by contemporary hands in both Latin and Middle
English.

7.  ff. 85r-119v  [C]ogitanti michi sepe numero et memoria vetera repetenti
perbeati fuisse quinte frater illi videri solent qui...et sic prope dicam
decantatas habere debent nisi forte estimatis a. M curio causam.// ff. 
120r-123 mostly blank, but with list, pen trials, etc. (see also provenance)

Cicero, De oratore; K. Kumaniecki, ed., Teubner fasc. 3 (1969) pp. 1-160.
The text, which seems to follow MS A, is defective:  breaks abruptly on f.
100v, line 5, at I.128 and resumes in I.157 ["...vox tragedorum gestum
pene summorum // citacione non sane michi displicit adhibere si cum [space]
fueris adeptus eciam ista locorum..."]; breaks abruptly on f. 105r, line 23,
at I.193 and resumes at II.60 ["...hoste habet fontes omnium disputacionum
suarum qui iure ciuili // scripserunt voluerunt [?] vulgo intelligi in
philosophos nostros.  si quando incidero quam est ornatus indicibus librorum
qui sunt fere inscripti de rebus notis et..."]; breaks abruptly on f. 106v,
line 11, at II.69 and resumes at II.19 ["...que in illa arte effici possunt
a doctore tradantur // Tum catulus ne gret [sic] quidem inquit crasse
qui in ciuitatibus suis magni et clari fuerint..."]; breaks abruptly on
f. 108r, line 3, at II.30 and resumes in II.39 ["...hii postea arriserint res
michi videtur esse inquit facultate preclara arte // eloquentem vel optime
facere oportet vt eloquenciam laudet Debet enim ad eam laudandam ipsam illam
adhibere quam laudat..."]; breaks abruptly on f. 109r, line 17, at II.50 and
resumes in II.30 ["...diserte quam que in lite dicuntur obiurgacio 
cohortacio // mediocris ars enim earum rerum est que sciuntur oratoris..."];
breaks abruptly on f. 110v, line 3, in II.39 and resumes in an unidentified
passage ["...subtiliter visus es tum laudare copiosissime Quod quidem // ei
dicendum esse de rebus maximis et grauiter et ornate quia..."]; breaks abruptly
and resumes on f. 110v, line 12, at II.69 ["...summa cum laude ac dignitate
ipsius omne versari officium statuo // sed velut qui primarum ac ceterarum
rerum genera ipsa didicerunt..."]; breaks abruptly on f. 113v, line 18, in
II.90 and resumes in II. 92 ["...quem dilegeret imitando effigat etque 
[sic]
exprimat // Quid enim cause cencetis [sic] esse cur etates extulerunt singule
singula..."]; the manuscript breaks off imperfectly in II.140.

Parchment, ff. i (paper) + 123 + i (paper), 221 x 168 (ff. 2-4:  158 x 98
mm., 30 long lines; ff. 3-83: 152 x 98 mm., 28 long lines; ff. 85-119:
160 x 95 mm., 28 long lines).  ff. 2-64: single vertical and single horizontal
(upper and/or lower) bounding lines; remainder of text: single vertical
bounding lines.  Ruled in pen or crayon; remains of prickings in upper, lower,
and outer margins.
I-X 8, XI 4, XII-XV 8, XVI 8 (-8).
Scribe 1:  ff. 2r-4r, sloping humanistic cursive script with gothic
features; above top line.  Scribe 2:  ff. 5r-61v, well spaced and well formed
gothic script with large uncrossed tironian et, prominent descenders on
long s and f; below top line; horizontal catchwords in lower margin to
right of center with bracket on left extending below words.  Scribe 3:
ff. 61v-82r, upright English gothic bookhand; below top line; no remains of
catchwords.  Scribe 4:  ff. 85r-119v, upright English gothic bookhand; below
top line; catchwords enclosed in crudely executed scrolls, lower margin to
right of center.  Interlinear and marginal glosses in art. 6 in at least two
contemporary or slightly later annotating hands.
Spaces for decorative intials and most headings remain unfilled; remains
of guide letters for arts. 1-5.
Binding:  England, s. xix-xx.  Half bound in dark brown goatskin,
gold-tooled, with dark pink cloth sides.  Edges spattered red.  Title on
spine:  "Cicero/ De Officiis/ MS./ Saec. XV."

Written in the third quarter of the 15th century probably at Oxford according
to A. C. de la Mare, who has also suggested that the gothic bookhands in the
manuscript are very close to that in Paris, B. N. lat. 6729, a Renaissance
miscellany with ex libris dated 1473 of John Gunthorpe (dean of Wells, d. 
1498).  The letters "N. K." (s.
xvii) appear several times in the manuscript (e.g., f. 1v, 2r, etc.); early 
notation on f. 1r crossed out.  List, s. xvii, crudely written on f. 120r:
"Iacobus Rex/ Iames Kinge/ I-a-go [sic] Brenhin/ Avna Regina/ Anva Quene/
Agnes Brenhines/ Henricus Princeps Cambrie/ Dux Cornubie/ Comes Cestrie." The
"Brenhines" (owners of the manuscript?) remain unidentified.
Off-set impression of rectangular bookplate on front pastedown.  Purchased
from C. A. Stonehill (note on back pastedown) in 1948 by Thomas E. Marston
(bookplate).

secundo folio:  [f. 3:]  nec

Bibliography:  Faye and Bond, p. 64, no. 4.

Barbara A. Shailor