TextmanuscriptTextmanuscripts - Les Enluminures

les Enluminures

[MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO], De officiis libri III cum interpretatione Petri Marsi [De officiis libri III with commentary by PIETRO MARSO]

In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment
France, likely Paris?, certainly after 1471-72, likely between 1481-1491

TM 411
sold

[II] + 149 ff., preceded and followed by 2 paper flyleaves, missing apparently 3 leaves, the first leaf of each of the three books (collation: a8 [lacking a8], b8 [lacking b7], c-i8, k8 [lacking k1], l-m8, n8+1 [quire misbound with correct text sequence as follows: ff. 97-98-99-96-103-100-101-102-104], o8 [lacking o5], p-s8, t8-1 [lacking t8, likely canceled blank]), contemporary alphabetical quire signatures, written in two sizes of a Humanistic minuscule still influenced by Gothic characteristics, both scripts very legible, in brown ink on up to 20 lines for main text (justification 70 x 105 mm), copious interlinear and marginal commentary, parchment ruled in light red, rubrics in red with some in blue, paragraph marks in alternating red or blue, some guide letters, numerous 1- to 3-line high initials in gold on cardinal red grounds with calligraphic decoration, some capitals touched in yellow, a few marginal annotations in darker brown ink added in the margins of the first leaves added in a later cursive hand (e.g. ff. 3-9). Bound in brown calf over pasteboard, covers with double frame of triple blind filets, with four gilt fleurons at outer angles of inner frame, gilt double lozenge lined with blind filets in the center of inner frame, with at center of lozenge the gilt crowned dolphin device (likely of François II, dauphin), rebacked c. 1800, smooth spine gilt, gilt title, remnant of Phillipps’ paper shelfmark label at tail of spine, 19th c. marbled paper pastedowns (Joints and corners restored, some staining to boards, one leaf detached (fol. 104), slight waterstain to upper margin of first and last gatherings, not compromising text, else internal fresh condition). Dimensions 179 x 118 mm.

This manuscript was copied in the circle of the eminent humanists who founded the Sorbonne Press in Paris, Jean Heynlin and Guillaume Fichet. It is based on two editions of Cicero’s De officiis, one printed in Paris in 1471-1472 by the Sorbonne Press, the other printed first in Venice in 1481, of the first edition of Pietro Marso’s influential commentary. The humanist scribe (Heynlin?) of the present manuscript was clearly a careful reader of both imprints, and it seems likely that this codex was a preparatory manuscript for another edition of Cicero by the Sorbonne Press.

Provenance

1.Copied and decorated in Paris based on paleographic and decorative elements. Perhaps copied by or for the person whose two mottoes are repeated a number of times, respectively “Barat par tout” [Deceit in all places] (f. 10, 14, 70, 72, 102v) and “Seur et secret” [Safe and secret] (ff. 14v). The name “Barnabé Barat” is recorded in the Table alphabétique de l’Histoire générale de Paris, as an “étudiant en l’université de Paris” but with no further information.

2. Perhaps bound for a Dauphin, such as Henri who held the title of Dauphin between 1536 (death of François, eldest son of François I) to 1547, date of his coronation, but more likely François II (Dauphin 1547-1558). For comparisons, see Fairfax Murray, Second Part, plate between pp. 650-651, with a very similar binding (less the lozenge ornament) on a Paris, R. Estienne, 1543 edition of Pope Paul III Epistles (Fairfax Murray, II, no. 439: “[…] in original brown calf, with blind lines and corner ornaments, and the dolphin device of Francois II in centres….” The device is crowned as in the present binding. See also Guigard, Armorial du bibliophile…II, pp. 11-12 for an example of the dolphin device, both crowned and without crown: “Il [François II] réunit pourtant quelques livres dont la plupart portent sur les plats un simple dauphin ou un dauphin couronné….” A similar binding was sold in 2004, apparently bound for François II the Dauphin and described as follows: “[…] veau brun, double cadre de trois filets à froid et fleurons dorés aux angles, dauphin couronné frappé or et au centre des plats, dos orné de petits fleurons, tranches dorées et ciselées” (Pierre Bergé, Sale, 7 December 2004, lot 75). L. Delisle quotes some 15 manuscripts bound for François II, but as king, not as Dauphin (Delisle, Cabinet des manuscrits, I, p. 191). In any case, the present commented copy of Cicero’s On Duties would certainly have befitted a young dauphin, destined to govern the kingdom: in addition to its intrinsic rhetorical and linguistic qualities, the work addresses the question of “duties”, those arising from virtue, those arising from expediency, and those that may seem to be in dispute when expediency and moral rectitude seem to clash.

