YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPTS
Beinecke MS 479 Rheims, 1303; s. XIV^^in
Ovid, Heroides; Epistolae ex Ponto
I.1. ff. 1r-44v [First 2 lines obliterated by stain.] Troia iacet
certe dan[ais inu]isa puellis/ vix priamus tanti totaque troia fuit/...At
melius uirgo fauisset uirginis annis/ Quos uereor paucos ne uelit esse michi.
[colophon:] Dextram scriptoris seruet pia uirgo pudoris/ Perscriptus fuit iste
liber Remis anno domini m^^o. ccc^^o tercio feria secunda post dominicam qua
cantatur. Cantate. f. 45r-v blank
Ovid, Heroides I-XIV; XVI-XXI (line 12); H. Doerrie, ed., P. Ovidii
Nasonis Epistulae Heroidum (Berlin, 1971), MS 479 not listed.
II.2. ff. 46r-82r Naso thomitane iam non nouus incola terre/ hoc
tibi de gethyco littore mittit opus/ Si vacat hospicio peregrinos brute
libellos/...Quid uiuat extinctos ferrum dimittere in artus/ Non habet in nobis
iam noua plaga locum. [colophon:] Explicit expliceat ludere scriptor eat.
[three lines below:] Ad loca ponthina misit te naso ruina/ triplex doctrina
iusus tuus atque corina. f. 82v pen trials and inscriptions (see Provenance)
Ovid, Epistolae ex Ponto, I.1-IV.16. Letter 2 of Book I divided into
two sections at lines 68-69.
3. ff. 46r-51v For the first eight letters of art. 2 a brief introductory
paragraph, written by the same scribe as the text, appears in outer margin;
for example, f. 46r: "Hanc epistolam primam scribit ouidius ad brutum et
exorat eum ut librum suum uelit recipere...loci possit habere. Dicit ergo Naso
etc."
Composed of two parts of similar agenda format that were bound together by the
15th century when notes were added to the parchment pastedowns, now the
flyleaves (see Provenance).
Parchment, ff. i (original parchment pastedown, now flyleaf) + 82 + i
(original parchment pastedown, now flyleaf: 187 x 66 mm).
Part I: ff. 1-45, 39 lines of verse. Ruled in lead or crayon. Triple
vertical bounding lines delineate column for written space; additional
vertical ruling in inner and outer margins to form columns for commentary.
Double upper and lower horizontal bounding lines; additional pair of rulings in
upper and lower margins. Prickings for all vertical lines in upper and lower
margins; remains of prickings for horizontal text rulings in outer margin.
I-V^^8, VI^^4 ( + 1 leaf added at end). Remains of catchwords along lower edge
near gutter, verso.
Part II: ff. 46-82, 45 lines of verse. Format same as for Part I, but
horizontal text rulings often extend into inner margin. I-IV^^8, V^^6 (-6, no
loss of text). Remains of catchwords as in Part I.
Written by one scribe whose hand is characterized by an unusually tall
double compartment a.
Decorative initials, 4-line, body split red and blue, with neat penwork
flourishes, in red (ff. 1r, 46r); plain initials, 3- to 2-line, alternate red
and blue for each letter throughout text; first letter of each verse placed on
middle ruling of three vertical bounding lines.
Stains in upper margin result in some loss of text.
Binding: s. xv. Caught up sewing on four double, tawed supports. Covers
wanting.
Part I written in Rheims in 1303 (see colophon, art. 1); Part II was written
by the same scribe in a contemporary period. Ownership inscriptions, s. xv-xvi,
won front and
back flyleaves: "huius libri christoforus de drosuy verus est pocessor," and
"Iste liber est Iohannis de...[remainder illegible]." On f. 82v, s. xv-xvi:
"Iste liber est Iohannis de drosay;" below, in a hand of s. xviii: "ce livre
a ete ecrit en 1340 par jean durosay." Early modern provenance unknown.
Belonged to Martin Bodmer, from whom it was acquired by H. P. Kraus.
Purchased from Kraus in 1970 with the Edwin J. Beinecke Fund.
secundo folio: [f. 2r:] fallor
[f. 47r:] confitear
Barbara A. Shailor