[Thebais] [manuscript].
- Author
- Statius, P. Papinius (Publius Papinius)
- Uniform Title
- Thebais (Ms. Lincoln Cathedral Library 130)
- Published
- [France] : [publisher not identified], [between 1100 and 1199]
- Physical Description
- 109 leaves : parchment ; 240 x 120 (170 x 55) mm
- Additional Creators
- Statius, P. Papinius (Publius Papinius).
- Language Note
- Latin.
- Contents
- fol. 1-2, blank; fol. 2v: "[rubr.] 'Stacii Thebaidos libri xij, ' in a 15th-century hand. Below, 'G.1. Statii Thebais, ' in the usual 17th-century Lincoln hand; fol. 3-109: [text] Fraternas acies alternaque regna profanis...Occidet et meriti post me referentur honores. [rubr.] Publii Surculi Stacii liber xii. explicit; [glossed] Acies est polixenum id est multa significans..."
- Summary
- Statius completed one epic, the 12-book Thebaid, an ambitious work, that describes the struggle of the brothers Polyneices and Eteocles for the throne of the ancient Greek city of Thebes. It has many features borrowed from Virgil. The work begins and ends with passages that convey an atmosphere of dramatic tension and considerable tragic power.
- Subject(s)
- Genre(s)
- Provenance
- Probably written in France, but in England by the end of the 13th century.
- Note
- Mss. codex.
Title from printed catalog.
Collation: Parchment, fol. 109; 1⁸, 2¹⁰ (5 and 6 are half-leaves), 3-5⁸), 6¹⁰ (5 and 6 half-leaves), 7⁸ (+ 1 after 1; 4 and 5 half-leaves), 8¹⁰ (5 and 6 half-leaves), 9⁸ (3 and 6 half-leaves), 10⁸ (3 and 6 half-leaves), 11⁸ (+ 2 after 2), 12⁸ (+ 2 after 6), a bifolium ; quires numbered in roman numerals at the foot of the last verso.
Layout: Plummet-rules in 46 lines of verse, except for fol. 1-2v, pencil-ruled in 2 columns. Pricked in the outer margins only.
Script: The text in a small, neat book-hand, perhaps French, the glosses in several contemporary and slightly later hands, of which one of the earlier ones is very French-looking.
Decoration: Red, green, or buff initials open each book.
Binding: Standard Lincoln 19th-century. A paper leaf at each end.
Shelfmark: Lincoln, Cathedral Library MS 130 (C.5.6) - Reproduction Note
- Microfilm. London: World Microfilms Publications, 1976. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (Lincoln Cathedral Library. The Mediaeval Manuscripts, Section III: Secular Studies, reel no. 9)
- Biographical or Historical Sketch
- Publius Papinius Statius (b. AD 45, Neapolis, Italy, d. 96, probably Neapolis), was one of the principal Roman epic and lyric poets of the Silver Age of Latin literature (AD 18-133).
- Action Note
- Item cataloged from existing description in Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library, and from microform reproduction by Susan Hamburger, 16 June 2005.
- Binding notes
- PR2032 1976 c.1 (Microfilm, Microfiche, etc.) bound in [Minor poems] [manuscript]
- Reviewed/Cited In
- Thomson, Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library, p. 99-100.
View MARC record | catkey: 2844887