3. Jean Boyvin, his ownership inscription, inserted in a pre-existing inscription dated 1578, with two scratched out words of original owner replaced by the name “Johannis Boyvin” and “Barbarano.” The inscription on recto of first parchment flyleaf reads as follows: “In principio. Hic liber est [Johannis Boyvin] andegavensis nationis tunc lutetiae in via lirica (?) manentis atque in collegio [barbarano] literis operam manentis hujusce autem libri posessor extitit anno milesimo quingentesimo septuagesimo [octavo] secundo nonas januarii. Vosque precatur ut si forte hunc librum reperiatis illi restituatis gratiasque quam amplissimas vobis aget” [This book belongs to [Jean Boyvin], of the nation of Anjou, who dwells in Paris on rue de la [? lyre?], and who studies in the College of [Sainte-Barbe]. The owner of this book lived in the year 1578, second nones of January. I pray thee that if you should find this book, you will return it, for which I would be immensely grateful]. According to this inscription, Jean Boyvin, might have been a student from the Anjou nation, living at the College Ste-Barbe in Paris. However, because his name is added to a previous inscription in which the original name has been scratched out, one cannot be sure the elements found in the inscription necessarily apply to Jean Boyvin, in particular his belonging to the “angevin nation.” In any case, if the elements effectively apply to Jean Boyvin, he could be a member of the famous Boyvin or Boivin family in Angers to whom belonged René Boyvin (1525-1630), engraver and goldsmith, who worked for Fontainebleau (see Levron, René Boyvin, graveur angevin du XVIe siècle (1941)), but this remains to be proven. The reference to a “collegio barbarano” also merits further attention. In his study on the Collège Sainte-Barbe, J. Quicherat speaks of the students that frequented the Collège Sainte-Barbe as “barbarini” (see Quicherat, vol. I (1860) and vol. III (1864), p. 368: “[...] in collegio San Barbarano...”). The expression “barbarano” is found in O. Talon, Admonitio ad Adrianum Turnebum Regium Graecae Linguae Professorem (Paris, A. Wechel, 1556), f. 20v: “Meministi iam tum...tu in Barbarano...”

4. The name “Ramonet Altissiodorensis” or Ramonet of Auxerre, added in ink below the motto “Barat par tout” on f. 70, most likely added later, perhaps by the same hand that copied the added Obsecro te prayer on ff. 148-149. We have not associated this name with a known scholar or owner.

5. Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, the library’s ink stamp on first parchment flyleaf. The Séminaire Saint-Sulpice was established in 1645 by Jacques Olier, and rapidly housed an important library (see A. Franklin, Les anciennes bibliothèques de Paris (1873), III, pp. 31-33). An interesting research would entail verifying whether the present manuscript is recorded in the extant lists for the library of the “fabrique de Saint Sulpice de Paris”, in particular in Paris, BnF, MS n.a.l. 3183; and especially Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, MS 4183 (list of approximately 200 manuscripts). The Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice which comprised some 30 000 volumes at the Revolution was demolished in 1800.

6. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), part of the remnant of the Bibliotheca Phillippica sold after a century of sales by Phillipps’ descendants by private treaty to H.P. Kraus in 1978. His library stamp with the number 244 is found on the recto of the second flyleaf: “Sir T. P. Middle Hill.” Bibliotheca Phillippica. Manuscripts on vellum and paper from the 9th to the 18th centuries, from the celebrated collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps. The final selection, 1979.

7. H. P. Kraus, New York bookseller, Catalogue 153, New York, 1979, no. 82, p. 95. Offered 15 000 Dollars. Again, H.P. Kraus, 1994, in Mostra del Libro Antico, Palazzo della Permanente, Milan, 25-27 March 1994, no. 17.

