On the Latin Language

Vibenna meaning Caele Vibenna: that we arbitrate that he truly did this is brought about by the points we brought forth above and especially the consensus between the form of the books, the place noted about Cassino in F, and the excerpt by Petrus Diaconus. We have discussed these matters somewhat extensively because this question, secondary in itself, is of some importance to the question regarding the Laurentian F, the unique source of all other books. Now, let us discourse on this codex itself.

This book, written in the 11th century in the monastery of Monte Cassino in 'Langobardic' script—which is usually called that more by custom than by propriety—was later preserved in the Marcian library in Florence, but now it is codex 10 of the LI pluteus in the Laurentian library. The first folio is void of writing, except that on the verso page in the upper part it is inscribed—having erased the six or seven words above this inscription and next to the small line that had been written on the other part of the three lines (half of the third)—:

In this volume are contained the following works: M. Terentius on the Latin language; Orations of M. T. C. for Aulus Cluentius; Rhetorical books to Herennius.

Soon, on folios 2—34, numbers 1—17 and 28 were added in ink, 18—27 and 29—33 in red, by later hands, of which one is neater than the other.

And the remaining parts of the codex neither pertain to this place nor are they of any greater importance. The first collation of the Varronian books, however, exists in the Munich copy of the editio princeps first printed edition, where on the last folio we have this subscription:

We, Petrus Victorius and Iacobus Diacetius, collated this with an ancient codex from the Library of the Divine Marcus Divi Marci (St. Mark's) written in Langobardic letters, with such diligence or rather tedious observation that we have transferred into this copy even those things which were read corruptly in it. April 14, 1521.

L. Spengel, trusting this collation too much, had prepared the earlier edition in 1826. Somewhat earlier, Hieronymus Lagomarsini had collated with at least more diligence; he wrote in the lower margin of the first folio in the codex itself:

This codex was diligently collated by me, Hieronymus Lagomarsini of the Society of Jesus, with the common editions; it will be designated by number 64 in my edition of the Works and Orations of Cicero. Florence, October 18, 1740.

C. Lachmann used this collation frequently, sometimes aided by the liberality of Niebuhr, with success. Ludovicus Mercklin also, in his Quaestiones Varrionianae Dorpat, 1852, p. 9, reveals that he treated parts of the Florentine book...