The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
Written in the third quarter of the fifteenth-century CE, this manuscript contains what is known as the “corpus Caesarianum.” It consists of commentaries on five distinct wars including the Gallic (8 books), Civil (3 books), Alexandrian, African, and Spanish Wars, all of which were fought by the Roman statesman and orator Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE), who later became the first dictator of Rome. Caesar fought the Gallic War between 58 and 52 BCE, bringing the entirety of Gaul (modern day France and Belgium) under Roman control. The Civil Wars (49 to 48 BCE) were fought between Caesar and his fellow statesman Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus), which began when Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon River with his army. After defeating Pompey he was named dictator of Rome, a first in the history of the city. The Alexandrian War (48-47 BCE) followed soon after, which was a civil war between Ptolemy XIII of Egypt and his sister-wife Cleopatra VII, who incited war when she endeavored to reign separately from her brother. Caesar became involved in the conflict and sided with Cleopatra. In 47 BCE the pair swiftly defeated Ptolemy XIII leaving Cleopatra the sole ruler of Egypt as well as the lover of Caesar. The African War (47-46 BCE) took place when Caesar journeyed to North Africa to defeat the last of Pompey’s supporters, Cato the Younger and Metellus Scipio. In the Spanish War (46-45 BCE), Caesar defeated Pompey’s two sons, which was the final step in his consolidation of power. In 44 BCE he was named dictator for life. The authorship of these five works is complex. It is generally agreed that Caesar himself, a highly regarded scholar and orator, wrote the commentaries on the Gallic and Civil War whereas his friend and supporter, Aulus Hirtius (90-43 BCE), wrote the final book of the Gallic War commentary (book VIII) as well as the account of the Alexandrian War. The author of the commentaries on the African and Spanish Wars remains undetermined. Due to their lesser quality in comparison to the rest of the corpus it has been suggested that they were perhaps composed by soldiers who had participated in each battle. The Gallic War was by far the most popular part of the corpus to be quoted and preserved in the medieval period. Some of the earliest surviving copies of the corpus come from France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries though Caesar’s text does not show up in Italian catalogues until the Renaissance. Caesar was a popular figure amongst Italian Humanists including famed scholar and poet Petrarch (1304-1374). He wrote “Vita Julii Caesaris (De Gestis Caesaris),” in which he praises Caesar but erroneously attributes the authorship of The Gallic War commentary to the fourth-century CE politician Julius Celsus Constantinus (d. 337 CE). This is most likely the reason that in the rubric before each book in the Walters manuscript Caesar is listed as the author with an added note that Julius Celsus Constantinus “improved (emendavit)” the text (for more on the appearance of this phrasing in the Walters manuscript see Brown, 1976, p.93). Nearly 220 manuscripts containing the “corpus Caesarianum” survive from the fifteenth century, which reveals the popularity of the text during the Renaissance. The Walters manuscript is unique in that we know a specific aspect of its life history. An inscription on fol. 1r commemorates that Francesco Maphei (Maffei), canon of Verona, Apolstolic writer, and protonotary donated the book to the Regular Canons residing in the Monastery of St. Leonard. Two incunabula (both texts of Boccaccio), now held in Venice’s Marciana Library, contain almost an identical dedicatory note (Inc. V. 0173.001 and Inc.V.0173.002) which allows us to give a general range of 1472-1520 for the life and dedication of Maphei.
Written in Humanist script
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Vinson, Aubrey
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 837, no. 464.
Caesar, Julius, and H. J Edwards. The Gallic War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.
Caesar, Julius, and A. G Peskett. The Civil Wars. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1966.
Brown, Virginia. The Textual Transmission of Caesar's Civil War. Leiden: Brill, 1972, p. 45.
Brown, Virginia. 'Caesar, Gaius Julius'. In F. E. Cranz, ed., Catalogus translationum et commentariorum. Vol. 3. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1976. 87–139.
Caesar, Julius, and A. G Way. Alexandrian War: African War ; Spanish War. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Italy
Third quarter of the 15th century CE
book
Non-original Binding
Bound in England ca. 1860 (date written on front pastedown) in brown leather (sheep?); pastedowns and flyleaves of modern paper; title gold tooled in modern Roman type face in the second compartment on the spine, reading: "IULII CAESARIS / COMMENTARIORU / M S"
The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.
Created in Italy, late fifteenth century CE
Given by Francesco Maphei
Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Barrois of Lille, acquired before 1849; Barrois number given on spine and on front pastedown as "93"
Earl of Ashburnham, England, purchased from Barrois sale, 1849
Julius D. Ichenhauser, New York, purchased from Ashburnham sale, Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1901, lot no. 90
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from bookseller Ichenhauser between 1901 and 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Italy
Third quarter of the 15th century CE
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.
