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Detailed record for King's 16
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| ff. 2-281 |
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| Author |
Homer |
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| Title |
Iliad, each book except book I preceded by one or two monostich summaries; prose hypothesis at the start of book II (f. 13); scholia relating to book I 331-341 (ff. 7v-8). |
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| f. 1 |
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| Title |
Brief lives of Homer |
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| f. 1v |
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| Title |
Two prose hypotheses |
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| Origin |
Italy |
| Date |
1431 |
| Language |
Greek |
| Script |
Greek minuscule |
| Scribe |
Christopher Trapezuntios |
| Decoration |
Large gold initial with green vine-stems on blue and red grounds (f. 2). Large red or blue initials with penwork decoration. Small red simple initials. |
| Dimensions in mm |
260 x 180 (170 x 100) |
| Official foliation |
ff. iv + 285 (ff. i-iii and 283-285 are paper flyleaves; f. 282 is a parchment flyleaf) |
| Collation |
i-ii10 (ff. iv-19); iii10+1 (ff. 20-30); iv-x10 (ff. 31-100); xi4 (ff. 101-104); xii10 (ff. 105-114); xii8 (ff. 115-122); xiv-xix10 (ff. 123-182); xx8 (ff. 183-190); xxi-xxv10 (ff. 191-240); xxvi-xxvii8 (ff. 241-256); xxviii-xxix10 (ff. 257-276); xxxfive (ff. 277-281) without loss of text |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. 'Consul' Smith binding of Venetian sprinkled calf; the covers with added gilt-stamped insignia of George III; marbled endpapers; gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
Written by Christopher Trapezuntios in 1431 (colophon, f. 281).
Joseph Smith (b. 1673/4?, d. 1770), book collector and patron of the arts (see Bibliotheca Smithiana seu catalogus librorum Josephi Smithii Angli per cognomina authorum dispositus, Addenda, & Corrigenda in superiori Catalogo (Venice: Pasquali, 1755), p. 34; sold to King George III, along with the bulk of Smith's library and art collection, in 1762.
King George III (b. 1738, d. 1820).
Given to the British Museum by King George IV in 1823 as part of the library of King George III. |
| Select bibliography |
Palaeographical Society, Facsimiles of Manuscripts and Inscriptions, Series I, ed. by E. A. Bond and E. M. Thompson, 3 vols (London: Clowes and Sons, 1873-1883), I, pl. 158 (bound as 65).
E. Maunde Thompson, ‘Catalogue of Classical Manuscripts’, Classical Review, 2 (1888), 102-4, 171-4; 3 (1889), 149-55, 440-5 (p. 103 no. 7).
W. Leaf, 'The Manuscripts of the Iliad,' Journal of Philology, 20 (1892), 237-51 (p. 240).
George F. Warner and Julius P. Gilson, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Old Royal and King’s Collections, 4 vols (London: British Museum, 1921), III: Description of the King’s Manuscripts and Indexes to both Collections, p. 7.
Homeri Ilias, ed. by Thomas W. Allen, 3 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931), I, 12, 171-2.
Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten 800-1600, ed. by Ernst Gamillscheg and Dieter Harlfinger, Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Byzantinistik, 3-1, ed. by Herbert Hunger (Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1981- ), I: Handschriften aus Bibliotheken Grossbritanniens, 3 vols, no. 385.
Frances Vivian, The Consul Smith Collection: Masterpieces of Italian Drawing from the Royal Library, Windsor, Raphael to Canaletto (Munich: Hirmer, 1989), p. 43 n. 96.
Summary Catalogue of Greek Manuscripts (London: British Library, 1999- ), I, 219. |
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ff. 2-281 |
| Homer Iliad, each book except book I preceded by one or two monostich summaries; prose hypothesis at the start of book II (f. 13); scholia relating to book I 331-341 (ff. 7v-8). |
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f. 2
Illuminated initial |
f. 2
Detail |
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