Salmanticensis BU 40 – S

Previous descriptions: Tovar (1963, 27–28); see also Martinez Manzano (2015, 168–9).

Reproductions: Universidad de Salamanca

Family: b

Siglum: S

Shelfmark: Salmanticensis BU 40

Date: Middle of the 15th century, most probably 1450–1455

Format: paper, 295×220 mm, I+276 ff. (numbered from 1 to 551)

Material: in a good state of conservation.

Binding: not original.

Watermarks: crown, similar to Briquet 4879 (Ferrara 1458); basilisk, similar to Briquet 2640 (Bologna 1425). See Martinez Manzano (2013, 234).

Scribes: a single scribe wrote the entire manuscript, Emmanuel of ConstantinopleEmmanuel of Constantinople, previously known as the Anonymus LyAnonymus Ly (RGK I 115 = II 147). There are also some marginal notes by Lianoro LianoriLianoro Lianori (1425‒1477).

Annotations: –

1 (ff. 1r‒112v). Pollux, Onomasticon. No title. Contains books 1 (ff. 1–71), 2 (ff. 71‒135), 3 (ff. 135‒179), 4 (ff. 179‒237), 5 (ff. 237‒289), 6 (ff. 290‒353), 7 (ff. 353‒416), 8 (ff. 416‒463), 9 (ff. 463‒503), and 10 (ff. 503‒551). Incipit: ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ (1.1). Explicit: κόρημα, κιβωτόν, λύχνων (10.192).

Manuscript S takes its siglum from the Flemish philologist Andreas SchottAndreas Schott    (1552–1629), who consulted it in Salamanca and made some corrections to the text (see Bethe 1900–1937 vol. 1, VII). It was written entirely by Emmanuel of Constantinople in Bologna for the humanist Lianoro LianoriLianoro Lianori (1425‒1477; see DBI 65.4–12). This copy of the codex may have been made during the five years of the pontifical legation of Cardinal BessarionBessarion in Bologna, since Emmanuel was one of several copyists who worked for him (see Martinez Manzano 2013, 234; Orlandi 2019, 291–3). Along with Parisinus graecus 2646Par. gr. 2646 (F), S is a witness of the b family (Bethe’s II) of Pollux. As already demonstrated by Bethe (1900–1937 vol. 1, VIII), these two manuscripts independently derive from an older sub-archetype, now lost. The origins of S and F, though, are totally different: F was copied in Crete in the mid-14th century, whereas S was copied in Bologna in the following. Another interesting fact is that S was copied by a scribe who belonged to Bessarion’s entourage, but none of the manuscripts owned by the cardinal contains a text similar to or contaminated by that of the b family; the source of S must therefore be sought outside Bessarion’s circle, despite the link represented by Emmanuel.