Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 107
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Avienus, Aratea; Lucretius, De natura rerum; Juvela, Satires

Aratea text: Avienus, Aratea

Parchment — 22 fols. — 270 × 200 mm — Bobbio — s. IX2

Support: I8 (ff. 1-8); II6 (ff. 9-14); III8 (ff. 15-22). Probably lost a couple of leaves after f.8 with the rest of the poem (missing 297 verses, which could fit around two folios). The eight folia preserved in Copenhagen Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. Kgl. S. 211 2° preceeded once the second quire. Gap between the second and third preserved quires - between ff. 14 and 15.

Layout: 1r-8v written in two columns, ruled 47 partly irregular lines; at some instances two verses written in the space of one ruler line, with up to 55 written lines; initials for verses detached from the verse; texts occpupies almost the whole length of the page.

Script: Tiny caroline minuscule.

Binding: Paper binding from the 19th c.

History: The two excerpts from Lucretius' text represent two parts from a codex discissus spread in three parts. The other part is the so-called Schedae Gottorpienses fragment with shelfmark Copenhagen Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. Kgl. S. 211 2° (see Jörgensen, Ellen. Catalogus codicum latinorum medii aevi Bibliothecae Regiae Hafniensis. Hafniae: Gyldendal, 1926, p.301-2). It consists of a gathering of eight folia written in two columns and about 48 verses per page with the text of Book 1 (omitting vv. 734-785) and Book 2 (omitting vv. 253-304). Note the shelfmark there on f. 1r "Q 4784" and the one in the manuscript in Vienna on f. 22v "P 4658". The Copenhagen manuscripts contains Lucretius' De rerum natura Book 1 and 2 (vv. 1-456); some sections skipped there are added in the Vienna manuscripts (see content above). According to Bischoff the script is from s. IX2. The origin of the manuscript is less certain. Lehmann suggested that it was produced in Bobbio. Bischoff after first considering it as product of Southern Germany (Lorsch im Spiegel seiner Handschriften, p. 74, No. 30) later agreed with Lehmann's opinion (Bischoff, Katalog I, p. 88 as well as in the second edition of Lorsch im Spiegel seiner Handschriften, p. 80, No. 30.). Munk Olsen follows this proposition. Due to the quite different script in the third part (ff. 15-22) there were still some doubts if this part too belonged to the codex discissus. Thinking it would have been to much of a coincedence that the poem was copied twice in the same period and both parts ended as part of one and the same codex in the National Library of Vienna deminishes these doubts (see Munk Olsen, L’ étude 4,2, p. 20-1). — In the second half od the 16th c. the manuscript belonged the library of the humanist Wolfgang Lazius (b. 1514 in Vienna d. 1565), as attested by the shelfmark "D" on f. 1r. Lazius worked as court historian and visited many monastic libraries in search for material and sources for his historical monographs. We know of three journeies he made; the third one in 1551 led him among other places also in in the Cistercian monastery in Salem near the Bodensee. Trenkler believed that Cod. 107 was given to Lazius as a gift there, for according to him the "Acta monasterii Salem" were part of the same binding (Trenkler p. 200). After Lazius death his book collection became part of the court library in Vienna, as mentioned by Peter Lambeck (Commentariorum de Augustissima Bibliotheca Caesarea Vindobonensi, Lib. 1, Vienna, 1665, p. 38).

Selected Bibliography:Bischoff, Katalog I, p. 411. — Bischoff, Die Abtei Lorsch im Spiegel ihrer Handschriften. Lorsch: Laurissa, 1989, p. 74. — Munk Olsen, Catalogue 2, p. 88. — Munk Olsen, L’ étude 4,2, p. 20-1, 119, 120. — Trenkler, Ernst. "Wolfgang Lazius, Humanist und Büchersammler." Biblos 27 (1978): 186-203.

1r-8v Avienus: Aratea › Rufi festi Arati incipit liber primus de positione syderum‹ Carminis incentor mihi iuppiter aussice ((corrected to: auspice)) terras … — … aggere deuicto supera […]. no glosses; f. 1r. before v. 76 on the bears heading "ARCTOE", "ENGONAIs" before v. 169 and so on for each constellation then on f. 5v "PLANETAE" and "CIRCULI", on f. 8v "SOL"; a second hand wrote on part of f. 1v. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Ms D 52 is a copy of this MS.

9r-14v Lucretius: De natura rerum

18vb-22vb Juvenal: Satyrae

Abreviated Literature:

Bischoff, Katalog IKatalog der festländischen Handschriften des neunten Jahrhunderts: (mit Ausnahme der wisigotischen)Bernhard Bischoff1. Aachen-Lambach Wiesbaden Harrassowitz 1998
Munk Olsen, Catalogue 2Munk Olsen, Birger. L’ étude Des Auteurs Classiques Latins Aux XIe et XIIe Siècles. Vol. II. Catalogue des manuscrits classiques latins copiés du IXe au XIIe siècle: Livius - Vitruvius, Florilèges - Essais de plume. Paris: CNRS, 1985.
Munk Olsen, L’ étude 4,2Munk Olsen, Birger. L’ étude Des Auteurs Classiques Latins Aux XIe et XIIe Siècles. Vol. IV,2. La réception de la littérature classique: manuscrits et textes. Paris: CNRS, 2014.
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Catalogued by: Ivana Dobcheva

(last change: 2018-10-28)
How to quote: Ivana Dobcheva, 'Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 107 - Aratea Digital' (https://github.com/ivanadob/aratea-data/blob/master/data/descriptions/desc__vienna_onb_107.xml last update: 2018-10-28).