An astronomical text by Manilius followed by Serenius' medical treatise, written in Ferrara by Pellegrino Agli in 1461 (see colophon, f. 110v).

Ms. codex.

In Latin.

Title devised by cataloger.

Collation: Parchment, fol. iv (later paper; iv is medieval parchment) + 110 + iii (later paper) ; 1-11¹⁰ ; catchwords in lower right corner, final verso of each quire, mostly trimmed away. Modern arabic pencil foliation, upper outer corner each page.

Secundo folio: Hi tantum movere...

Script: Written in a humanistic cursive in brown ink with red rubrics.

Layout: 1 column, 25 lines. Bounding and writing lines ruled in blind.

Decoration: 3-line white-vine initial in gold on colors with white-vine borders in colors in inner and upper margin, fol. 1; initial of similar size and syle, without border, on fol. 87; Manilius' book 1 begins with 2-line blue capital, fol.19v.

Binding: 17th-century vellum over pasteboard, edges mottled red, Barrois and Ashburnham labels on spine, s. XVII handwritten title on spine, "M[an]lii/Astron/omicum/66." Housed in tan cloth clamshell box.

Origin: Written in Italy (Ferrara), in 1461 by Pellegrino Agli of Ferrara (see f. 110v).

Provenance 1: A contemporary hand has written on the verso of the front flyleaf, "Versus quos Ci[cer]o allegat in libro de fato [Verses that Cicero appends to the book De Fato]./ Sunt qui in fortunae iam casibus omnia ponant/ Et mundum credant nullo rectore moveri/ Natura volvente vices et mensis et anni." A slightly later hand has added the attribution of the verses to Juvenal (Satura XIII, ll. 86-88). According to the Davies edition of De Fato, these verses are found in Oxford, Balliol College 248d (Italy, ca. 1445, fol. 248v-256) and in London, British Library, Harley 2511 (Italy (Padua), 1464), filling a lacuna in chapter 2 of Cicero's text (C. Davies, M. Tulli Ciceronis De divinatione et De fato (Frankfurt, 1828), p. 570, note). It is worth noting that Pierre Pithou, an early owner of the present manuscript, also owned an important copy of Juvenal and edited that author, so the attribution may be his. Greek annotations in an early hand, possibly the same as the Cicero inscription, including the title "Astronomicon" on fol. 1.Signature of Cardinal Domenico Grimani (1460-1523), Cardinal of St. Mark and Patriarch of Aquileia (owner of a major manuscript collection), verso of front flyleaf: "Liber D. Grimani Cardinalis S. Marci."; the manuscript was bequeathed by him to his nephew and successor, Marinus, his signature and shelfmark below: "xiiii/ M. Patriarchae Aquileien[sis]"; later belonged to Pierre Pithou (1539-1596), in whose family it remained until the mid-nineteenth century; nineteenth-century de Rosny bookplate, descended from Pithou; sold in the Duchesse de Berry sale (Paris, 1837, n. 2426; Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts 42801) to Bossange; owned by Ercole Silva of Milan (1756-1840), sold by Potier, 15 February 1869, nr. 246 (Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts 75673); later owned by Bertram, the Fourth Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878); his green label "343" on spine.

Provenance 2: This manuscript has surfaced several times over the centuries in the work of editors of Manilius. Joseph Scaliger wrote to Pithou about this manuscript in 1573, asking to study it for his forthcoming edition and claiming that he had heard about it from Pithou's brother François (Lettres françaises inédites, pp. 21 and 26). While it is unknown if Pithou did in fact loan the manuscript to Scaliger, the variant readings in the present manuscript are noted by hand in the margins of Pithou's copy of the Scaliger edition of 1600 that is now Oxford, Bodleian Library D 5.13 Linc. (see Garrod, p. xliv), noted by Bentley in the preface to his 1739 edition (p. xiv). By the time Garrod published his edition in 1911, the manuscript was considered lost (p. xliii), even though it was at the Boston Public Library by that time; Housman, in his edition of 1930, tentatively identified the Codex Pithoeanus as belonging to the Boston Public Library (p. xvii).

Immediate source of acquisition: Ashburnham sale, Sotheby's London, 10 June 1901, lot 376 to Sydney Cockerell for the Boston Public Library (Cockerell's notes and Sotheby's lot number inside front cover; Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts 9426).

Call number: MS q Med. 20.

Former call number: BPL G. 38.46.

Byname: Codex Pithoeanus of Manilius

Bibliography: "Agli, Pellegrino," in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Rome), 401-402. Bentley, R., ed. M. Manilii Astronomicon (London, 1739). de Ricci, S. "A Handlist of Latin Classical Manuscripts in American Libraries," in Philological Quarterly, I (1922), p. 105. Flamini, F. Pellegrino Agli, umanista poeta e confilosofo del Ficino (Pisa, 1893). Garrod, H. W. Manili Astronomicon (Oxford, 1911). Maranini, A. Un codice umanistico di Manilio (Boston, Public Library, G.38.46) (Udine, 1985). Tamizey de Larroque, Jacques Philippe, ed. Lettres françaises inédites de Joseph Scaliger (Paris, 1881). Haraszti, Z. "Medieval Manuscripts in The Library," More Books III (1928), 64 (this description pasted on front flyleaf).

Ricci, S. de. Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, vol. 1, page 921

1. Fol. 1-86v: Manilius, Astronomica M. MANILII POETAE AD OCTAVIANUM AUGU/STAM ASTRONOMICON LIBER I INCIPIT FELICITER/ Carmine divinas artis.../...Totus et accenso mundus flagraret olympo.

2. Fol. 87-110v: Serenius, In morbis a capite ad pedes Q. SERENII IN MORBIS A CAPITE AD PEDES/ Q. SERENII IN MORBIS A CAPITE AD PEDES/ PER VERSUS EDITIO INCIPIT./ Membrorum series certo.../...super pellit medicina dolorem / [telos] Laus deo/ Scriptus praepropere ac festine a me pere/grino allio ferrariae MCCCLXI.

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