Codex Laurentianus Mediceus
The Mediceus Laurentianus or Vergilius Mediceus is a famous manuscript written in Rome ca. 450 containing the most complete surviving text from antiquity of Virgil’s three major works: the * Eclogues *, the Georgics, and the Aeneid. Created with accuracy in mind for the purpose of studying the text rather than as a luxury manuscript, it is one of the most important textual sources concerning the works of Virgil. After passing through the hands of various important humanists including the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de' Medici, the manuscript came to its current repository, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, ca. 1587.
Codex Laurentianus Mediceus
The individual manuscripts of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, which belonged to the historical basic holdings when the library was opened in 1571, are each referred to as Codex Laurentianus. The Codex Mediceus or Vergilius Mediceus is a Virgil (70-19 BC) manuscript written ca. 450 in rustic capitals preserved in the Laurentian Library, which contains the Georgics, Aeneid, and part of the Eclogues. A note at the end of the Eclogues records that the manuscript was corrected at Rome by Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius, who was consul in 494 during the reign of Theodoric the Great.
Form and Content of the Manuscript
Written in all capitals without punctuation or spaces between words, the manuscript contains the entirety of the Georgics and the Aeneid and only lacks the first five of the Eclogues and the beginning of the sixth up to verse 47. It is believed that the manuscript originally consisted of ca. 229 leaves, 220 of which are preserved, which measure 21.5 x 15 cm. The script is rather small in size making the manuscript appear less monumental than others, but this allows for 29 verses per page. It is a sophisticated text meant for private study rather than display, which is emphasized by the corrections made to the text for the sake of accuracy even at the expense of “marring” its appearance.
Coveted by Renaissance Humanists
The manuscript was recorded in Bobbio Abbey in the Emilia-Romagna region in 1467. In 1471, the manuscript found its way into the hands of the Italian humanist Julius Pomponius Laetus (1428-98) who made corrections of his own in red ink. It was first preserved in the Vatican Library, and later purchased by Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-74), the Grand Duke of Tuscany, from the heirs of Cardinal Rodolpho Pio da Carpi (1500-64), a prominent humanist and patron of the arts in his own right. Soon after 1587, it passed into the possession the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, where the parchment codex is kept today. There is also a folio in the Vatican Library listed Cod. Vat. Lat. 3225, f.76.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Scilicet P. Virgilii Maronis Bucolicorum pars, Georgicorum libri IV et Aeneidos libri XII
Virgilio mediceo
Il Codice Mediceo di Virgilio - Size / Format
- 442 pages / 22.0 × 15.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 5th Century
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Content
- The Bucolics, the Georgics and the Aeneid
- Artist / School
- Virgil (author)
#1 Vergili Medicei simillimum publice phototypice impressum. Codex Laurentianus Mediceus
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Eos-Verlag
- ET&B
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- Helikon
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- J. Thorbecke
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Nova Charta
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG