Ambr. S 31 sup. [diktyon 43211]
Ambr. S 31 sup. (734 M.-B.) is a quarto-size manuscript on paper, with folios 318 (f. I and f. I’ are in old parchment, f. I’ marked V’), dating back to the 15th century. It is bound in leather over wooden boards, covered with the same leather on both the upper and lower covers. The spine, also in leather, has been partially restored. Traces of two clasps remain on the outer edges of both covers. The boards are 6 mm thick.
The volume is mainly quinion-structured and measures 242 × 160 mm (binding); 231 × 160 mm (text block). ff. 316-319, although belonging to the last quire, are marked I’-IV’.
On the first leaf there is an ex libris note: Liber est mej marci antonij de passeris ianuensis <in margine Patavini> et amicorum.
At the top appears the name of the manuscript’s last owner, Vincenzo Pinelli.
On fol. Iv, at the beginning of the codex there is a list of the works contained in the volume, added by a modern hand.
The titles of the works and the initial capitals are executed in ornamental red lettering.
Up to f. 128v (the end of the Callimachean Hymns), the text is written in a regular, elegant, and highly calligraphic hand; in the final part of the manuscript (containing Pindar’s Epinician Odes, from f. 132r, with scholia ‘P’), brown ink is used and the lettering is more widely spaced.
The Callimachean section occupies ff. 98v-128v.
The manuscript preserves the complete collection of the hymnodic tradition, namely Orpheus’ Hymns (ff. 2r-35r), Proclus’ Hymns (ff. 35v-39r), and the Homeric Hymns (ff. 39r-89v); followed by the Callimachean Hymns with marginal and interlinear scholia (ff. 98v-128v). The Callimachean Hymns are preceded by Moschus’ Eros the Fugitive (ff. 90r-90v) and Musaeus’ Hero and Leander (ff. 91r-97v). At the end of the codex are preserved Pindar’s Epinicia (Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Odes: ff. 132r-295v). In some cases, the text is transmitted together with interlinear and marginal scholia, (Pyth. 1; 3-11; Nem. 1-11; Isth. 5; 7). Following the end of Callimachus’ Sixth Hymn, folio 128v contains an excerpt from Theodorus Prodromus’ Commentarii in Canones Cosmae Hierosolymitani et Joannis Damasceni.
Brief History of the Manuscript
Martini and Bassi (1906, ii, p. 849) recognized in the codex the hand of Iohannes Rosos. Pfeiffer (1953, p. lxiv), following Lobel (1933, p. 53), instead identified, for the Callimachean portion (98v-128v), the work of an anonymous scribe active in Florence, to whom six other manuscripts were attributed. Thanks to Canart (1977–1979, p. 292), the so-called Librarius Florentinus has been identified as Demetrios Damilas (RGK1a 93), pupil and collaborator of Chalcondyles (1423-1511). Damilas seems to have copied the entire manuscript, except for the final part, which may be attributed to another copyist from the same circle as his master, or perhaps to Chalcondyles himself (as attested in other codices: Canart 1977-1979, pp. 283-284, 285-287, 330). The manuscript also circulated in the Paduan milieu, as shown by the ownership note on the recto of the first folium (Liber est mej marci antonij de passeris ianuensis (in margine Patavini) et amicorum), referring to Marco Antonio Passeri of Genoa (1491-1563) and to an intellectual circle. This subscription also appears in other manuscripts (Es est mei marci antonij de passeris ianuensis, Patauini et amicorum), such as Rehdigeranus 35 and Paris. Gr. 2955, the latter showing in some places the hand of Passeri alternating with that of Niccolò Leonico Tomeo’s (1456-1531) collaborators. Tomeo, another disciple of Chalcondyles, was the principal scribe of the Paris codex. The features of this manuscript suggest close collaboration between Marco Antonio Passeri and the Venetian/Paduan humanist (Giacomelli 2020, pp. 213-214). This hypothesis is further confirmed by Tomeo’s interest in the hymnographic collection contained in the Ambrosian manuscript, of which Paris. Gr. 2763, copied by Tomeo himself, is the twin. Through Tomeo’s library, dispersed after his death, the codex may have reached Gian Vincenzo Pinelli (1535-1601), its last owner (as indicated on the first folium of the Ambrosian manuscript). Since its foundation in 1607 Pinelli’s collection has been held in the Ambrosiana Library (Gamba 2014, pp. 337–338).
Martini, Bassi, ii, pp. 849 and Bulloch 1985, 56 (description of the codex);
Canart 1977-1979, pp. 281-347 (about the identification of the Librarius Florentinus with the figure of Demetrios Damilas, his scribal activity and collaboration with Chalcondyles);
Lobel 1933, p. 53 (for having isolated the hand of the Librarius Florentinus in a series of manuscripts, including Laur. Pl. 60.14, almost certainly datable to the years 1475-1485 and to the period of Poliziano’s activity in Florence); Harlfinger 1971, p. 214 (for the designation ‘Librarius Florentinus’); Pfeiffer 1953, p. lxiv (concerning the description of the Ambrosianus and an investigation into the copyist; and more generally for the edition of the Callimachean Hymns and the scholia); Speranzi 2015, pp. 143-161 (for a biographical profile of Demetrios Damilas and his scribal and typographic activity); Martinelli Tempesta 2013, p. 137 (for the identification of Demetrios Damilas’s hand in two other codices of the Ambrosiana Library); Giacomelli 2020, pp. 199-214 (for the activity of Niccolò Leonico Tomeo and Marco Antonio Passeri in Padua); Gamba 2014, pp. 337-339 (concerning the purchase of volumes from Niccolò Leonico Tomeo’s library by Gian Vincenzo Pinelli and other humanists); Rodella 2013 (on the history of Gian Vincenzo Pinelli’s library);
Irigoin 1952, pp. 395–397 (about a short description of the Ambrosian codex and its relationship with the manuscript tradition of Pindar); Giannacchi 2014, p. 109 (concerning the stemmatic derivation of the scholia to Pindar present in the Ambrosianus from the Vratisl. Fridericianus gr. 2);
Pohl 1860, pp. 8-9 (for having isolated in fol. 128v a “non-Callimachean” scholium [pp. 3-4] and, in general, for the analysis of two manuscripts transmitting the Callimachean Hymns, the Paris. Gr. 2763 and the Paris. Suppl. gr. 456); Smiley 1920, pp. 112-113 (about an accurate description of the manuscript, an analysis of the hand and its relationship with Paris. Gr. 2763, its twin, and for having erroneously identified the scholium isolated by Pohl as a scholium to v. 35 of Lycophron’s Alexandra); Berg 2001 (edition with translation and commentary of the Hymns of Proclus);
Càssola 1975 (for an edition with commentary of the Homeric Hymns); Malamis 2024 (recent edition of the Orphic Hymns); Hopkinson 2015 (text and English translation of Moschus’ Eros Fugitive and Musaeus’ Hero and Leander).