YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Marston MS 82 Italy, s. XV 2
Varro, De lingua latina
ff. 1r-94v Quemadmodum uocabula essent imposita rebus in lingua
latina sex libris exponere institui. De his tris ante hunc feci...et
id genus que item et ex parte et uniuersa nominamus nom [with
abbreviation stroke]. opus fuit ut in seruis.
Varro, De lingua latina; G. Goetz and F. Schoell, eds., M. Terenti
Varronis De lingua latina quae supersunt, Teubner (1910) pp. 4-191.
The scribe of Marston MS 82 carefully recorded in the margins the lacunae
by giving the number of missing leaves in the exemplar (e.g., f. 39r:
"In exemplari deficit folium unum in quo est principium libri v"); cf.
Goetz and Schoell, op. cit., p. xxii. Key words and proper names in
margins, some in red. Variant readings and corrections added by at
least one contemporary hand. Greek words entered by scribe in text and by a
second contemporary hand in margins throughout.
Paper (coarse, some deckle edges; watermarks, in gutter: similar to
Briquet Chapeau 3373, Main 10637; unidentified mountain surmounted by a
cross and five-pointed star in a circle), ff. i (original parchment flyleaf?)
+ 94 (foliation by scribe in red, 1-30, in brown 31-52; modern foliation
in pencil thereafter) + i (original parchment flyleaf?), 216 x 147 (140
x 75) mm. 27 long lines. Double vertical bounding lines, full length
(Derolez 13.31); lines impressed on a ruling board.
I-IX 10, X 4. Vertical catchwords between inner bounding lines, verso
(Derolez 12.5); remains of quire and leaf signatures (e.g., g 4), recto.
Written in humanistic cursive script, above top line, by a single scribe
who added marginalia, foliation (1-52 only), and Roman numerals for running
headlines (ff. 1-30).
Plain blue initial, 3-line, on f. 1r; plain red initials, 2-line,
at beginning of books; headings in red, ff. 25r, 83v only. Remains of
guide letters for rubricator.
Binding: Italy, s. xv. Parchment stays adhered to inner and outer
conjugate leaves of quires. Original sewing on three tawed skin, slit straps
laid in channels on the outside of boards and nailed. Plain wound, natural
color endbands are sewn on tawed skin cores laid in grooves on the outside
of the boards and are tied down over strips of green tawed skin.
Quarter bound in dark brown leather over beech boards with a leather strip
nailed along the edge. One fastening, the leaf-shaped catch on the lower
board, the upper board cut in for the clasp strap. Title, in ink, on
fore edge: "Marcus Varo. De Lingua Latina."
Written in Italy in the second half of the 15th century; the manuscript
was probably owner-produced since the inscription on f. i recto (".A./
Antonii andree andree clementis stephani") appears to be in the same hand
as the text. Unidentified shelf-marks include: "XL: Terentius Varro de
lingua latina," s. xvi, on verso of back flyleaf and the modern notation
"41.3.8" in pencil on f. i recto. Remains of square white paper label on
spine with author's name and title. Belonged to the library of the
Princes of Liechtenstein (bookplate). Purchased from H. P. Kraus in 1955 by
Thomas E. Marston (bookplate).
secundo folio: quo grammatica
Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 74, no. 82.
Barbara A. Shailor