Text

ff. 1-8v, Dedication of Pietro Marso to Cardinal Francisco Gonzaga, followed by Introduction by Pietro Marso to Cicero’s De officiis, dedication with rubric, Petri Marsi interpretatio in officia M. T. Ciceronis ad reverendissimium in christo patrem et dominum Dominum Franciscum Gonzagam cardinalem Mantuanum; incipit, “Dato [sic for “Cato”] ille censorius immo nature opus mirabile et virtutum imago reverendissime presul....”; introduction (ff. 3-8v) with rubric, De summo bono et via ad officium; incipit, “De morali philosophia cuius autorem fuisse Socratem dicunt...”; explicit, “[...] Sed de his hactenus. Iam ad interpretationem veniamus” (modern ed. of introduction in M. Dykmans, 1988, pp. 117-124) [text as found in first edition, Venice, 1481 and subsequent editions];

ff. 9-10, Beginning of Pietro Marso’s commentary on Cicero’s De officiis, Book I, rubric, Incipit interpretatio P. Marsi in primum officiorum M. T. Ciceronis; incipit, “Quanquam te marce in omni septem circunstantie requiruntur...”; explicit, “[...] et extremam manum filium alloquitur.” [followed by motto in red] Barat par tout” [text as found in first edition, Venice, 1481 and subsequent editions];

ff. 10v-13v, Heading and table of chapters to Book I, as found in edition published in Paris, 1471-1472, rubric, M. Tullii Ciceronis Arpinatis consulis romani oratorumque principis ad M. Tullium ciceronem filium suum officiorum liber primus incipit cuius divisio in tractatus et tractatuum in capitula subtillata describitur; incipit, “Hic primus liber tribus tractatibus distinguitur...”;

ff. 13v-14, Dedicatory verses between Guillaume Fichet and Jean Heynlin as found in edition published in Paris, 1471-1472, rubric, Johanni Lapidano tetrastichon Ficheteum; incipit, “Ut puncti cesi pateant libri ciceronis...”; rubric, Jo. Lapidani tetrastichon ad G. Fichetum; incipit, “Accipe distinctos guillerme libros ciceronis...”; rubric, Johannes Lapidanus cunctis virtutum amatoribus S. P. D; incipit, Accipe consilium quo fias officiosus...”; explicit, “[...] officio fretus gressibus ad superos [followed by motto in red] Barat par tout”;

f. 14v, Opening rubric, as found in Paris, 1471-1472 edition, rubric, M. Tuliius Ciceronis Arpinatus Consulis Romani oratorumque principis ad M. Tullium Ciceronem filium suum officiorum liber primus in quo de honesto disseritur feliciter incipit... [ending with motto, in blue ink, “Seur et secret”];

ff. 15-15v, skipped foliation;

ff. 16-70, Marcus Tullius Cicero, De officiis, with marginal and interlinear commentary by Pietro Marso, Book I, incipit, [...] concedens multis quod est oratoris...”; explicit, “[...] ad reliqua pergamus. Barat par tout. [added] Ramonet Altisiodoressensis” (missing beginning, first leaf of quire wanting);

ff. 70v-72, Heading and table of chapters to Book II, as found in edition published in Paris, 1471-1472, rubric, Divisio secundi libri in tres tractatus et ipsorum in capitula subiungitur;

f. 72v, Beginning of Pietro Marso’s commentary on Cicero’s De officiis, Book I, rubric, Petri Marsi interpretatio in secundum volumen officiorum M. T. C.; incipit, “Quemadmodum officia ducerentur...” [as found in first edition, Venice, 1481 and subsequent editions];

ff. 73-104v, Marcus Tullius Cicero, De officiis, with marginal and interlinear commentary by Pietro Marso, Book II, incipit, “[...] non tam commutandarum rerum...”; explicit (fol. 102v), “[...] reliqua deinceps prosequimur. Barat par tout” (missing beginning, with first leaf of quire wanting; a number of leaves misbound with proper sequence as follows: ff.97-98-99-96-103-100-101-102-104);

ff. 105-107v, Heading and table of chapters to Book III, as found in edition published in Paris, 1471-1472, rubric, Divisio tercii libri in tres tractatus et eorum quorumlibet subdivisio in capitula;

