Although the Aesopian tradition enjoyed great popularity during the middle ages, thanks to the dissemination of Latin translations, the Greek text of the fabulist was first rediscovered during the Renaissance. CB 5, which was written on paper near the end of the 15th century, is a collection of some 150 fables ascribed to the poet, which served as an inspiration for La Fontaine. Following are, among other things, the Delphic prophecies of Pseudo-Pythagoras, which transmit the well-known aphorism "Know thyself!", and The Clouds, the comedy that made the Athenian writer Aristophanes famous. (jos)

Online Since: 11/04/2010

This manuscript, copied in the years 1460-1480, contains De regimine principum by Aegidius Romanus, decorated with a miniature in which the author (Aegidius Romanus) dedicates the book to the king of France. The last leaves contain the Life of Aesop and his Fables, translated into Latin by Rinuccio di Arezzo. The manuscript was owned by François Bonivard († 1570), who was prior of the Cluniac Priory of St. Victor in Geneva. (jeg)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

Volume S 51 from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains two collections of Latin fables, the first printed, the second handwritten. The first part, printed around 1475 by Michael Wenssler in Basel (GW 7890), contains the Speculum sapientiae, which had erroneously been attributed to the holy bishop Cyril. This collection of 95 fables in Latin prose was probably compiled around 1337-1347 by the Italian Dominican Bongiovanni da Messina. The second part contains Aesop's fables in a Latin version in verse called “Fables by Anonymus Neveleti“ (after the name of the first publisher, Isaac Nicolas Nevelet, in the year 1610), which eventually were attributed to Gualterus Anglicus (12th century). This second, handwritten part was produced around 1474 by Georg Supersaxo's anonymous scribe. It is comparable to other copies that were produced for Georg Supersaxo around 1472-1474, at the time that the young man studied law in Basel. This group of manuscripts includes the classical writers (Terence, Sallust …) as well as texts known only to scholars (Augustinus Datus, Gasparinus Barzizius …). Glued to the pastedowns of S 51, there are parchment fragments with Latin excerpts from Aristotle's Physics (Book IV, in the translation of James of Venice). (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018