Walters Ms. W.371, Glossed copy of Eberhard of Béthune's Graecismus

W.371

Glossed copy of Eberhard of Béthune's Graecismus

Graecismus

Supplied name: Eberhard of Béthune

Known as: Évrard de Béthune

Known as: Eberhardus Bethuniensis

Supplied name: Jean-Vincent Metulin

Known as: Johannes Vincentius Metulinus

This German manuscript is a copy of Eberhard of Béthune's thirteenth-century grammatical poem Graecismus. The poem is accompanied by an extensive gloss by Jean-Vincent Metulin, a scholar from southern France. Having functioned as a textbook, the manuscript's condition suggests it was well-used by students eager to memorize and comprehend Béthune's ideas on the grammatical usage of Greek words.

Ca. 1440 CE

Germany

Book

Literary -- Poetry

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Paper

German laid paper, light brown, uneven edges

Foliation: i+61+i

Modern paper flyleaves, not integral to quire structure; modern pencil foliation in upper right corners of rectos

Formula: i, 1(16,-1,2), 2-3(16), 4(6,-1), 5(10), i

Catchwords: None

Signatures: None

Comments: Quires begin on fols. 1(1), 15(2), 31(3), 47(4), 52(5)

14.3 cm wide by 21.0 cm high

10.9 cm wide by 15.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 17
3. First page of treatise is 17 lines, but rest of manuscript has no consistent ruling due to small, densely written gloss between scattered lines of text

fols. 1r - 61v:

1. Title: Graecismus
2. Incipit: Quoniam ignorancie nubilo
3. Text note: Text is Eberhard of Béthune's poetic grammatical treatise, glossed by Jean-Vincent Metulin; gloss begins on fol. 2r
4. Decoration note: Periodic enlarged decorated initials throughout in red, yellow, and green (1-5.4 cm); some initials at beginning of lines struck through or filled with red; text in brown ink

fol. 1r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "Q"
3. Form: Decorated initial "Q," 6 lines
4. Text: Prooemium

fol. 4v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "D"
3. Form: Decorated initial "D," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 1, De figuris scematis

fol. 8r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 1:1, De figuris tropi
5. Label: The initial "S" is written instead of "A" for the word "ast."

fol. 11r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "E"
3. Form: Decorated initial "E," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 2:1, De figuris barbarismi et soloecismi

fol. 12r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 3, De coloribus rhetoricis

fol. 16v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 5 lines
4. Text: Chapter 4, De pedibus metrorum

fol. 21r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "Q"
3. Form: Decorated initial "Q," 9 lines
4. Text: Chapter 6:1, De nominibus monosyllabis

fol. 21v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "F"
3. Form: Decorated initial "F," 4 lines
4. Text: Chapter 6:9, De nominibus monosyllabis

fol. 22v:

1. 
2. Title: Initials "H," "C," and "N"
3. Form: Decorated initials "H," 2 lines; "C," 2 lines; and "N," 5 lines
4. Text: Chapter 6:21, De nominibus monosyllabis
5. Label: The initial "H" does not match the text "Et quae sunt generis."

fol. 23r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "N"
3. Form: Decorated initial "N," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 7:1, De nominibus musarum et gentilium

fol. 23v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 3 lines
4. Text: Glosses

fol. 24r:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 7:18, De nominibus musarum et gentilium

fol. 24v:

1. 
2. Title: Two initials, both "E"
3. Form: Decorated initials "E," 2 lines each
4. Text: Top initial "E" for Glosses; bottom initial "E" for Chapter 7:27, De nominibus musarum et gentilium

fol. 28v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "E"
3. Form: Decorated initial "E," 2 lines
4. Text: Chapter 8:1, De nominibus exortis a Graeco

fol. 37v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "S"
3. Form: Decorated initial "S," 4 lines
4. Text: Chapter 8:202, De nominibus exortis a Graeco
5. Label: The initial "S" is written instead of the initial "H" for the word "Hinc."

fol. 39v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "Q"
3. Form: Decorated initial "Q," 12 lines
4. Text: Chapter 8:232, De nominibus exortis a Graeco

fol. 40v:

1. 
2. Title: Initial "E"
3. Form: Decorated initial "E," 1 line
4. Text: Chapter 8:247, De nominibus exortis a Graeco

The binding is not original.

Bound in Italy (?) in quarter brown leather; late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century

Henry Walters, Baltimore, obtained from L. S. Olschki (inv. no. 28236; list, ca. 1912, no. 24)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 834, cat. no. 453.

Catalogers: Herbert, Lynley; Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934

Editors: Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William

Copy editor: Joyal, Stephanie

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Dutschke, Consuelo; Emery, Doug; Hamburger, Jeffrey; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.