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LATIN PALAEOGRAPHY AND TEXTUAL

CRITICISM

THE great Leiden series of facsimiles has been enriched by three more volumes.1 The first of these contains the famous MS. of Propertius (N), which has been the subject of so much controversy. The preface, which is written by the well-known scholar, Th. Birt, contains eight chapters dealing with the binding of the MS., the character of the script, the orthography, the past history of N, the punctuation and abbreviations, the corrections and marginal notes, and a general survey of the results. All these subjects are treated in a masterly manner, and the discussion of certain critical marks inherited by N from an ancient ancestor, e.g., q. (= quaere), r ( = require), h.u. ( = hoc vide), t ( = tene), §( = Šýteɩ), marks an advance upon the results previously obtained by Dziatzko.2 In his references to other scholars Birt adopts a somewhat controversial tone; thus, he is not disposed to acquiesce in the suggestions made by Dr James in the Classical Review,3 and rejects Ullman's theory that N at one period belonged to Valla. The facsimile, together with Birt's preface, is indispensable to all students of Propertius.

The second volume contains a number of Cicero's philosophical works found in the Leidensis 118 (C), with a preface by O. Plasberg. This MS. possesses palaeographical

1 Vol. xvi. Propertius (1911); vol. xvii., Cicero, De natura deorum, etc. 1912); vol. xviii., Lucretius (1913); A. W. Sijthoff.

2 Neue Jahrb. Phil. 1896, pp. 63-70.

3 Class. Rev. 1903, p. 462.

interest, since it appears to have been written at Monte Cassino in the time of Desiderius, who was abbot there from 1058 to 1087. It is, therefore, a good specimen of the Beneventan hand. Also, it is interesting as having belonged to N. Heinsius. Otherwise, it is less important than two other Leidenses, viz., 84 (A) and 86 (B), which contain the same sylloge. The first of these, which is closely connected with C, but far superior to it in authority, is now being reproduced by Sijthoff. It is to be hoped that B, which is exceedingly interesting on account of the numerous dislocations, and their correction by early scribes, may receive equal honour.

The third volume contains the famous Quadratus of Lucretius, with a preface by the veteran palaeographer, E. Chatelain. Its companion in the Leiden Library, the Oblongus, was published in facsimile four years ago, also with a preface by the same hand.1 The Quadratus comes from the monastery of St Bertin, near St Omer, and was brought to Paris by P. Galland, rector of the University of Paris in 1543. Chatelain describes, somewhat shortly, the orthography, errors, and omissions of the MS. These are especially interesting because four passages, three of which are of equal length (52 lines), which had been omitted by accident, are added after Book VI. Lachmann was thus able to see that the archetype contained 26 lines to the page.

The same firm has also published a supplementary volume, containing fragments of a Latin version of the Prophets, written in the fifth century.2 P. Lehmann in his preface quotes the remark of P. de Nolhac, 'La biographie des MSS. peut être écrite, elle n'est souvent pas moins instructive que celle de leurs possesseurs.' He shows that this MS. came to Weingarten in 1630 from Constance, that it was written in N. Italy, and that it may be the liber prophetarum quem Hiltiger de Italia adduxit, mentioned in

1 Sijthof, vol. xii., 1908.

2 Die Konstanz-Weingartener Propheten-Fragmenta, suppl. ix.

the old Constance catalogue. The marginal glosses are said to resemble closely those found in the Bembine Terence.

J. M. Burnam has published the first volume of a series intended to illustrate Spanish and Portuguese hands.1 The complete work is to consist of fifteen volumes. The chief importance of the first fascicule resides in the fact that the MSS. are dated. Otherwise it is not clear on what principle the collection has been formed. Only one of the MSS., the lex Romana Visigothorum, belongs to the ninth century, and most of them are late. There is no specimen taken from a classical author.

Our own Palaeographical Society has issued the tenth Part of its Facsimiles, thereby reaching the limit of its first series. Among the Latin MSS. contained in the tenth Part, the oldest is a seventh-century Eusebius from Bern: one illustrates the Corbie script, and several are written in English and Welsh script.

