Vaticanus Urbinas graecus 159 – Vu

Previous descriptions: Stornajolo (1895, 305–7); Franchi de’ Cavalieri (1899, 243).

Reproductions: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana

Family: d²

Siglum: Vu

Shelfmark: Vaticanus Urbinas graecus 159

Date: Middle of the 15th century

Format: paper (but ff. I and 113 are 11th-century parchment), 295×207 mm, III + 113 ff.

Material: this is a rich and lavishly decorated copy on high quality paper. Parchment folios torn from an earlier manuscript have been used as flyleaves; the text (= Passio s. Petri ep. Alexandrini, [BHG 1503], edited in Combefis 1660, 189–230) of f. Ir begins with συμβὰν δέ τι καὶ ἄλλο and ends with καρδία ὑπείθω; f. 113r begins with τοῦ τί τὸ στάδιον and ends with μιχανῶνταί τι τοιοῦτον.

Binding: not original.

Watermarks: the letter R and a cross similar to Briquet 8938 (1456‒1458); a sphere divided into three sections and surmounted by a cross, with no match in the repertories.

Scribes: the entire manuscript was copied by Georgius TriviziasGeorgius Trivizias (RGK I 73 = II 94 = III 123).

Annotations: –

1 (1r‒112r) Pollux, Onomasticon. No title. There is a title on f. IIIv, lavishly rubricated and set within a circle with floral decorations: Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης Περὶ ὀνομασιῶν / Iulius Pollux de re nominationibus. This is clearly not in Georgios Trivizias’ hand. Incipit: ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἀγαθοῦ (1.1). Explicit: κόρημα, κιβωτόν, λύχνον (10.192). It covers all ten books of Pollux: 1 (ff. 1r–17v), 2 (ff. 18r–30v), 3 (ff. 30v‒37v), 4 (ff. 38r‒48r), 5 (ff. 48v‒54v), 6 (ff. 54v‒66r), 7 (ff. 66r‒74v), 8 (ff. 74v‒87r), 9 (ff. 87v‒99v), and 10 (ff. 100r‒112r); f. 112v is blank.

The manuscript contains only the text of Pollux’s Onomasticon. It was entirely written by Georgius Trivizias (before 1423–1485), probably in the third quarter of the 15th century. Born in Crete, he became a priest of the Greek community in Venice and was one of the most prolific copyists in Cardinal BessarionBessarion’s circle.