ff. 108-108v, Beginning of Pietro Marso’s commentary on Cicero’s De officiis, Book III, rubric, P. M. interpretatio in tercium volumen officiorum; incipit, “Publium duobus voluminibus...”;

ff. 109-147v, Marcus Tullius Cicero, De officiis, with marginal and interlinear commentary by Pietro Marso, Book III, incipit, “[...] agere possumus ita qui in maxima...”; explicit, “[...] preceptisque letabere”; closing rubric, M. Tullii Ciceronis Arpinatis consulisque romani liber tertius et ultimus officiorum in quo de comparatione honesti et utlis explicatum est feliciter finit (missing beginning, with first leaf of quire wanting);

ff. 148-149, Added Prayer, Obsecro te, incomplete, in a later bâtarde script.

ff. 149v-150v, blank.

This intriguing manuscript remains somewhat of a mystery, with a number of elements still to be elucidated. The core text is a copy of Cicero’s De officiis (On Duties), in three books, a philosophical and pedagogical treatise on moral goodness and the conflict between right and expediency, written circa 40 B.C. and addressed to his son Marcus. It is enhanced by a copious and profuse marginal and interlinear commentary composed by the Italian humanist Pietro Marso (1443-1512), one of the oldest, yet least known, disciples of Pomponius Leto in Rome. The copy is undoubtedly the refined and erudite work of a French humanist, whose identity has yet to be unveiled, perhaps tied to the repeated mottoes “Barat par tout” and “Seur et secret.” The oddity is that the present manuscript associates elements from two early imprints, one Parisian (1471-1472), one Venetian (1481), alternating and sometimes overlapping.

Thefirstis the edition published by the first printers of France (Gering, Friburger and Crantz) at the initiative of two officials at the Sorbonne, the Prior Jean (or Johann) Heynlin (died in 1496) and the Librarian Guillaume Fichet (1433-1490s?), both of whom in 1470 had invited the three German printers to set up a press at the university, an initiative that would last only until 1473. The imprint is Cicero’s De officiis. Laelius de amicitia. Cato maior de senectute...[Paris, Ulrich Gering, Martin Crantz and Michael Friburger, post 7 III 1471] [HC 5252; Pellechet 3719 = 3720; Goff, C-578; Claudin, First Paris Press, XI; Veyrin-Forrer, 1987, p. 179 and note 46]. Printed in Roman letter, this imprint was the eleventh publication of the Sorbonne Press and contains a number of preliminary pieces, including a letter of Guillaume Fichet to Jean Heynlin (dated 9 March 1471). Amongst the other preliminary and dedicatory pieces printed at the beginning of the Paris, 1471-1472 edition, there are two tetrasticha by Jean Heynlin addressed to Guillaume Fichet and eight elegiac couplets by Jean Heynlin and addressed to “cunctis virtutum amatoribus” (all the admirors of virtue). The present manuscript retains a number of elements found in the Paris 1471-1472 edition: (1) the presence of the tetrasticha and elegiac couplets composed by Jean Heynlin, grouped together in this manuscript on ff. 13v-14; (2) the tables of chapters detailing each chapter and the textual divisions adopted by the Paris printers (this manuscript, ff. 10v-13v; 70v-72; 105-107v) [see the comparative study on the differing editorial choices between the editio princeps of the De officiis, printed by Pannartz and Sweynheim in 1465 and the first French edition of Heynlin and Fichet (1471-1472) that presents a more legible lay-out with rubrics, chapters and textual divisions, as discussed in H.-J. Martin, et al., Mise en page et mise en texte du livre français, 2000, pp. 126-127]; (3) the rubrics and headings introducing each textual division in the Paris, 1471-1472 edition are the same as those found in our manuscript, clearly suggesting that the scribe of this manuscript had direct access to the newly printed Parisian imprint. The core text and a number of additional texts, headings and rubrics are taken verbatim from the Paris, 1471-1472 Heynlin-Fichet edition. The fact that the core elements of this manuscript come from Paris 1471-1472 edition of De officiis establishes a terminus post quem date for this manuscript is 1472.

