Colloquia Maruliana ..., Vol. 6 , 1997.
Original scientific paper
Two Recently Discovered Manuscripts of Marko Marulić in Great Britain: MS. ADD. A. 25 in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and Hunter 334 in the University Library, Glasgow
Darko Novaković
Abstract
Kristeller’s monumental reference work records only one of Marulić’s manuscripts on the territory of Great Britain: The Life of St. Jerome (Vita diui Hieronymi) in the British Library (cf. P.O. Kristeller, Iter Italicum. Volume IV /Alia itinera II/: Great Britan to Spain, London & Leiden 1989 and Colloquia Maruliana III, 1994, pp. 6-66). However, the libraries on the Island hold two further manuscripts, each invaluable in its own way.
The older of the two is Marulić’s autograph of the In epigrammata priscorum commentarius (Ms. Add. A. 25). First registered at the beginning of this century (F. Madan, A Summary Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, Vol. V, Oxford 1905, p. 443), it is recorded again in the index of the entire collection (P.D. Record, A Summary Catalogue of Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, Vol. VII, Oxford 1953, p. 303). The codex with dimensions of 226 mm by 162 mm is written on paper and consists of 75 folios (3 + LXXII) with 28 lines on each page. It begins with the index of Roman magistrates referred to in the treatise (fol. 3: Magistratus. Consul. Folio III. Proconsul XXIIII ...) and ends with the inscription from Treviso added subsequently in another hand (fol. LXXv: ... AMICO
B.M. IN FR. P. VI IN AG. P. VI). Up to fol. LIXv the titles and marginalia are writ-ten in red and basic text in black ink; counting from the inscription on that folio to fol. LXI the basic text is in red ink, fading to brownish grey tint (fols. LXI-LXVI). At the very end the treatise reverts to dark red ink (fols. LXVII-LXX). The foliation, using Roman numerals, is in red ink up to fol. LXVIII inclusive and in pencil on the last four leaves. On the whole the text is legible, despite some damaged sections typically located in the third line from the top of each page, caused by bookworm infestation. Further minor reading problems are caused by ink penetrating from the back to the surface of the paper. In addition some red ink had been spilled on fol. XLIX and a trace of this accident can be followed to the end of the manuscript.
On this evidence it can be concluded that the autograph at the Bodleian was not completed in a single effort. In comparison with the British Library’s Life of St. Jerome the manuscript leaves much to be desired in presentation. Many words have been crossed out and there are many insertions between the lines and in margin, mostly by Marulić himself, although there is evidence of the intervention by another two hands. The treatise has no elaborate frontispiece: the title is written in a plain letter style (M. Maruli ad Dominicum Papalem In epigrammata Priscorum commentarius) and is continuous with the preface (fols. I-IIv), which is in turn followed by 37 inscriptions found in Rome (Romana: fols. IIv-XXI) and further 75 found at other Italian locations (Externa: fols. XXI-L). The third and concluding part is dedicated to domestic inscriptions found at Salona which total 30 and can be divided into two groups: those listed in the earlier version (Salonitana: fols. Lv-LXIIIv) and those added and commented upon at a later time (Salonis postea repertum: fols. LXIIII-LXX).
The manuscript is not dated. However, it is dedicated to Dmine Papalić (Dominicus Papalis), whom Marulić describes as a commander of a galleon during the Venetian-Turkish War of 1499-1503, thus establishing the latter year as the safe terminus post quem (cf. fol. LVIIv). Though the apograph of the same treatise in the Marciana has been available for many years (Cod. Lat. XIV. 112), it has never been researched fully and the recent discovery of the autograph in Oxford provides the solid base for a critical edition. Moreover, it offers a good motive for a fresh interpretation of Marulić’s Commentary, particularly in view of Mommsen’s opinion that some of the inscrip-tions might be Marulić’s fabrications. In addition to essay’s importance as an early and historically invaluable reference work for the specialist, this text bears witness to the wide-ranging and multi-faceted nature of Marulić’s interests in the sphere of studia humanitatis.
The Oxford manuscript is primarily and important gain for the textual criticism which makes possible a reliable reconstrucion of the text of the Commentary. In turn the Glasgow University Library manuscript throws fresh light on Marulić’s entire oeuvre containing inter alia 600 of his hitherto unknown verses. It seems that this work was only recorded in its own library catalogue (cf. J. Young and H. Aitken, A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of the Hunterian Museum in the University of Glasgow, Glasgow 1908, pp. 270-271). The Codex Hunter 334 (current Press Mark U.8.2.) has wooden covers bound in elaborately decorated smooth purple leather and originally provided with four fastening clasps. The work contains 136 leaves, all but two made of paper. Starting with the second fascicle the foliation is in Roman numerals. The dimensions of the codex (144mm x 101mm) and number of lines per page
(26) are virtually identical to The Life of St. Jerome manuscript. Basic text is written in black ink, initials, running titles and marginalia are in red ink and richly decorated with geometrical, floral and -in one instance - human motifs (fol. LXXII). The manuscript starts with a brief foreword describing the author and the contents (fol. 3: M. Mar. Spalatensis. Contenta in presenti uolumine, benigne lector, modo subsequenti reperies...), which is followed by a triple index of the magistrates, proper names and important realia (fols. 3v-6). The frontispiece contains the dedication and the name of its recipient (fol. I: Jesus. Ad Dominicum Papalem Marci Maruli uiri eruditissimi In priscorum epigrammata commentarius); an erased and stained, yet still legible pentameter, can be seen at the bottom of the folio (Adsis principio uirgo beata meo). The most important part of the codex, entitled Marci Maruli eiusdem Epigrammata, occupies twenty folios (fols. CIIIv-CXXIIv) and follows directly after the In priscorum epigrammata commentarius (fols. I-CIII). The codex ends with miscellaneous texts, namely an inscription found in Britain and inserted subsequently (fol. CXXIII) and verse from various sources (fols. CXXIIIv-CXXIIIIv). Final text in the manuscript features the well-known forged donation of Alexander the Great to the “Slavs” (fols. CXXV-CXXVv: Priuilegium ex libro quodam antiquissimo e Graeco in Latinum translato). The manuscript is not explicitly dated but it can be inferred from the dedi-catory poem to the Pope Clement VII (fols. CXX-CXXv) that the codex could not have been completed before his election to the See of St. Peter on the 19th November 1523.
The Glasgow manuscript represents the earliest copy of the recently found auto-graph version of the Commentary. Had it been limited to the Commentary, the manu-script would remain a second rate witness, but it also offers the evidence of the linguistic and graphic filter through which a second hand sifted Marulić’s poems. It is the Epigrammata, as the poems are here called, which assign the seminal importance to the discovery of the codex. The collection consists of 141 poems, some of which clearly depart from the traditional epigrammatic genre, and only eight of which have been hitherto clearly attributed to Marulić, namely 3, 4, 23, 24, 25, 27, 126 and 129. Of the rest, a distich against Spalatan archbishop Bartolomeo Averoldi (17) was found recently with an indication that it was probably (ut fertur) by Marulić (cf. I. Babić »Marulićev dvostih o sv. Bartolomeju«, Colloquia Maruliana V, 1995, pp. 189-194). We were familiar with the distich De dracone marmoreo (64) from the lunette inscrip-tion on the Papalić palace in Split, but there was no indication of Marulić’s authorship. Finally, the poem Ad Franciscum Natalem (137) has been preserved in the collection of poems written By Frane Božićević (Franciscus Natalis), the person who appears in the Glasgow codex as its addressee.
All the poems are written in elegiac distichs, with the following exceptions: numbers 21, 43, 49 and 51 are in Phalaecian hendecasyllables, number 46 in Sapphic strophes, number 54 in metrum Archilochium I (Hor. Carm. IV, 7) and number 63 is a hexametric distich. Certain poems can be placed in different periods of poet’s life. The latest entry whose dating is supported by external evidence is his congratulatory poem to Giulio de’ Medici on his election to papacy on the 19th November 1523, which therefore must date from the very last days of Marulić’s life († 5th January 1524). The epigram addressed to his favourite brother Simon (Šimun, ob. 1477) sets the terminus ante quem. However, the codex includes some earlier items; it is beyond reasonable doubt that numerous distichs on mythological personalities (66-68; 72-125; 133-136) date from his formative years and that they were meant as exercises in versification inspired by reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The linguistic analysis of Glasgow verses shows extensive reading of Classics and unexpected familiarity with certain works or authors. The use of the same syntagm in the same place within a line shows that Marulić knew virtually all Roman epic po-ets (Lucretius, Virgil, Lucan, Manilius /!/, Statius, Silius Italicus), satirists Juvenal and Persius; Catullus; elegists Propertius and Tibullus, as well as Horace. He knew Ovid in detail, including the Amores and Ars amatoria. He obviously learnt the genre conventions of epigram from Martial.
In comparison with Marulić’s known carmina minora the poems in Glasgow codex introduce three thematic novelties. Many, and at times unexpectedly vehement, satirical epigrams are featured (2-4, 6, 8-11, 17, 28, 34-36, 38, 39, 42, 44, 45, 47, 49, 51, 55-59, 69, 70, 130, 131). The intensity of his satirical impulse is startling: he can-not resist it even in such conventional poems as epitaphs (cf. 21, 139). Three poems reveal his love of animals (22, 31, 32), the lament for his slain dog being of anthological value. However, the greatest revelation are the verses which show Marulić as the au-thor of love poems (37, 46). This aspect represents the most serious challenge to our traditional picture of the Poet: the last epigram in the collection (141) is a true Priapeum marked with lascivious ambiguity.
The introductory treatise is accompanied by the editio princeps of the Glasgow poems prepared by Darko Novaković.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
9568
URI
Publication date:
22.4.1997.
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