Terence, Phormio, in the humanist script of Giuliano di Antonio of Prato, in Latin verse, pale red rubrics, manuscript on parchment [Italy (probably Florence), c. 1450-60] Single leaf, with 30 lines (including Act 3, scene 1-2) of fine humanist minuscule by Giuliano di Antonio of Prato, rubrics in pale red capitals, the readings for different characters marked in same pale red capitals, 3-line simple dark-blue initials, noticeable grain pattern to parchment, small spots and stains, a few wormholes, slight discolouration at edges, else in excellent condition, 250 by 175mm. Provenance: 1. The parent manuscript, a collection of the works of Terence, was written in Florence, c. 1450-60. The script was first attributed by A.C. de la Mare to the Florentine scribe 'Messer Marco', but she later revised this opinion and attributed it to the accomplished scribe Giuliano di Antonio of Prato (see her 'A Livy copied by Giacomo Curlo dismembered by Otto Ege', Interpreting and Collecting Fragments of Medieval Books, 2000, at p. 57). 2. The codex was owned in the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century, by a 'Petrus Colom': this leaf with his inscription now at Rutgers University. 3. The incomplete parent volume of 103 leaves was offered by E.P. Goldsmidt, cat. 23 (1930), no. 14, then reappearing as Sotheby's, 28 May 1934, lot 100, bought by Marks (of 84 Charing Cross Road), presumably on behalf of Dawson's, Los Angeles bookdealers. 4. Otto Ege (1888-1951), who bought this from Dawson's in 1935 (see S. de Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States, 1937, II, 1937, p. 1947 no. 65; and S. Gwara, Otto Ege's Manuscripts, 2013, his HL 78), dispersed by September 1936, and apparently shared with Phillip C. Duschnes. 5. This leaf owned by Harwood B. Dryer (1895-1992), New York architect, and purchased (from Ege or Duschnes) on 19 September 1936. 6. Acquired from a North American private collector in 2013. Text: Terence (Publius Terentius Afer, c. 190-159 BC.) was one of the great early Roman comic playwrights. This work, the Phormio (or 'scheming parasite', i.e. one who makes his living performing services for the wealthy), was based on a lost play by Apollodorus of Carystus and was first performed in 161 BC. The manuscript tradition is one of the fullest for any Classical work, with records of its reading in the fourth and fifth century and approximately 650 manuscripts from the year 800 onwards (see M.D. Reeve in Texts and Transmissions, 1983, pp. 412-20).
Terence, Phormio, in the humanist script of Giuliano di Antonio of Prato, in Latin verse, pale red rubrics, manuscript on parchment [Italy (probably Florence), c. 1450-60] Single leaf, with 30 lines (including Act 3, scene 1-2) of fine humanist minuscule by Giuliano di Antonio of Prato, rubrics in pale red capitals, the readings for different characters marked in same pale red capitals, 3-line simple dark-blue initials, noticeable grain pattern to parchment, small spots and stains, a few wormholes, slight discolouration at edges, else in excellent condition, 250 by 175mm. Provenance: 1. The parent manuscript, a collection of the works of Terence, was written in Florence, c. 1450-60. The script was first attributed by A.C. de la Mare to the Florentine scribe 'Messer Marco', but she later revised this opinion and attributed it to the accomplished scribe Giuliano di Antonio of Prato (see her 'A Livy copied by Giacomo Curlo dismembered by Otto Ege', Interpreting and Collecting Fragments of Medieval Books, 2000, at p. 57). 2. The codex was owned in the fifteenth- or sixteenth-century, by a 'Petrus Colom': this leaf with his inscription now at Rutgers University. 3. The incomplete parent volume of 103 leaves was offered by E.P. Goldsmidt, cat. 23 (1930), no. 14, then reappearing as Sotheby's, 28 May 1934, lot 100, bought by Marks (of 84 Charing Cross Road), presumably on behalf of Dawson's, Los Angeles bookdealers. 4. Otto Ege (1888-1951), who bought this from Dawson's in 1935 (see S. de Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States, 1937, II, 1937, p. 1947 no. 65; and S. Gwara, Otto Ege's Manuscripts, 2013, his HL 78), dispersed by September 1936, and apparently shared with Phillip C. Duschnes. 5. This leaf owned by Harwood B. Dryer (1895-1992), New York architect, and purchased (from Ege or Duschnes) on 19 September 1936. 6. Acquired from a North American private collector in 2013. Text: Terence (Publius Terentius Afer, c. 190-159 BC.) was one of the great early Roman comic playwrights. This work, the Phormio (or 'scheming parasite', i.e. one who makes his living performing services for the wealthy), was based on a lost play by Apollodorus of Carystus and was first performed in 161 BC. The manuscript tradition is one of the fullest for any Classical work, with records of its reading in the fourth and fifth century and approximately 650 manuscripts from the year 800 onwards (see M.D. Reeve in Texts and Transmissions, 1983, pp. 412-20).
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
