Item Summary

Descriptive Information

Title
Commentarii / Julius Caesar.
Call Number
Kane MS. 41
Identifier
ark:/88435/dc5712mn47h
Publisher
[Ferrara, Italy] : [producer not identified], [between 1440 and 1460]
Language
Latin
Date Created
1440-1460
Format
Manuscript
Extent
1 volume (iv, 187, i leaves) : parchment, illustrations ; 35 cm
Provenance
Kane MS. 41 was produced in Ferrara, in the middle of the 15th century. The scribe was almost certainly Biago Bosoni, who worked for Leonello d'Este. Intermediate ownership is unknown. The manuscript was later in the Hopetoun Library, Scotland, founded by Sir James Hope of Hopetoun (1614-1661) and maintained by his descendants. The manuscript was later in the collection of John Wesley de Kay. In 1925, Grenville Kane (1854-1943), of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., acquired the manuscript from the London and New York antiquarian bookseller Wilfrid M. Voynich (1865-1930). Princeton University Library acquired the manuscript from Kane's heirs in 1946.
References
Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 2, page 93-95.
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Contents
1. 1r-85r: “Commentariorum C Ivlii Caesaris De bello gallico liber primus incipit feliciter Iulius Celsus Constantinus V[ir] C[larissimus] emendauit. Gallia est omnis diuisa in partes tres quarum unam incolunt belgæ, aliam aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua celtæ, nostra galli appellantur ...” Explicit: “Tamen Cæsar omnia patienda esse statuit quoad sibi spes aliqua relinqueretur iure potius disceptandi quam belli gerendi. C. Iulii Caesaris Commentariorum de bello ciuili Liber octauus explicit.”
2. 85r-136v: “Incipit Liber nonus feliciter. Literis A Fabio C. Cesaris consulibus redditis ægre ab his impetratum est summa tribunorum plebis contentione ut in senatu recitarentur.” Explicit: “Erant praeterea equitum milia duo qui inueterauerant. Hi omnes compluribus alexandrie bellis Ptolemeum patrem in||”
3. 138r-155r: “ ||Cæsar maxime studebat ut quam angustissimam partem oppidi palus a meridie interiecta efficiebat ...” Explicit: “Rebus felicissime celerrimeque confectis in italiam celerius omnium opinione uenit. [Cae]saris commentarionum de bello Pharnacis Liber XIIIus explicit.”
4. 155r-175r: “Incipit Liber XIIII de bello africano feliciter. Caesar itineribvs ivstis confectis nullo die intermisso ad xiii kal' ianuarii lilibeum peruenit statimque ostendit sese naues uelle conscendere ...” Explicit: “... nauem conscendit et ea a calaribus secundum terram prouectus duo de tricesimo die eo quod tempestatibus in portibus cohibebatur ad urbem romam uenit. C. Iulii Commentariorum de bello africano Liber XIIII explicit.”
5. 175r-184v: “Incipit Liber XV de bello hispaniensi. Pharnace svperato africa recepta qui ex his preliis cum adolescente C N Pompeio profugissent ...” Explicit: “... que non solum uobis obsistere set etiam celum diruere possent quarum laudibus et uirtute. C. Iulii Cesaris commentariorum de bello hispaniensi liber xv explicit.”
6. 185r-v: “Cum Sylla ad diminuendam plebis potentiam multos et magistratus ademisset, Cotta legem postea tulit vt plebi liceret interceptos magistratus capere ...” Explicit: “Lex emylia per Mamercum Æmilium dictatorem lata censorum potestatem quae antea per quinquennium erat, intra sex menses et anni spacium coegit.”
Notes
Script: Humanistica antiqua.
Decoration: 41 opens on fol. 1r* (De bello gallico) with a 12-line inhabited initial G that contains a portrait of Julius Caesar, depicted in profile wearing a gilt helmet and armor, against a deep blue background with gold filigree patterns. A gold bar in the left mar- gin supports leafy decoration at top and bottom in black, blue, green, mauve, pink, and red, surrounded by pen-decorated gold dots;
Binding Note
England, 18th century. Red-stained leather over pasteboard; text block sewn on 5 bands; gilt decoration on spine and edges, gilded arms of the American author and financier John Wesley de Kay (1872 [or 1874]-1938) on the front cover, sprinkled edges. Spine title: “CÆSARIS COMMENTAR. MSS.”

Discovery Information

Subject
Gaul—History—Gallic Wars, 58-51 B.C.—Early works to 1800
Rome—History—Republic, 265-30 B.C.—Early works to 1800
Rome—History, Military—Early works to 1800
Manuscripts, Latin—Italy—Ferrara
Manuscripts, Latin—New Jersey—Princeton
Manuscripts, Medieval—Italy—Ferrara
Manuscripts, Medieval—New Jersey—Princeton
Illumination of books and manuscripts

Physical Characteristics

File Count
378

Institutional Information

Collection
Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean Manuscripts
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/5cfe392e-3160-4e5c-8eb3-beef716431e4/manifest