This second imprintis an edition of Cicero’s De officiis [HC 5271* (I); Pellechet 3748; Goff, C-597; Paris, BnF, Res-E*-25] enriched with a full marginal commentary by Pietro Marso. This commentary was immensely popular, with a number of successive editions from 1481 to 1488, dedicated to Cardinal Francisco Gonzaga (9 editions, see Dykmans, 1988, pp. 59-60) and a revised edition with a renewed dedication to Cardinal Riario in 1491 (15 editions from 1491-1499, see Dykmans, 1988, pp. 60-61). Our manuscript contains the 1481-1488 version of Marso’s commentary and the dedication to Cardinal Francisco Gonzaga, rather than the post-1491 revised version, thus offering a terminus ante quem date of 1491 for at least a part of our manuscript. The elements taken from the 1481-1488 editions of Marso’s commentary on Cicero’s De officiis are the following: (1) the dedication to Cardinal Francisco Gonzaga (this manuscript, ff. 1-3); (2) Pietro Marso’s introduction (this manuscript, ff. 3-8v); (3) Pietro Marso’s commentary, laid out in the present manuscript in an entirely different manner from the incunable editions of 1481-1488. Indeed the incunabula present a very regular textual layout, with the commentary framing the base text, in the margins. Our manuscript differs in that the commentary is often distributed in an ad hoc manner, almost as if added slightly later (as this might very well be the case), with portions of the commentary copied in the margins, and others interlinear, much like in a personalized working-copy, with no deliberately or carefully-planned page lay-out. The interlinear commentary is also by Pietro Marso, upon verification on the Venice 1481 edition, and is thus rearranged entirely differently from the very regular lay-outs found in the 1481-1488 imprints. The scribe who copied the commentary in the margins and between the lines was not always able to position the gloss facing the concerned base text, often resorting to a somewhat disordered page lay-out with the inclusion of rubrics warning the (confused!) reader of the order in which one should read the commentary, of the type: “Hactenus que dicta fuerunt sunt precedentis pagine. Que nunc sequuntur sunt presentis” (f. 123) or “Sequentis pagelle textualis explanatio” (f. 125). With the second rubric, the reader is warned that the text to which the commentary refers is found on f. 125v, whereas the commentary is copied in the margin of f. 125. These problems of textual lay-out were resolved in the printed 1481 edition, with the commentary flowing very regularly around the base text.

A complete study by Mark Dykmans provides a number of elements on Pierre Marso, his life and work. Pietro Marso was born in 1441 and attended the Roman Academy of Pomponius Leto. As a professor of rhetoric and Greek at the Sapienza in Rome, he published a number of commentaries based on his teachings, including the present commentary on Cicero’s De officiis. In the year 1481, concerning his commentary on the De officiis, Pierre Marso writes to his dedicatee the Cardinal Francisco Gonzaga, important patron of humanists, stating that he has chosen this work because of its philosophical interest. His introduction is articulated around the theme “De summo bono et via ad officium” [On the sovereign good and the path leading towards duty]. A critical edition of the introduction is given in Dykmans, 1988, pp. 117-124: Appendice I. De summo bono et via ad officium (Introduction aux Offices de Cicéron). Dykmans provides a list of the 87 editions published between 1481 and 1584 of the commentary of Pietro Marso on the De officiis (Dykmans, 1988, pp. 58-67): “La liste s’observera surtout parce qu’elle illustre un veritable siècle d’humanisme, de 1481 à 1584”). A list of Pietro Marso’s works is found in Dykmans, 1988, pp. 49-100; on Pietro Marso, see also Cosenza, 1962, III, 2201-2204; Kristeller, 1960-1962, vol. III, 388, 390; vol. IV, 296; Maillard, 1995, p. 292.

