Description
Juvenal, Satires I-XVI, in dactylic hexameter verse, with introductory hexameter to satires II, IV-VIII by Guarino da Verona, fine humanist manuscript in Latin on parchment [Italy (perhaps Ferrara), second half of the fifteenth century] 61 leaves (plus one original endleaf at front), complete, collation: i-v10, vi11 (last a cancelled blank), single column, 32 lines in two good and legible semi-humanist hands, initial letters of each line set off in left-hand margin (these occasionally in red), capitals occasionally touched in red, paragraph marks in red, red rubrics, space left for initial on frontispiece (a later acanthus-vine initial added in penwork, perhaps in seventeenth century), small spots and slight discolouration to edges of leaves, numerous notes, pentrials and crude drawings of dogs to endleaf and pastedowns, else in outstanding condition with wide and clean margins, 237 by 170mm., contemporary binding of dark leather over heavy wooden boards, tooled with concentric frames of ropework patterns (compare A.R.A. Hobson, Humanists and Bookbinders, 1990, pls. 11-14 and 21-24, and that on a Cicero, ex Phillips collection, his MS. 12278, sold Christie s, 7 December 1988, lot 32), scuffed and scratched, spine rebacked and binding skilfully refreshed), two working clasps This is a fine Renaissance book, containing the entire extant works of the poet Juvenal, still in its first binding; from an important moment in the history of the text - when the fame of the scholar Guarino Veronese ensured it spread from the copy in the Este court throughout Italy and Europe Provenance: 1. Written in the second half of the fifteenth century, most probably for an Italian patron from Milan. The addition of the verse of the humanist Guarino Veronese may indicate an origin in Ferrara (see below), and the near-contemporary and almost erased ex libri on the front endleaf naming Laurencius Mediolani ( of Milan ), may indicate the origin point of the patron for whom the codex was copied. 2. Valeriano Malfatti Barone, his ex libris, dated 1764 on the same endleaf. This man lived in Rovereto, to the immediate north east of Milan (see Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , IV, p. 264). 3. Tenschert catalogue 41, Leuchtendes Mittelalter , Neue Folge II, 1998, no. 13, listed there as from a European private collection . Text: Juvenal (Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, late first and early second century AD.) was one of the greatest satirical poets of Ancient Rome, and easily the most politically incorrect Roman poet. He is thought to have been a pupil of Quintilian, but did not turn to satirical composition until late in life. Biographies claim that he spent some of his life in exile (probably in Egypt, but one tradition rather outlandishly claims Scotland), having insulted an actor who had the support of the court. He defines his own subject matter as whatever men do - prayer, fear, rage, pleasure / joy, running about - is the gist of my little book , and the works here turn his acerbic vitriol on the hypocrisies of Roman society (fols. 3v-6r), an attack on the corruption of life in Rome (fols.6r-11r), a sarcastic description of Domitian s council (11v-13v), relations between rich and poor clients during a banquet (fols. 13v-16v), the insolence and vices of Roman women, leading to a warning against marriage (fols. 16v-26v), an appeal to Hadrian asking him to deal with unworthy officials, and criticism on the degeneration of present society (fols.27r-35r), on a male prostitute (fols. 35r-37r), on human life (fols. 37r-43r), on a luxurious meal (fols. 43r-46r), on exposing greed (fols. 46v-48v), on giving encouraging words to a deceived friend (fols. 48v-52r), on the education of children (fols. 52v-57v), on religious fanaticism and barbaric practices in Egypt (fols. 57v-60r), and on undeserved benefits of soldiers (fols. 60r-61r, finishing imperfectly in accordance with rest of the textual tradition ...et torquibus omnes. Finis laus Deo ). Juvenal s attacks on women, foreigners, cruel and decadent rulers and officials, greed and extravagance, chimed in with many medieval Church teachings, and he did not receive the same level of suppression as other pagan authors. Medieval readers found his sarcasm and backbiting consistently delicious, and the earliest witnesses are three early sixth-century fragments. The satires were among the list of Classical works on the so-called booklist of Charlemagne (see Bischoff, The Court Library of Charlemagne in Manuscripts and Libraries in the Age of Charlemagne , 1994, C. Villa in Deutsches Arkiv 51, 1995, and D.A. Bullough in Early Medieval Europe 12, 2003). They remained popular throughout the Middle Ages, and survive in over 500 medieval manuscripts (U. Knoche, Iunius Iuvenalis Saturae mit kritischem Apparat , 1950). Guarino Veronese (d. 1460) studied Greek in Constantinople under Manuel Chrysoloras, before moving to Ferrara in 1429 to take the position of personal tutor to a young Leonello d Este (1407-50). Later, from 1436, he also held a position as professor of rhetoric in the university there, and acted as one of the foremost humanist scholars of the Este court. He was named the greatest master of his century , and by the mid-point of the fifteenth century his works were publically sought after as far away as England. Juvenal was commonly used in the teaching of Latin composition, but Guarino s interest in the text verged on obsession. The eulogy delivered at his funeral praised the charm of his lectures on the author, and later humanists would note that they had studied Juvenal at his feet as a badge of honour. With his accomplishments, came also the success of this version of Juvenal, and Cosenza records 142 students of his among humanists (including John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester) , while Pius II states in his Commentaries under 1459 that Guarino had taught almost everyone of merit in the humanities who lived during his day. The present manuscript was most probably produced for just such a student, and bears witness to the transmission of the text from the Ferrarese court library (where Leonello himself ranked the copy there as best kept for private reading because of the scandalous subject matter) to the rest of Italy and Europe.
