Diogenes Laertius — 15th century, third quarter; Italian

Title

Diogenes Laertius — 15th century, third quarter; Italian

Shelfmark

MS. Bywater 1

Place of origin

Italian

Date

15th century, third quarter

Language

Ancient Greek (to 1453)

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Paper with parchment flyleaves. Watermarks: tulip (cf. Briquet, no. 6653–4); letter R (not in Briquet); scissors (cf. Briquet, no. 3668).

Physical extent

ii (modern paper) + i (catalogue clipping, tipped in) + i (medieval parchment) + 152 (paper) + i (medieval parchment) + ii (modern paper)

Hands

Written in a good humanistic hand

Decoration

Headings in the brown ink of the main text; the tables of contents with red and blue paraphs.

Plain blue initials: two large (fols. 1r, 2r), the remainder usually four-line.

Binding

Original binding. Sewn on four wide straps, and bound in contemporary Italian blind-tooled brown leather over wood boards with rounded edges, the covers with simple fillets forming a saltire within a frame; with the remains of two clasps at the fore-edge (straps missing); the fore-edge of the leaves inscribed 'LAER[gap for strap]TIVS DIOGE[gap for strap]NES'; considerably repaired.

Acquisition

Bequeathed by him to the Bodleian in 1915; inscribed on the upper pastedown and fol. 1r with the shelfmark 'Byw B 6 5', now obsolete, and with the current shelfmark; provisionally given the Summary Catalogue no. 40033, also now obsolete.

Provenance

Inscribed throughout with marginal notes in Greek and Latin, in various 16th-century hands; and with a title in the top left corner of the upper pastedown: '[Laer]tius diogene de vite & moribus ph[i]l[o]sophorum[?] ...[?]'.

Inscribed, 16th century: ' Lucas Maripetro | me vidit' (fol. 1r).

Inscribed in a 17th(?)-century Italian hand 'pnn' in the top right corner of the lower pastedown; the top right corner of fol. 1r inscribed 'xxii.x.'(? the fourth character overwritten and unclear, ther last character perhaps a z or an alpha).

Perhaps among the Saibante-Canonici manuscripts sold by Celotti, at Sotheby's, Saibante and Canonici manuscripts: a catalogue of a singularly rare collection of manuscripts on paper and vellum ... the whole are in fine condition, and were brought to this country by the Abbé Celotti ... which will be sold by auction ... Mr. Sotheby ... 26th of February, 1821 and two following days (London), lot 171, described as 'Diogernes Laertii Vitæ, Sententiæ, &c. Philosophorum Vers. Latine, MS. ON PAPER', bought by Thorpe for 5 shillings.

Thomas Thorpe, London bookseller: probably the 'Diogenis Laertii Vitæ, Sententiæ, &c. Philosophorum, Vers. Lat. ON PAPER, Sæc. XVI. large folio, leaves uncut' in his Books and manuscripts: a catalogue – Part I. - 1821. – of ancient and modern books ... a singularly rare collection of manuscripts ... (London, 1821), item 4068 (the table of contents states: 'Manuscripts, on Vellum and Paper, from the Saibante, Canonici and Celotti Collections, various sizes'), priced 15 shillings; the pencil price-code 'gw/' in the top right corner of the upper pastedown is perhaps Thorpe's.

Inscribed 'Thorpe March 1821' (upper pastedown, top left).

Various 19th-century booksellers' notes in pencil on the upper pastedown: 373', '1/5/[...]', '172', and fol. iv recto 'No 297EO[?]'.

Howel Wills (1854-?1901), of Florence : with his paper shelf-mark label pasted to the upper left corner of the upper pastedown, inscribed 'A. | II. | 25.' (cf. MSS. Don. d. 85, Lat. th. c. 34, and Lyell 77); his sale, Sotheby's, 11 July 1894 and five following days, lot 1169, bought by Quaritch for £1 13s., perhaps on behalf of Bywater, since it was not included in Quaritch's Rough list, no. 144, August 1894 (A rough list of choice and valuable books ... [f]rom the library of Howel Wills, Esq., of Florence). Fol. iii is a leaf from Quaritch Rough list no. 180, in which item 11 was another copy of the text, on vellum.

Ingram Bywater