<I>I codici estensi dell'</i>Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to investigate the presence, within the French section of the Library of Este family, of the Histoire Ancienne Jusqu'à César. From the early Sixteenth century the works of such library were selected, discarded and dispersed and the Histoire Ancienne was no exception. Later on, they were improperly employed by paper sellers who recycled them as covers for account books, and this explains their current fragmentary condition. The research begins with the recovery  and cataloguing of the various fragments conserved at the Archivi di Stato in Modena and Bologna. By reassembling the passages, I reconstruct six codices originally in possession of the Este family. I examine as well specific loci and the sources, and I compare them with extant editions. I lay particular attention on archive papers, with special emphasis on different handwritten inventories that prove the presence of such work in the Estense library as well as in those of the Visconti-Sforza, and of the Gonzaga. The second part of my analysis deals with a specific fragment of the Histoire Ancienne. Such fragment stands out as the most interesting one among the six codes of the HA under examination. The fragment is indeed the most ancient one (XIII century) and the longest one; moreover, its author was Italian, and it is lavishly illustrated. The essay is integrated by a chapter dedicated to the study of philological issues, followed by one concerning linguistic analysis. The latter singles out some features that justify the identification of the copyist as an Italian. The study is completed by an analysis of the rich illustrations the codex displays.