La Ciropedia tra Guarino e Vittorino. Note su alcuni codici

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This paper tries to shed light on the origin of some humanistic manuscripts of Xenophon’s Cyropaedia. Two of them can be related to the teaching of Guarino Veronese: the codex now in London (British Library, Harley 5587) was copied in Florence in the years 1411-14 by Zomino da Pistoia from a prototype belonging to Guarino; the same book of Guarino was the source of another codex (Vat. Reg. gr. 87) probably written in Ferrara by the Greek Demetrios Xanthopoulos towards the middle of the century. Two other codices (Vat. Palat. gr. 184 and Perus. E.55) originated in the humanistic circles of Florence in the second or third decade of the century. The last manuscript here studied (Laur. Acquisti e doni 58) can be dated around 1440; it was owned, and maybe also written, by Francesco da Castiglione, a pupil of Vittorino da Feltre. It is a striking example of an “imitative script” that attempted to reproduce the early minuscule used in Byzantium at the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century.

In September 2008, the seventh edition of the International Colloquium of Greek Palaeography (Madrid-Salamanca, 15-20 September 2008) celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Palaeographia Graeca, the pioneer work of the Benedictine Bernard de Montfaucon that established the fundamentals of the discipline. Papers by renowned specialists in the field contributed to the methodology of study and to our knowledge of Greek manuscripts, and opened new perspectives for the study of the Greek manuscripts preserved mostly in European libraries, taking into account new methodological approaches, the possibilities of online resources and the results of ongoing research projects.

The Proceedings published here include contributions by specialists from over ten different countries, dealing with palaeographical issues such as ancient capital and lower-case lettering, writing and books in the Macedonian, Comnenian and Palaeologan periods, and Greek scribes and ateliers in the Renaissance (especially in manuscripts from the Iberian Peninsula). Many contributors also take a codicological approach and consider the material aspects of the codex, as well as other new research techniques. Finally, some papers deal with the book as object and how this relates to its content, as well as with the history of texts.

The International Colloquia of Greek Palaeography are organized by the International Committee of Greek Palaeography, presided by Prof. Dieter Harlfinger. The seventh edition payed tribute to the memory of the late Jean Irigoin, who died in 2006.