Created in Italy, late fifteenth century CE
Given by Francesco Maphei
Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Barrois of Lille, acquired before 1849; Barrois number given on spine and on front pastedown as "93"
Earl of Ashburnham, England, purchased from Barrois sale, 1849
Julius D. Ichenhauser, New York, purchased from Ashburnham sale, Sotheby's, London, June 10, 1901, lot no. 90
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from bookseller Ichenhauser between 1901 and 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Written in the third quarter of the fifteenth-century CE, this manuscript contains what is known as the “corpus Caesarianum.” It consists of commentaries on five distinct wars including the Gallic (8 books), Civil (3 books), Alexandrian, African, and Spanish Wars, all of which were fought by the Roman statesman and orator Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE), who later became the first dictator of Rome. Caesar fought the Gallic War between 58 and 52 BCE, bringing the entirety of Gaul (modern day France and Belgium) under Roman control. The Civil Wars (49 to 48 BCE) were fought between Caesar and his fellow statesman Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus), which began when Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon River with his army. After defeating Pompey he was named dictator of Rome, a first in the history of the city. The Alexandrian War (48-47 BCE) followed soon after, which was a civil war between Ptolemy XIII of Egypt and his sister-wife Cleopatra VII, who incited war when she endeavored to reign separately from her brother. Caesar became involved in the conflict and sided with Cleopatra. In 47 BCE the pair swiftly defeated Ptolemy XIII leaving Cleopatra the sole ruler of Egypt as well as the lover of Caesar. The African War (47-46 BCE) took place when Caesar journeyed to North Africa to defeat the last of Pompey’s supporters, Cato the Younger and Metellus Scipio. In the Spanish War (46-45 BCE), Caesar defeated Pompey’s two sons, which was the final step in his consolidation of power. In 44 BCE he was named dictator for life. The authorship of these five works is complex. It is generally agreed that Caesar himself, a highly regarded scholar and orator, wrote the commentaries on the Gallic and Civil War whereas his friend and supporter, Aulus Hirtius (90-43 BCE), wrote the final book of the Gallic War commentary (book VIII) as well as the account of the Alexandrian War. The author of the commentaries on the African and Spanish Wars remains undetermined. Due to their lesser quality in comparison to the rest of the corpus it has been suggested that they were perhaps composed by soldiers who had participated in each battle. The Gallic War was by far the most popular part of the corpus to be quoted and preserved in the medieval period. Some of the earliest surviving copies of the corpus come from France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries though Caesar’s text does not show up in Italian catalogues until the Renaissance. Caesar was a popular figure amongst Italian Humanists including famed scholar and poet Petrarch (1304-1374). He wrote “Vita Julii Caesaris (De Gestis Caesaris),” in which he praises Caesar but erroneously attributes the authorship of The Gallic War commentary to the fourth-century CE politician Julius Celsus Constantinus (d. 337 CE). This is most likely the reason that in the rubric before each book in the Walters manuscript Caesar is listed as the author with an added note that Julius Celsus Constantinus “improved (emendavit)” the text (for more on the appearance of this phrasing in the Walters manuscript see Brown, 1976, p.93). Nearly 220 manuscripts containing the “corpus Caesarianum” survive from the fifteenth century, which reveals the popularity of the text during the Renaissance. The Walters manuscript is unique in that we know a specific aspect of its life history. An inscription on fol. 1r commemorates that Francesco Maphei (Maffei), canon of Verona, Apolstolic writer, and protonotary donated the book to the Regular Canons residing in the Monastery of St. Leonard. Two incunabula (both texts of Boccaccio), now held in Venice’s Marciana Library, contain almost an identical dedicatory note (Inc. V. 0173.001 and Inc.V.0173.002) which allows us to give a general range of 1472-1520 for the life and dedication of Maphei.
Written in Humanist script
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Vinson, Aubrey
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 837, no. 464.
Caesar, Julius, and H. J Edwards. The Gallic War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.
Caesar, Julius, and A. G Peskett. The Civil Wars. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1966.
Brown, Virginia. The Textual Transmission of Caesar's Civil War. Leiden: Brill, 1972, p. 45.
Brown, Virginia. 'Caesar, Gaius Julius'. In F. E. Cranz, ed., Catalogus translationum et commentariorum. Vol. 3. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1976. 87–139.
Caesar, Julius, and A. G Way. Alexandrian War: African War ; Spanish War. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
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