Details

Subjects:

Flavian family -- Drama.
John, the Apostle, Saint -- Drama.
Domitian, Emperor of Rome, 51-96 -- Drama.
Apollonius, of Tyana -- Drama.
Apollonius, of Tyana.
Domitian, Emperor of Rome, 51-96.
John, the Apostle, Saint.
Flavian family.
Christianity and other religions -- Roman.
Christianity and other religions.
Persecution -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600 -- Drama.
Jesuit drama, Latin (Medieval and modern).
Emperors -- Rome -- Drama.
Persecution.
History.
Persecution -- Early church.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Plays (performing arts compositions)
Tragedies.
Manuscripts, Italian.
Manuscripts, Latin.
Manuscripts, European.
Drama.

Language:

Latin, with a prologue in Italian.

Summary:

Historical tragedy in five acts about the Flavians and Christians in the Roman Empire. The action of the play is set at the end of the first century and the main characters are Domitian, Flavius Clemens, Apollonius of Tyana, and John the Evangelist. This tragedy was first performed in 1600 and originally published in Rome in 1621.

Contents:

1. p.v-173v: "[p.ix: argumentum] Titus Flavius Clemens, Titus Vespasianus Imperatoris fratris filius, quod Christum animo, Sanctum Joannem Apostolum excepisset ... ; [p.1: prologue] Mentre io dispenso ... ; [p. 11: text] Iam tange Titan aureum promens caput agmen minorum siderum estremum premit ... ; [p. 331] Thy[anaeus]: Verum carmen antiquum canis.

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Title from title page (f. 3r).
Pagination: Paper, i (contemporary paper) + 175 + i (contemporary paper) leaves; [xii], 1-10, [ii], 11-28, [29], 30-147, 147-162, 164-194, 196, 196-256, 256, 258-295, 293-312, 303-304, 315-331, [iv]; contemporary pagination in ink, upper outer corners; page numbers in this record refer to the pagination in the text.
Layout: Written in 17-18 lines of varying length due to changing meter.
Script: Written in a cursive script.
Decoration: Title surrounded by a decorative border of satyrs and botanical elements and the motto "Turris Fortissima Nomen Domini," printed from a woodcut and colored with watercolor (p. v); caption titles for each of the five acts in gold (for example, p. 1); simple geometric borders in ink at the end of the first and third acts (p. 67, 179).
Binding: Contemporary calf, gold tooled with initials FC on front and back (Zacour-Hirsch); gauffered edges.
Origin: Written in Italy, ca. 1620 (Zacour-Hirsch).
This is the same work as Titus Flavius et alii opera tragica manuscripta (Ms. Codex 924).

Penn Provenance:

Former owners include: W.E. Fairbridge (bookplate, inside upper cover); Hans Sauer (bookplate, p. i).
Sold by H.A. Feisenberger (London), 1951.

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 35 (Ms. Latin 153).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1045.

Contributor:

Fairbridge, W. E., former owner.
Sauer, Hans, 1857-1939, former owner.

OCLC:

155930515

Access Restriction:

Access to this item is subject to staff review.