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 fifteenth century, perhaps ca. 1450-1460 in Venice, this manuscript contains works by Rufus Festus, Pseudo-Aurelius Victor, and Ludovico Foscarini. The first text, Breviarium Rerum Gestarum Populi Romani, is a purposefully brief history of the Roman Empire. The first half describes Rome's acquisition of its provinces in chronological order, while the second half is an account of Rome's wars with Persia. It was written in 370 CE for the Emperor Valens (r. 364 to 378 CE), who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire while his brother Valentinian I (r. 364 to 375 CE) ruled the West. In the rubric and incipit of the Walters' manuscript, Festus is erroneously named Ruffus Sextus, which stems from an early corruption of "Festus" to "Sextus." In addition, Valens is named Valentinian, confusing one brother for another. The second text, De Viris Illustribus, also concerns the history of the Roman Empire and dates to the fourth century CE. It gives short, concise biographies of important men from Rome's long history. It is one of many such texts that fall within the genre of Roman exemplary literature, the most famous of which is Suetonius' early second century CE work "De Vita Caesarum" or “The Lives of the Caesars.” In the manuscript tradition, the author of De Viris Illustribus has been given as both Pliny Secundus Veronesis, otherwise known as Pliny the Younger, who was writing in the late first century CE, or as Aurelius Victor, a fourth century CE historian. The Walters text adopts the former, naming the author as "Pliny Veronesis." Most scholars have dismissed both Pliny and Aurelius Victor as potential authors, and instead prefer to say he was a late antique scholarly commentator working in the fourth-early fifth century CE. The third text is an account of the lives of Victor and Corona, two Christian martyrs that were killed during the Roman Empire. According to its 1439 dedicatory letter, the text was written by Venetian humanist Ludovico Foscarini (1409-1480) and dedicated to Jacopo Foscaro (ca. 1416-1457), the son of the 65th Venetian Doge Francesco Foscari. In 1439 Jacopo was serving as praetor of Feltre, a small city and commune outside of Venice, whose patron saints are Victor and Corona. On fol. 65r, the beginning of the dedicatory letter, is depicted heraldry that likely represents the noble Giustiniani family of Venice. The text was written during the lifetime of Bernardo Giustiniani (1408–1489), a prominent Venetian senator and diplomat who was also an avid historian interested in the Roman Empire. His close friendship with Ludovico Foscarini suggests that it was perhaps Bernardo who commissioned the production of the Walters manuscript.
Written in humanist script; the same hand for all three texts
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Vinson, Aubrey
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Polidori, Elisabetta
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. 838, no. 472.
Eadie, John William. The Brevarium of Festus; a critical edition with historical commentary. London: Athlone Press. 1967, p. 26.
Labalme, Patricia H. Bernardo Giustiniani: a Venetian of the Quattrocento. Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1969.
Sherwin Jr., Walter K. "De Viris Illustribus: Two Unexamined MSS in the Walters Art Gallery." Classical World 65, no. 5 (1972): 145-146.
Sage, Michael M. "The 'De Viris Illustribus' Authorship and Date." Hermes 108 (1980): 83-100.
Frazier, Alison Knowles. Possible lives: authors and saints in renaissance Italy. New York: Columbia University Press. 2005, p.xxii, plate 1; p. 387.
Kelly, Gavin. "The Roman World of Festus' Breviarium." In Unclassical Traditions, Volume 1: Alternatives to the Classical Past in Late Antiquity, edited by Christopher Kelly et al. Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Society, 2010, p. 72-91.
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.
Venice (?), Italy
Second half of 15th century CE
book
Non-original Binding
Bound in London, England by Leighton between 1896 and ca. 1912 based on an inscription on the inner board that reads "Leighton Brewer St W."; brown Morocco leather with blind gold tooling in the form of rectangular frames; Leighton added a binion of parchment before and after the fifteenth-century parchment
The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.
