MS Dd.11.70 is a collection of Theological treatises, scholia to dramas and the Iliad, and treatises on metric, consisting of 5 parts, copied by known scribes. The first three Parts are on paper, the last two are on parchment and have two independent foliation sequences.
Part II is the most extensive and contains only scholia to Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. It could be the result of the union of three initially independent sections, as suggested by the quire signatures. The three sections were all copied by Michael Souliardos (15th-16th century) and were brought together at an early stage:
The scholia to Sophocles were printed by Adrien (de) Turnèbe (also known as Tournebus or Turnebus) in his edition (1553) combining the text from Part II of Dd.11.70 with the one from Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, grec 2711 (14th century), as Turyn has demonstrated (Turyn 1952, p. 82).
Dr Matteo Di Franco
18-1, 2-38 | 414, 512, 614, 710, 816, 9-1010, 111, 1214-1, 13-1512, 16-1714, 1814-1, 19-2012, 212 | 22-238 | 2410, 256 | 26-2710, 2812.
Binding by Gray of Cambridge, dated 1967 by a note on the front pastedown. Millboard three-quarter binding with marbled cloth covering and brown leather spine. The title and classmark are tooled in gold on the spine (title and classmark from previous binding pasted on the front pastedown).
Binding height: 244 mm, width: 192 mm, depth: 68 mm.
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18-1, 2-38 | 414, 512, 614, 710, 816, 9-1010, 111, 1214-1, 13-1512, 16-1714, 1814-1, 19-2012, 212 | 22-238 | 2410, 256 | 26-2710, 2812.
Binding by Gray of Cambridge, dated 1967 by a note on the front pastedown. Millboard three-quarter binding with marbled cloth covering and brown leather spine. The title and classmark are tooled in gold on the spine (title and classmark from previous binding pasted on the front pastedown).
Binding height: 244 mm, width: 192 mm, depth: 68 mm.
Part I consists of three quaternions, the first of which has lost a leaf:
The main text, by Hand A, is written in a scribal minuscule script, upright or slanting slightly to the right, in brown ink. Variation in letter size is marked, mainly at the beginning of the lines.
Syllabic abbreviations are rare but consistenly used for γάρ and δὲ. Breathings are round and mute iota is present.
Punctuation used includes the middle and upper point, middle and lower comma, and full stop.
Part II consists of 17 quires and one single leaf:
Quire signatures in pencil in Roman numerals, in the bottom right-hand corner, recto, of the first folio of each quire, along with crosses indicating the middle of quires.
In the second half of the part, quires 12-19, there are traces of two brown ink signature in Greek numerals in the middle of the lower margin of the last versos: quires 12-14:
quires 15-19:Michael Souliardos: the manuscript part was copied by the Michael Souliardos of Nauplion (RGK I 286) active between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century in a scholarly-calligraphical minuscule script in black ink, darker from f. 113v onwards.
Slanting slightly to the right, Souliardos' hand is compressed with pronunced ascenders and rather reduced descenders. Variation in letter size not marked, ligatures and abbreviations are common and very clear.
Breathings are curved; accents sometimes join to letters or breathings. The trema is occasionally present over iota.
Jackson 1998, p. 95, finds Parts II and V in two entries in a list of texts that Janus Lascaris (c. 1445-1535) brought to Florence in 1492. This list is now preserved in Hannover, Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, MS XLII 1845, ff. 107r-111r. The scholia to Sophocles are listed on f. 107v line 3 as "Antiquae Glosulae in quasdam tragaedias Sophoclis". Lascaris had been sent by Lorenzo de' Medici to the East to acquire Greek manuscripts for the Laurentian Library, and also printed the metrical scholia to Sophocles in 1518 (see Proietti 2018, pp. 226-227).
Jackson 2006, p. 32, further speculates that Part I was also brought to Florence in the same year.
Part III consists of two quaternions. Quires 22-238 ff. 229r-244v
Quire signatures in pencil in Roman numerals, in the bottom right-hand corner, recto, of the first folio of each quire, along with crosses indicating the middle of quires.Joannes Plousiadenos (ca. 1429-1500): the manuscript part was copied by Joannes Plousiadenos (RGK I 176), active in the second half of 15th century.
This part is written in a scholarly-calligraphical minuscule script in black ink; slanting slightly to the right, Plousiadenos' hand is marked by airiness and letter division, pronounced ascenders and descenders. Variation in letter size is present, not stressed but for initials. Ligatures and abbreviations are common and very clear.
Breathings are curved; accents join to letters or breathings. The trema is present over iota.
Part IV consists of one quinion an one ternion: Quire 2410ff. 1r-10v Quire 256ff. 1r-16v
Modern leaf signatures, in pencil on the first rectos, bottom right: f. 1r a1, f. 11r b1.Demetrios Moschos: this part of the manuscript was copied by Demetrios Moschos (RGK I 97), who was active in the second half of 15th century.
It is written in a scholarly-calligraphical minuscule script in black ink, related to the Druckminuskel; Moschos' hand is marked by verticality, clearness and letter division.
Breathings are curved; accents join to breathings, circumflex joins to ypsilon
ff. 14v, line 9 - 15r are copied by another contemporary hand in mixed minuscule, in black ink. The writing appears rigid and not inclined. The letters are separated and the use of ligatures and abbreviations is limited. The alpha is in two forms, the beta is heart-shaped, gamma is majuscule and high, the omega is in open and closed forms. The accents are not joined to letters or breathings.
Title in Latin by an early modern western hand in brown ink on f. 1r: "Collectanea de linguarum differentia et aliis", and a number, probably a former shelfmark: 81.
Part V consists of two quinions and one sexternion: Quires 26-2710ff. 1r-20v Quire 2812ff. 21r-32v
A leaf signature in Greek numerals (number of folio, followed by the number of quire) in light brown ink in the lower right-hand corner of the rectos, ended by the quire number on the last verso, e.g.:
In all likelihood contemporary with the writing of this part of the manuscript.A bifolium signature (Latin letters for quires, followed by an Arabic numerals for bifolios) in pencil in the lower right-hand corner of the rectos was added by Henry Bradshaw: a, b, c.
Demetrios Damilas: the manuscript part was copied by Demetrios Damilas (RGK I 93) in a minuscule script in black ink and red ink for scholia and glossae.
Along with the scholia to Sophocles in Part II, Part V is present on the list of the books Janus Lascaris (c. 1445-1535) brought to Florence in 1492 (see above). In Hannover, Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, MS XLII 1845, ff. 107r-111r the Enchiridion of Hephaestion is recorded on f. 107r line 9 as "Expositio in ephestione demetrii", where "demetrii" stands for "de metris" (see Jackon 1998, p. 94).