Manilius: Astronomica

— — and to begin to report something, I send to you through the priest Brandinus of Pisa — Silius Italicus, 5 books of Statius’s Silvae, and likewise M. Manilius’s Astronomicon. He in the Venetian codex: ‘the priest who to you’ — or: ‘the priest who to you’ who transcribed the books was the most ignorant of all living men; one must divine, not read, and therefore it is necessary that they be transcribed by a learned man. I have read up to the 13th book of Silius, I have corrected many things, so that for one writing correctly it is easy to detect similar errors and correct them in the remaining books, therefore take care that they are transcribed, afterwards send those to Florence to Nicolaus. I want this copy of the speeches to remain here — — — Hence he argues thus: it does not seem that the codex itself came into Italy, since we do not have even a trace of it; but that Poggio made a copy at Constance or had one made by a Swiss scribe, whose letters might differ from the Italian character (Ellis: ‘the writing-somewhat in the Gothic style’). Housman: ‘the Madrid book is a transcription made by a learned man’. But who could judge from this letter, written hastily as it was by a man then occupied with public business, whether Poggio sent the actual codices of Statius and Manilius themselves or their copies, made I know not where and by whom, to Francesco Barbaro to be transcribed, he will be a great Apollo to me. Nor is there need for divination: for there exist copies most faithfully transcribed from the Madrid codex: 1) cod. Urbinas No. 668 (802), 2) cod. Urbinas No. 667 (803), both in the Vatican library, beautifully written in 15th-century Italian characters: to which we add in the third place the second part of the Vossianus 2 of Leiden (No. 390) from verse 692 of the second book (for the former part agrees so much with Vossianus 1 — ‘in a certain wondrous way even in the smallest errors, so that you would think one was copied from the other’, Iacob). Ellis illustrated its agreement with the Madrid codex (Hermathen. l. l. 265—270): I explained the same concerning both Urbinates (W. f. cl. Phil. 1904 No. 24). I noted Urbinas 668 (802) with the letter u1, Urbinas 667 (803) with the letter u2, following Bechert in De Manil. Em. rat. page 19. These four books form one family distant from the others. — A few things must be stated concerning the inscriptions and subscriptions. To the first book they subscribe: M. MANILI. ASTRONOMICON. LIBER. PRIMUS. EXPLICIT. INCIPIT. SECUNDUS M. Manilius's Astronomicon. The first book ends. The second begins m u1 u2, EXPLICIT LIBER PRIMUS INCIPIT SCDS The first book ends, the second begins g, no subscription in l and c; to the second book: MANILII BOENI ASTRONOMICON Manilius Boenus's Astronomicon m u2, MANLII BOEUI u1, EXPLIC. LIBER SECVNDVS PRAETATIO LIBRI The second book ends, the preface of the third book