This manuscript is evidently the only known manuscript copy of Pietro Marso’s commentary on Cicero’s De officiis. It is described by Dykmans, 1988, pp. 56-57, who did not see the codex, but relies on the description of it based on Kraus’s 1979 catalogue. It is said, probably erroneously, to have belonged to Henri II the Dauphin. Dykmans states the following: “Les élèves de Pierre Marso ont peut-être noté ses cours. Rien ne prouve cependant que le seul manuscrit conservé de ses commentaires sur Cicéron provienne d’eux et ne dépende pas plutôt d’une édition déjà imprimée ou d’un cahier manuscrit de l’auteur lui-même. Nous n’avons pu voir ce précieux codex...” [The students of Pietro Marso might have taken notes from his courses. Nothing proves, however, that the only existing manuscript of his commentaries on Cicero does not instead depend on an printed edition or a manuscript by the author himself ….”] (Dykmans, 1988, p. 56). Neither of Dyckman’s hypotheses is supportable. Given the fact that Pietro Marso taught only in Italy, and mostly in Rome, if the manuscript were notes from his courses, it would probably be of Italian origin, and not copied in France. It might initially seem plausible that a copy of the Parisian imprint was transcribed a little after 1472, and that upon the publication of the “new” edition commentated by Pietro Marso in 1481, the humanist owner of the manuscript would have added the interlinear and marginal commentary to better his copy. However, this supposition does not explain the structure of the codex, which includes some preliminary pieces found in the 1481 edition, intermingled and alternating with the elements from the earlier Paris 1471-1472 edition. A date of copy of circa 1481-1491 seems more probable, once both imprints (Paris, 1471-1472, and Venice, 1481 and subsequent reprints) were readily available to the present humanist scribe.

A working theory, still to be more fully explored, relates this manuscript to the continuing and lively production of manuscripts after the introduction of printing in Europe. In the age of print, manuscripts retained their distinctive nature and appeal, often offered as gifts, but also reflecting humanistic concerns and ideals. They also, inevitably, supplied copy for the first printers. Typical of the permanence of manuscript culture even within circles where the new technique had gained a foothold is the example of Jean Heynlin, who attended the Sorbonne in Paris from 1454 to 1462. Elected prior in 1468 and again in 1470-1471, he joined with Guillaume Fichet to start the first printing press in France, but left Paris in 1474, to preach in Basel. Heynlin retired in 1487 to the Charterhouse at Basel, where he died in 1496. Heynlin is a very interesting example (the same can be said of Fichet) because he was himself the owner of a large number of manuscripts and incunables, some he copied himself, such as Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, F. VIII. 5, which contains a miscellany he put together relating to grammar, in which he copied a work by Phocas and added a copy of a recent edition of Guillaume Tardif’s grammar (printed in Paris, 1475) (see C. Jeudy, 1974, p. 75 and description of Heynlin’s manuscript pp. 82-83). Numerous other examples of manuscripts copied by Heynlin, or profusely annotated by him, are now housed in Basel at the Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, such as the copy made by Heynlin of Cicero’s Tusculanes and De Officiis (Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, F. I.12); and his copy of Virgil (Basel, Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, F. III.3) etc. After his career of teaching and ecclesiastical service, Heynlin gave his collection of manuscripts and incunables to the Carthusian Library in Basel, which was later transferred to the Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität [Library of the University of Basel] (see Halporn, 1984, “The Carthusian Library at Basel”; see studies by M. Burckhardt who identified some 53 manuscripts and 350 printed books having belonged to Heynlin, as discussed by J. Monfrin, 2001, p. 732; see also H.-J. Martin et alia, 2000: “Une personnalité complexe: Jean Heynlin” et sqq., pp. 108-114; on the manuscripts belonging or copied by Heynlin, see Escher, 1917; Steinmann, 1976; Scarpetetti, 1977).

Pioneering work has been conducted on Jean Heynlin and Guillaume Fichet as initiators of the printed book in France, but also on their occupations as scribes and continuing patrons of the book in its manuscript form. We know for instance that humanist personalities such as Heynlin and Fichet (who was Librarian of the Sorbonne between 1468 and 1471) copied a great number of manuscripts, sometimes even copying texts that had recently been published. One might quote the case of the Letters of Pseudo-Plato copied by Guillaume Fichet for Jean Chouard de Buzenval, based on an edition printed precisely by the Sorbonne Press in 1472 (see H.-J. Martin et alia, 2000, p. 127). Jean Heynlin and Guillaume Fichet are good examples of individuals who promoted the printing press yet retained a strong appreciation for manuscripts and the copied word, painstakingly hunting for good manuscripts to print and inversely still copying works newly available in print. Perhaps the present manuscript, incorporating the Sorbonne edition of Cicero with a commentary as yet unknown in France was intended to provide copy for a forthcoming, though never published, edition of Cicero with Marso’s commentary by the Sorbonne Press.

