[Lucius Annaeus Seneca]. Seneca on the Four Principal Virtue

lotto/lucius annaeus seneca seneca on the four principal virtue lot 6 5FNsEwS 633150288 / In vendita

lotto/lucius annaeus seneca seneca on the four principal virtue lot 6 5FNsEwS 633150288

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lotto/lucius annaeus seneca seneca on the four principal virtue lot 6 5FNsEwS 633150288

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[Lucius Annaeus Seneca]. Seneca on the Four Principal Virtue - Lot 6

[Lucius Annaeus Seneca]. Seneca on the Four Principal Virtues, Called the Cardinal Virtues [text attributed to Seneca, but actually by Martin de Braga, *Formulae honestate vitae*, translated by Jean Courtecuisse] [Marcus Tullius Cicero]. Treatise on Old Age [De senectute, translated by Laurent Premierfait] [Marcus Tullius Cicero]. Treatise on Friendship [De amicitia, translated by Laurent Premierfait] In French, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris, circa 1470 With 3 large illuminations attributed to François Le Barbier the Elder (Maître François). 123 folios, preceded by 2 paper endpapers, followed by 2 paper endpapers, complete [i3, ii-xvi8], very regular bastard script in brown ink, text copied in 32 lines (text size: 192 x 122 mm), ruled in red ink, rubrics in red, paragraph marks in blue or burnished gold with filigree decoration in red or dark blue ink, ornamental line endings in gold and/or red and blue, a few curlicue initials, initials in blue with white highlights on gilded backgrounds featuring vine and scrollwork in various colors (3 to 6 lines high), three large miniatures introducing the three texts, illuminated borders on reserved backgrounds, blue-and-gold acanthus leaf decoration, flowers, foliage, and small borders accompanying the ornate initials marking the chapters. 18th-century binding, green morocco leather, spine with 6 raised bands, gilded decoration with small grotesque motifs, triple gilded fillets framing the covers, double gilded fillet on the edges, gilded garland on the inside, gilded edges, endpapers and flyleaves of combed marbled paper. Dimensions of the binding: 295 x 215 mm; dimensions of the leaves: 290 x 197 mm A very fine manuscript, with wide margins and meticulous handwriting, which has been part of some of the most prestigious bibliophilic collections, from Gaignat to Sir Thomas Philipps. The text in French attests to the social elite’s taste for translations of Latin and Greek classics. This manuscript contains three large miniatures set within illuminated borders, attributable to the artist long known as “Master François” and, following the research of M. Deldicque (2014), now identified as François Le Barbier the Elder. TEXT ff. 1–19, Martin de Braga, *De quattuor virtutibus* [*Formula honestae vitae*] [French translation attributed to Jean Courtecuisse], rubric: “Here begins the book by Seneca on the four principal virtues, called the cardinal virtues”; incipit of the prologue, “To the most noble and most powerful Prince John, son and uncle of the King of France, Duke of Berry and of Auvergne…”; incipit, “Four kinds of virtues have been shown to us by many wise men…” This text, dedicated to Jean de Berry, was once attributed to Seneca and then to “Pseudo-Seneca”; it is in fact a text now attributed to Martin de Braga, a 6th-century prelate and ecclesiastical writer. This French translation was erroneously attributed to Laurent de Premierfait (some manuscripts attribute the translation to Laurent de Premierfait) and has since been attributed to Jean Courtecuisse (c. 1350–1423), a prelate and theologian, who served briefly as bishop of Paris in 1420 and later as bishop of Geneva. The text is edited by H. Haselbach, Seneque des IIII vertus. The *Formula honestae vitae* by Martin of Braga (pseudo-Seneca), translated and annotated by Jean Courtecuisse (1403), Bern, 1975. He lists some 26 extant copies of the French translation. This manuscript is known to Haselbach, who classifies it among the “lost manuscripts” (Z6 in his list of manuscripts). ff. 19v–67, Cicero, [De senectute] On Old Age [French translation by Laurent de Premierfait], rubric: “Here begins the translator’s prologue to Tully’s first prologue in his book on old age”; incipit, “To the most excellent, glorious, and noble Prince Louis, uncle of the King of France, Duke of Burgundy...”; explicit, “Here ends Tullus’s book on old age, translated from Latin into French at the command of the most excellent, glorious, and noble Prince Louis, Duke of Bourbon, by me, Laurent de Premierfait [sic for Premierfait], on the fifth day of November in the year one thousand four hundred and five [1405].” Dedicated to Louis II, Duke of Bourbon (1339–1410), known as “the Good Duke,” the favorite uncle of King Charles VI, this translation by Laurent de Premierfait—a cleric from the Troyes region and a representative of the humanist movement and the popularization of classical texts during the reign of Charles VI—was completed on November 5, 1405. Text edited by S. Marzano (2009). See Bozzolo, C., “Le dossier Laurent de Premierfait,” *Italia medioevale e umanistica*, 22, 1979, pp. 439–447, and several other works by C. Bozzolo devoted to Laurent de Premierfait; Marzano, S., *Laurent de Premierfait: Livre de vieillesse*, Turnhout, 2009. The ARLIMA website entry for “Laurent de Premierfait” provides a complete bibliography and a list of known manuscripts, including the present manuscript.

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