The Vergilius Augusteus is a manuscript from late antiquity, containing the works of the Roman authorVirgil, written probably around the 4th century. There are two other collections of Virgil manuscripts, the Vergilius Vaticanus and the Vergilius Romanus. They are early examples of illuminated manuscripts; the Augusteus is not illuminated but has highly decorated initial letters in the margins of the text, at the beginning of each column.
Only seven leaves of the manuscript survives, four of which are in the Vatican Library (MS 3256), and the remaining three in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Lat. fol. 416). The leaves contain fragments of Virgil's Georgics and the Aeneid. The fragments themselves are unremarkable, but they are written in Roman square capitals, which shows that square capitals were used in handwriting and not only for stone inscriptions.
Due to its great age, it was originally believed that the manuscript was written in the time of Roman emperorCaesar Augustus, hence its name. In the later Middle Ages the manuscript was kept in the abbey of St. Denis in Paris.
References
Carl Nordenfalk: Vergilius Augusteus. Vollständige Faksimile-Ausgabe, Codex Vaticanus latinus 3256 d. Bibl. Apostol. Vaticana u. Codex latinus fol. 416 d. Staatsbibl. Preuss. Kulturbesitz. Graz 1976 (Codices selecti phototypice impressi, 56)
In the Middle Ages "Vergilius" was frequently spelled "Virgilius." There are two explanations commonly given for the alteration in the spelling of Virgil's name.
Alternatively, some argue that "Vergilius" was altered to "Virgilius" by analogy with the Latin virga (wand) due to the magical or prophetic powers attributed to Virgil in the Middle Ages.
In Norman schools (following the French practice), the habit was to anglicize Latin names by dropping their Latin endings, hence "Virgil."In the 19th century, some German-trained classicists in the United States suggested modification to "Vergil," as it is closer to his original name, and is also the traditional German spelling.
Feeds |
Contact