Created second half of the fifteenth century, Venice
Marchese Campana sale
Quartich Booksellers, London, 1896
Leo S. Olschki, bookseller, Florence, before 1912
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki ca. 1912
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Venice (?), Italy
Second half of 15th century CE
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.
Created second half of the fifteenth century, Venice
Marchese Campana sale
Quartich Booksellers, London, 1896
Leo S. Olschki, bookseller, Florence, before 1912
Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki ca. 1912
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Written in the fifteenth century, perhaps ca. 1450-1460 in Venice, this manuscript contains works by Rufus Festus, Pseudo-Aurelius Victor, and Ludovico Foscarini. The first text, Breviarium Rerum Gestarum Populi Romani, is a purposefully brief history of the Roman Empire. The first half describes Rome's acquisition of its provinces in chronological order, while the second half is an account of Rome's wars with Persia. It was written in 370 CE for the Emperor Valens (r. 364 to 378 CE), who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire while his brother Valentinian I (r. 364 to 375 CE) ruled the West. In the rubric and incipit of the Walters' manuscript, Festus is erroneously named Ruffus Sextus, which stems from an early corruption of "Festus" to "Sextus." In addition, Valens is named Valentinian, confusing one brother for another. The second text, De Viris Illustribus, also concerns the history of the Roman Empire and dates to the fourth century CE. It gives short, concise biographies of important men from Rome's long history. It is one of many such texts that fall within the genre of Roman exemplary literature, the most famous of which is Suetonius' early second century CE work "De Vita Caesarum" or “The Lives of the Caesars.” In the manuscript tradition, the author of De Viris Illustribus has been given as both Pliny Secundus Veronesis, otherwise known as Pliny the Younger, who was writing in the late first century CE, or as Aurelius Victor, a fourth century CE historian. The Walters text adopts the former, naming the author as "Pliny Veronesis." Most scholars have dismissed both Pliny and Aurelius Victor as potential authors, and instead prefer to say he was a late antique scholarly commentator working in the fourth-early fifth century CE. The third text is an account of the lives of Victor and Corona, two Christian martyrs that were killed during the Roman Empire. According to its 1439 dedicatory letter, the text was written by Venetian humanist Ludovico Foscarini (1409-1480) and dedicated to Jacopo Foscaro (ca. 1416-1457), the son of the 65th Venetian Doge Francesco Foscari. In 1439 Jacopo was serving as praetor of Feltre, a small city and commune outside of Venice, whose patron saints are Victor and Corona. On fol. 65r, the beginning of the dedicatory letter, is depicted heraldry that likely represents the noble Giustiniani family of Venice. The text was written during the lifetime of Bernardo Giustiniani (1408–1489), a prominent Venetian senator and diplomat who was also an avid historian interested in the Roman Empire. His close friendship with Ludovico Foscarini suggests that it was perhaps Bernardo who commissioned the production of the Walters manuscript.
Written in humanist script; the same hand for all three texts
Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole
Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Vinson, Aubrey
Contributor: Wiegand, Kimber
Conservator: Polidori, Elisabetta
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. 838, no. 472.
Eadie, John William. The Brevarium of Festus; a critical edition with historical commentary. London: Athlone Press. 1967, p. 26.
Labalme, Patricia H. Bernardo Giustiniani: a Venetian of the Quattrocento. Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1969.
Sherwin Jr., Walter K. "De Viris Illustribus: Two Unexamined MSS in the Walters Art Gallery." Classical World 65, no. 5 (1972): 145-146.
Sage, Michael M. "The 'De Viris Illustribus' Authorship and Date." Hermes 108 (1980): 83-100.
Frazier, Alison Knowles. Possible lives: authors and saints in renaissance Italy. New York: Columbia University Press. 2005, p.xxii, plate 1; p. 387.
Kelly, Gavin. "The Roman World of Festus' Breviarium." In Unclassical Traditions, Volume 1: Alternatives to the Classical Past in Late Antiquity, edited by Christopher Kelly et al. Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Society, 2010, p. 72-91.
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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