Par. Lat. 7503

Shelfmarks

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 7503

Former shelfmark(s): Paris, Bibliothèque royale, 5045; Paris, Bibliothèque du roi, 76

Place of origin

France, Fleury (Bergmann 2005, pp. 1420-1421; Bischoff III, nr. 4457); France, Saint-Germain-de-Prés (Ruzzier 2014, pp. 294-296)

Date

ca. 820-ca. 850 (Bischoff III, nr. 4457)

Contents

ff. 0r-0v
Commentarium
inc.: P[...] tenuissimum; expl.: signifi[...

ff. 1r-86v
Prisc. ars 1, 1 – 7, 95
inc.: cum omnis eloquentiae; expl.: difficiunt apud plerosque
Title: no title
Note: Additamentum placed after the explicit of the 5^th book and before the begging of the 6^th book.

ff. 86v-92v
Prisc. inst. 41, 21
inc.: omnia nomina quibus; expl.: dissertum invenies
Title: Incipit eiusdem Prisciani grammatici institutio de nomine et pronomi et verbo.

ff. 93r-239r
Prisc. ars 8, 1 – 18, 307
inc.: verbum est pars; expl.: omnium rerum satur
Title: Incipit liber VIII Prisciani grammatica de verbo
Note: Additamentum to the 17^th book on the f. 180r.

ff. 239r-239v
Versi
inc.: vult avidus lector; expl.: surgere vix potrei

Codicological description

ff. 0-239

Material: parchment

Guard sheet material: parchment

Leaf count: 240

Guard leaf count: 1

Leaf numbering: two foliations: one in pencil from f. 1 to f. 239; one in ink, that does not count f. 194; none of them numbers the opening folium of the ancient witness (here 0)

Quires: beginning with hair side; collation: 1-30⁸ (239)

Quire numbering: double modern quire numbering: the first one in Roman figures was written before the ploughing and it is legible both on the first and on the last leaf of some quires; the second one in assembly marks (according the type A-A8; Ff-Ff8) is present on the lower margin

Rulings: hard-pt • system: l-2 • Muzerelle 2-2/0/0/J • description: full page with 30 lines; pricking on the outer margins; unit of ruling mm 8

Leaf size: 249×323 mm (18r)

Written area size: 171×241 mm (18r)

Binding: morocco binding with boards and a flourish decorated frame at the centre of the front and the back cover ruled in gilt. Inside this frame there is a black oval with Henry VII coat-of-arms also ruled in gilt

Manuscript scripts

main (Ancient Greek and Latin): Caroline minuscule: French

Hand(s)

A (ff. 1r-239v) Uniform, clair and elegant Caroline of Fleury. A small medium size minuscule, vertical and fairly legible. A tendency of clubbing is present at the end of shafts of b, d, h, l. The script offers two different types of a: Uncial and Half-Uncial, with broad and flat top; g with a bow ending in a hook. Some cursive traits are visible in the ligature of the back sloped r and following letter. High ligatures for st and rt. t can be also in the reverse type.
Regular abbreviations: Regular abbreviation with stroke for nasal letter; per, prae, pro in the usual type; qd for quod; us abbreviated by a sign like apostrophe, est by e with a stroke, ppt for propter.

delta		Greek majuscule with a cap at the top of the tip of the triangle and in Uncial form of d
my		Capital type and western type
csi		with the bow in wavy trait
phi		with a long shaft closed by a cap at the foot

secondary (Latin): Caroline minuscule: French

Hand(s)

B (f. 0v) Minuscule French Caroline, really tiny and curved, with slight clubs.
Regular abbreviations: Us, ur and est are frequently abbreviated; the titulus for n is also common.
850-880

Ornamentation

Rubric (ff. 1r-239r) The incipit of the text on f. 1r is written in a mixed style, alternating between Capital and Uncial scripts, with a red first line. The title of the books can be traced in Capital (f. 15rv, 16r, 19v, 23v, 26r, 27v, 31r, 38r, 46r, 49r, 68r, 70v, 73v, 77v, 82r, 83v, 84v, 85rv, 86rv, 94r, 124r, 139v, 161v, 164v, 168r, 173r, 179r, 211v, 218v) or in Uncial (ff. 2rv, 11r, 12r, 44v, 47v, 50rv, 68rv, 69rv, 70rv, 71rv, 72rv, 73v, 74r, 76v, 78r, 81v, 85rv, 86r, 89v, 90v, 91v, 93r, 100r, 106r, 108v, 111r, 112v, 113v, 115r, 119r, 120v, 134v, 148r, 149r, 151v, 158v,175r, 178v, 179r, 205r, 209r, 210r, 211v, 219rv) sometimes in red ink. The exciplit can be written in Capital (ff. 23v, 31r, 49v, 68r, 86v, 124r, 147v, 168r, 175v, 178v, 205r, 238r) or in Uncial (ff. 12r, 50r, 113v, 145r, 152r, 158v, 205r). The first line of the text after the title of a new section can be in Half-Uncial.

Init (f. 1r) A big c ornated by two braid mouldings ending in two coils. The letter was just traced by ink and it remained colourless: maybe the work remained unfinished.

Init (f. 93r) The initial u voided decorated starts the 8^th book and it is decorated with a braid pattern with a leaf on the upper part.

History

Provenance(s):
The manuscripr's origin has long been a matter of debate: Vezin (apud Gibson 1990, p. 118) considered this Caroline as an imitation of the writing of Tours and therefore indicated it as a product of the scriptoria of Saint-Amand or of Saint-Germain-des Prés. Some close, and more accurate, comparisons let the codex to be reassigned to the Fleury scriptorium, as first advanced by Bischoff (apud Jeudy 1972, p. 75) and more recently in the following studies: Ganz 2001, p. 105 and Bergmann 2005, III, pp. 1420-1421. There is no information on the history of the manuscript after it was written in the Fleury monastery. Certainly in the 18^th century the manuscript entered the library of Fontainebleau, precisely at the time of Henry II (1519-1559), as the binding attests. Ancient shelfmarks are present on f. 2r, where one finds the markings 76, Regius 5045 and the red stamp of the royal library.

Annotation(s):
Hand: The manuscript presents several glosses of different hands, some of them are written in Tironian notes. Notable among them are the subscriptions of Flavius Theodorus added to ff. 2r, 50r and 113v.Latin
Hand RG: In the margins the initials RG do frequently appear, whereas at f. 239r the group of letters RAG precedes the verses placed at the end of Ars.Latin
Hand B: An unknown copyist who added at the begging of the manuscript, in an unnumbered folium (here 0), a commentary to Priscian.Latin

Bibliography

G. Ballaira, Per il catalogo dei codici di Prisciano, Torino 1982
R. Bergmann, Katalog der althocdeutschen und altsächisischen Glossenhandschriften, Berlin 2005
B. Bischoff, Übersicht über die nichtdiplomatischen Geheimschriften des Mittelalters, «Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung» 62, 1954, 1-27
B. Bischoff, Katalog der festländischen Handschriften des neunten Jahrhunderts, Wiesbaden 2014
F. M. Carey, De Scriptura Floriacensis, Harvard University 1923
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