[Neoplatonic and neopythagorean translations]

Contributor:

Ficino, Marsilio, 1433-1499 (translator); Pacini, Antonio, active 15th century (translator); Guarino, Veronese, 1374-1460 (translator)

Name:

Accademia platonica (Florence, Italy); Speusippus; Alcinous, active 2nd century; Lucian, of Samosata; Plutarch; Landino, Cristoforo, 1424-1504

Timespan:

Early works to 1800

Date:

1475

Description:

Collection of translations of Greek works in the traditions of Plato and Pythagoras, originally translated into Latin mostly in Florence in the 1460s and 1470s, with various connections to the Accademia platonica under the auspices of Cosimo de' Medici. The manuscript is in 2 sections: the first is a group of works translated by Marsilio Ficino for Johannes Cavalcanti (both members of the Accademia), including De Platonis definitionibus by Speusippus and an epitome of Plato's works by Alcinous, which were first available in Greek in Florence in 1462. The second includes short works by Lucian of Samosata, translated by Antonio Pacini, also known as Tudertinus, for Rodolfo Lotto and Petrus Pazus (Piero Pazzi?); a work on friendship by Plutarch, translated by Guarino Veronese, an early humanist student and teacher of Greek, for his patron Leonello d'Este; and a work on Virgil by Cristoforo Landini (another member of the Accademia). Occasional marginal notes in multiple hands.

Language:

Latin

Provenance:

Formerly owned by Francesco Cavalli (inscription ex libris Fsci Cavalli, f. 1r), late 18th or early 19th century?; Sold by Libreria antiquaria Pregliasco (Turin, Italy) to Lawrence J. Schoenberg, July 2002.; Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2013.; Gift of Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, 2021.; Cavalli, Francesco, former owner.

Relation:

The Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative Fund Home Page: http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017.12/366278; Digital facsimile for download (OPenn): https://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0001/html/ljs438.html

Subject:

Plato Criticism and interpretation Early works to 1800; Plato; Humanism -- Italy; Humanism; Pythagoras and Pythagorean school; Criticism and interpretation; Neoplatonism -- Early works to 1800; Neoplatonism; Pythagoras and Pythagorean school -- Early works to 1800

Resource Type:

Text

Form/Genre:

Codices (bound manuscripts); Illuminations (painting); Translations (documents); Manuscripts, Latin; Manuscripts, Renaissance; manuscripts (documents)

Physical Description:

94 leaves : paper; 210 x 137 (142 x 80) mm bound to 222 x 148 mm

Geographic Subject:

Italy

Rights:

https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Notes:

Ms. codex.; Title supplied by cataloger.; Table of contents: 1. f.1r-3r: Proemium / Marsilii Ficini florentini in Speusippi et Alcinoi et Pythagorae opusculum ab eo é greca lingua in latina traducta, ad Iohannem Cavalcantem, florentinum civem, amicum unicum. -- 2. f.3r-10r: Speusippi Platonis discipuli Liber de Platonis diffinitionibus / a Marsilio Ficino translatus ad Iohannem Cavalcantem. -- 3. f.10r-44r: Alcinoi Platonici Liber de doctrina Platonis / translatus a Marsilio Ficino florentino ad Iohannem Cavalcantem amicum unicum. -- 4. f.44r-45v: Aurea precepta / Pythagore, traducta a Marsilio Ficino ad Johannem Cavalcantem. -- 5. f.45v-46v: Symbola / Pythagore, traducta a Marsilio Ficino ad Johannem Cavalcantem. -- 6. f.46v-47v: Marsilius Ficinus Iohanni Cavalcanti amico unico salutem dat. -- 7. f.51r-51v: Prohemium in opusculo Luciani De sacrificiis e greco in latinum sermonem / converso per Antonius Tudertinum, ad nobilissimum iuvenum Rodulfum Lottum florentinum civem. -- 8. f.51v-57r: [De sacrificiis / Lucian] -- 9. f.57v-59v: Antonii Pacini prohemium in opusculo Luciani De laudibus patrie / per eum e greco sermone in latinum converso ad nobilissimum iuvenem Petrum Pazum civem florentinum. -- 10. f.59v-62v: [De laudibus patrie / Lucian] -- 11. f.63r-84v: Clarissimi viri Guarini veronensis ad illustrimum dominum Leonellum estensis de amici et assentatoris differentia liber. -- 12. f.84v-85r: Tituli vel quasi argumenta super singulas satyra Iuvenalis. -- 13. f.85r-85v: Ossa [epitaph] -- 14. f.85v-91v: Christophori Landini viri clarissimi Oratio de laudibus Maronis in gymnasio florentino habita.; Foliation: Paper, i (14th-century parchment pastedown) + ii + 94; 1-8¹⁰ 9⁶ 10⁸; 1-57, 59-93, [94-95], contemporary foliation in ink, upper right recto. Parchment guards on gatherings. Vertical catchwords on lower right of last verso of each gathering except the last (f. 10v, 20v, 30v, 40v, 50v, 61v, 71v, 81v, 87v).; Layout: Written in 25 long lines.; Script: Written in humanistic cursive script by at least 2 hands (f. 1r-47v, 51r-92v), with Beneventan script on pastedowns (Lisa Fagin Davis).; Decoration: 3 illuminated initials in gold on blue, pink, and green ground with white scrollwork (f. 1r, 3r, 10r); 2-line initials in blue ink with guide letters visible in third work only (f. 11v-40v); rubrication in red in first section of manuscript (f. 1r-47v, works translated or written by Marsilio Ficino); some spaces left for initials in second section (f. 51r-91v); occasional manicules by multiple readers in works 3-5 (f. 19v-46v).; Binding: Contemporary (15th-century) oak boards and leather back with remains of 2 pairs of clasps. Parchment pastedowns are fragments from a large 14th-century manuscript; the one inside the upper cover shows the end of one of 2 columns, with 2 intials infilled simply with red and yellow, with text in Beneventan script from Saint Ambrose's De fide resurrectionis.; Origin: Written in Florence, circa 1475.; Lawrence J. Schoenberg & Barbara Brizdle Manuscript Initiative.; Latin.

Physical Location:

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Manuscripts, LJS 438

Collection:

Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection (University of Pennsylvania)