Rare Books and Manuscripts : Homilies and grammatical texts

Rare Books and Manuscripts

This manuscript contains texts in Greek and Latin, Homilies and grammatical texts; it is formed by three parts, all produced in the 15th century. Part I (ff. 1:1-1:20) contains two homilies attributed to Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis (Constantia) in Cyprus (ca. 310-403 CE), but considered spurious, about the burial of Christ and Palm-Sunday. In part II (ff. 2:1-2:15) there is the first book of the Greek grammar by Theodore Gaza (or Gazes), a 15th-century Byzantine scholar from Thessalonike (ca. 1415-1475/6). He settled in Italy, where he worked as a teacher (he was lecturer in Greek at the University of Ferrara), becoming one of the leading figures in Greek studies in Renaissance Italy. His Greek grammar ( Eisagogé), became very popular among humanists all over Europe. Only the first book of this work is present in the manuscript. The text, in King's MS 10, was copied by a well-known scribe of the 15th century, Ioannes Rhosos. Born in Crete, he was active in Italy as a professional scribe, working in various cities, as Rome, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Grottaferrata, for important personalities, such as Palla Strozzi, Francesco Gonzaga and Lorenzo il Magnifico (see RGK I, 178). Ioannes Rhosos copied Gaza's grammar several times; in Cambridge a complete copy of this work in his hand is preserved in MS <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-II-00004-00016/1'> University Library, Ii.4.16.</a> The last part of the manuscript (III, ff. 2:16-2:112) contains a handbook, defined Encheiridion by its author, containing grammatical, rhetorical observations, and various texts, such as occasional poems, written in Latin, with some parts in Greek, by a certain Domitius (or Dominicus) Almartius (de Almarza). The script and the watermark allow to date also this part of the manuscript in the 15th century, probably in the first half. Dr Erika Elia