Literature

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. M. T. Ciceronis de Officiis, de Amicitia, de Senectute et de Somno Scipionis libri et Paradoxa. Eddidit Johannes de Lapide, cum Guillelmi Ficheti ad eumden Joannem epistola, Parisiis, U. Gering, M. Krantz and M. Friburger, 1471-1472 [copy in Paris, BnF, Res-*E-5].

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De officiis (Comm: Petrus Marsus), [Venice, Baptista de Tortis, 1481] (first edition of Marso’s Commentary on De officiis] [copy in Paris, BnF, Res-*E-25].

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De officiis (Comm: Petrus Marsus). Add: Laelius, sive de amicitia (Comm: Omnibonus Leonicenus); Cato maior, sive de senectute (Comm: Martinus Phileticus); Paradoxa Stoicorum, [Lyons, Guillaume Le Roy, about 1487].

Claudin, A. The First Paris Press. An Account of the Books printed for G. Fichet and J. Heynlin in the Sorbonne, 1470-1472, London, 1898.

Cosenza, M. E. Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary of the Italian Humanists..., 1300-1800, Boston, 1962, vol. III.

Dykmans, M. L’humanisme de Pierre Marso, Citta del Vaticano, 1988.

Escher, K, Die Miniaturen in den Basler Bibliotheken..., Basel, 1917.

[Fairfax Murray]. Catalogue of a Collection of Early French Books in the Library of C. Fraifax Murray, Second Part, London, 1961.

Halporn, B. “The Carthusian Library at Basel”, in The Library Quarterly 54 (1984), pp. 223-244.

Jeudy, C. “L’Ars de nomine et verbo de Phocas: manuscrits et commentaires médiévaux”, Viator, 5 (1974), pp. 61-156.

Kristeller, P. O. Catalogus translationum et commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries, Washington, 1960-1962, vol. III, 388, 390; vol. IV, 296.

Lee, E., “Pietro Marso”, in Bietenholz, P. G. and T. B. Deutscher, Contemporaries of Erasmus, Toronto, 1985-1987, vol. II, p. 394.

Maillard, J. F. ed. et alia. L’Europe des humanistes (XIVe-XVIIe siècles), Turnhout, Brepols, 1995.

Martin, H.-J. et alia. “La Sorbonne entre scolastique et innovation”; “Imprimerie et humanisme à Paris: les presses dites de la Sorbonne”, in Mise en page et mise en texte du livre français, 2000, pp. 96-115; pp. 116-131.

Monfrin, J. “Les lectures de Guillaume Fichet et de Jean Heynlin”, in Études de philologie romane, Genève, 2001.

Philippe, J. Origine de l’imprimerie à Paris d’après des documents inédits, Paris, 1885.

Quicherat, Jules. Histoire de Sainte-Barbe, collège, communauté, institution, Paris, 3 vol.1860-1864.

Scarpetetti, Beat Matthias von, et al. Katalog der datieren Handschriften in der Schweiz in lateinischer Schrift...Die Handschriften der Bibliotheken von Aarau, Appenzell und Basel, Zurich, 1977, vol. I and II.

Steinmann, M. “Die Humanistische Schrift und die Anfange des Humanismus in Basel”, Archiv für Diplomatik 22(1976), pp. 411-427 and pl. XVIII-XLVI.

Veyrin-Forrer, J. “Aux origines de l’imprimerie française, l’atelier de la Sorbonne et ses mécènes (1470-1473)”, in La lettre et le texte: trente années de recherches sur l’histoire du livre, Paris, 1987, pp. 161-187.

Online resources

Digital copy of Paris, 1471-1472 edition (first French edition)
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8602967f

Digital copy of Louvain, 1483 edition (3rd edition)
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k53213m

Jeanne Veyrin-Forrer, “Aux origines de l’imprimerie francaise, l’atelier de la Sorbonne et ses mécènes (1470-1473)”, Paris, 1987
http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-1971-02-0065-001

headerDeco