2

Sir E. Maunde Thompson's Handbook has for many years been a delight to English students, and will doubtless hold its own in the future on account of its compactness. He has now published a stately volume, founded upon the same lines as his manual, but greatly enlarged. The portion which deals with Latin palaeography contains 168 facsimiles, accompanied by transcripts in ordinary characters and remarks upon the MSS. The method of arrangement is extremely convenient, since the transcript is in immediate vicinity to the text. The facsimiles are thus divided: Capitals (5); uncials (8); mixed uncials and minuscules (6); Roman cursive (13); Visigothic (4); Lombardic (5); Merovingian (2); Franco-Lombardic (3); Prae-Carolingian (3); Carolingian (2); Irish (6); Early English (12); Later minuscule, ninth to eleventh century (24); twelfth to fifteenth (19); fifteenth (6). He also gives specimens of English

1 Palaeographica Iberica, Fac-similés de MSS. Espagnols et Portugais (ix.-xv. siècles), Paris (Champion), 1912.

2 Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography, Oxford, 1912. See also pp. 82, 88.

vernacular (13), and official and legal cursive (38), which should be very useful to English students. The examples of Early English Latin MSS. are especially welcome. They comprise three specimens from each of the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. The fifteenth century, it may be remarked, is poorly represented, and does not contain any specimen written by a well-known humanist. Also, many readers will desire more footnotes giving the authority for some of the statements made in the text. Of these the learned writer is somewhat chary.

Prof. Lindsay has made a notable contribution to our knowledge of the Corbie script.1 This name was given by Traube to a hand used at Corbie, and in some other French scriptoria, at the end of the eighth century and the beginning of the ninth. Dr Loew has invented the title, 'Corbie ab type,' referring to the peculiar shape of a and b in this script. Only two of these MSS. are known to have been written at Corbie itself, but similar provenance is claimed for other MSS. written in the same style. Lindsay is chiefly concerned with what he calls the b type, i.e. MSS. in which only the b is abnormal. He forms lists of compendia found both in the ab and the b type. The striking conclusion at which he arrives is, that the ab MSS. employ abbreviations hitherto associated with the Insular script, e.g. the wellknown h symbol for autem. Lindsay draws particular attention to an abbreviation for -tur, which he terms a 'Shibboleth for detecting an Anglo-Saxon as opposed to an Irish scribe.' This is found in the ab script, which, therefore, shows trace of English influence. This conclusion is novel, and seems to invalidate some distinctions generally drawn between Insular and Continental script.

A parallel inquiry has been made by S. Tafel, who considers four MSS. of the ab type, all of which also figure in Lindsay's list. Tafel holds that these resemble the type of writing connected with Luxeuil and other places in Burgundy. 1 Revue des Bibliothèques, 1912, Nos. 10-12.

2 Revue Charlemagne, 1912, pp. 105-15.

He points out that Corbie was colonised in the seventh century from Luxeuil, and thinks that the colonists may have brought their MSS. and script with them. This is an interesting suggestion, since Luxeuil is said to have been founded by the Irish monk, St Columban, about 590,1 a fact not mentioned by Tafel, which may, to some extent, account for the use of insular symbols which Lindsay points

out.

3

Kuno Meyer has thrown light upon the origin of learning in Ireland by calling attention to a passage previously printed by Zimmer from a twelfth-century Leiden MS.2 This states that after the invasions of the Huns, Vandals, Goths, and Alani, learned men fled to Ireland 3 and to other places beyond the seas, and brought about a great advance of knowledge wherever they went. Meyer points out that a place in West Meath was called Bordgal, which he compares with Bordigala (Bordeaux), the chief university in Gaul. He also traces the influence of Gallic rhetoricians upon their Irish pupils.

R. Beer has made a most ingenious suggestion concerning the ancient MSS. which formed the nucleus of the Bobbio library before the time of St Columban (about 613), viz., that they came from the collection of Cassiodorus at Vivarium. F. Steffens had already suggested that a MS. now at Milan, containing a Latin translation of Josephus, might have come from the library of Cassiodorus, who is known to have possessed this work. Beer, after forming a list of old Bobbio MSS. in different libraries, shows that they correspond in an astonishing manner with the books of Cassiodorus. Thus a Bobbio MS. preserves a fragment of Gargilius Martialis, De re rustica, an author mentioned by him; another is our sole authority for Claudius Sacerdos, whose work he used in a compilation of his own; also a Latin Euclid, a copy of which

2 Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century, Dublin (Hodges & Figgis), 1913.

3 The MS. has Hiberiam, a slip for Hiberniam.

4 Akad. Wissenschaft., Wien, 1911, pp. 78-104.

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