Beinecke MS 166                                                        Italy, s. XV^1
Statius, Thebais, etc.

     1. f. 1r    Various notes and pen trials, including "Dic mihi quid feci
     nisi non sapienter amaui" and "Duc manum leue si uis scribere bene."
     The central portion of the page gives, in another hand, three lines of
     text with astrological rules concerning the nature of the signs of the
     zodiac and their correspondence with the planets. The three lines are
     followed by a chart/horoscope, or Nativity, of the standard form, which
     was probably drawn at Padua in the 15th century (inscription in center
     of chart: "Ad meridianum patauii per astrolabium raptim factum"). This
     horoscope is difficult to date because of the variations from the
     traditional usage of one sign for each house whereby one can reckon the
     given figures for each planet in right ascension. (We thank R. Lemay
     for his assistance with this art. and the following one.) f. 1v blank

     2. f. 2r    Full-page detailed phlebotomy table according to
     astrological rules. ff. 2v-4v blank

     3. ff. 5r-173r    [F]raternas acies alternaque regna profanis/
     decertata odiis sontesque euoluere tebas/...Mox tibi si quis adhuc
     pretendit nubila liuor/ Occidit et meriti post me referantur honores.
     Sursuli papinii statii liber Tebaidos xii explicit.

          Statius, Thebais; A. Klotz and T. C. Klinnert, eds., Teubner
     (1973) pp. 1-475; the text is accompanied by extensive marginal and
     interlinear glosses, some lost due to trimming (see R. D. Sweeney,
     Prolegomena to an Edition of the Scholia to Statius [Leiden, 1969] p.
     28).

     4. f. 173v     [Two summaries, in verse, of the Thebais, the second of
     which also appears in the lower margin on f. 5r:] 1. Uoluitur in primo
     fratrum concordia libro/ denegat et fedus repetit que regna
     secundus/...Vltimus oggigias dat tesea uincere tebas. 2. Associat
     profugum tidea primus polinicem/ Tidea legatum mictit insidias que
     secundus/...Argiam flentem memorat duodecimus ignem. [Walther,
     Initia,
     no. 1630]

     5. f. 174r     [Unidentified poem (28 verses):] [?]ic fontis breuis
     unda latens demersa tenetur/ Ignote et uigiles esse putantur aque/...Et
     oportet fortare uoca coripe disce mone. f. 174v blank

     6. f. 175r     Complete tabular alphabet of Greek and Latin
     equivalents, including diphthongs. Followed by some verses in Italian,
     and some that are Italian transliterated into Greek. ff. 175v-177r
     blank

     7. f. 177v     Large pen-and-ink drawing of a knight in armor,
     surrounded by various notes, e. g., "Sepe rogare, Rogata tenere,
     Retenta docere: Hec tria faciunt discipulum superare magistrum."

          Paper (watermarks: similar in design to Harlfinger Ciseaux 43, for
     ff. 1-4; Briquet Cercle 3134 and unidentified fleur-de-lis, for
     remainder), ff. ii (paper) + 177 + ii (paper), 295 x 215 (215 x 117)
     mm. Written in ca. 30 lines of verse; double upper and single lower
     horizontal bounding lines full across; double or triple vertical
     bounding lines, and often additional single lines in upper, lower,
     and/or outer margins. Ruled in lead or hard point; remains of prickings
     in all margins except inner.
          I^^4 (later addition), II^^10, III^^12, IV^^10, V^^8, VI^^14, VII^^12,
     VIII, IX^^14, X^^12, XI-XIII^^10, XIV-XV^^8, XVI^^6, XVII-XVIII^^8,
	XIX^^3 (structure uncertain).
          Written by multiple scribes in careless fere-humanistic scripts.
     Each scribe uses a different style of catchword and decorates his
     section according to personal whim (some folios have no decoration).
     Extensive glosses in many hands. The first two leaves, written by
     another scribe in italic, appear to be later additions.
          Binding: s. xix. Brown diced calf, blind- and gold-tooled.

          Written in Italy probably toward the beginning of the 15th century
     for use as a school text. A note on f. 1r, previously deciphered as
     "Karolus de Fortro...ys arnio caps [?]" is now virtually illegible.
     Unidentified tag (s. xviii) pasted to f. 1r: "No. 24/Statius". Sold by
     Thorpe (Cat., 1836, no. 1226) to Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 9089; tag on
     spine, note on f. i recto). The following information appearing in De
     Ricci (v. 2, p. 1904) has not been verified: "[probably in his sale,
     London, 1908, n. 704 to Corton (bought in?)]; his sale (London, 1910,
     no. 758) to Leighton; W. J. Leighton sale (London,, 27 oct. 1919, III,
     no. 2754) to H. Davies (Leighton, Cat. II, 1 [June 1920], n. 329); Cat.
     II, 9 [ca. 1925] n. 844." Belonged to J. T. Adams; his sale (Sotheby's,
     8 Dec. 1931, no. 264) to Dobell (The Ingatherer, no. 22, Feb. 1932, no.
     18). Acquired by David Wagstaff (bookplate); gift of Mrs. David
     Wagstaff in 1944.

     secundo folio: Seruantem

     Bibliography: De Ricci, v. 2, p. 1904, no. 13; Faye and Bond, p. 36,
     no. 166.
          E. T. Silk, "The Wagstaff Collection of Classical and Mediaeval
     Manuscripts," Gazette 19 (1944) pp. 3-5.

     Barbara A. Shailor