ITALIAN RHETORIC IN THE MANUSCRIPT NO. 126 FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE JAGIELLONIAN LIBRARY
ITALIAN RHETORIC IN THE MANUSCRIPT NO. 126 FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE JAGIELLONIAN LIBRARY

Summary/Abstract: The present article contains an analysis of the rhetorical texts which are to be found in a fifteenth-century manuscript held by the Jagiellonian Library (shelfmark 126). This collection was probably copied from a codex brought to Cracow from Italy by John (Jan) of Ludzisko, who studied medicine in Padua from 1430 to 1433. It consists of humanistic and medieval texts (mainly speeches and letters) and clearly served as a model for speeches which were written both by John himself and by his student Piotr Gaszowiec. An analysis of the full texts (and not only of the incipits) allows us to identify the hitherto unknown authors and/or the time and place of origin of some of these works. This in turn shows that the texts in the collection are divided into certain sections, some consisting of works by the same author (e.g. the speeches of Cristoforo Barzizza or the panegyrics of Bernardo Messalta) and some of speeches meant to be delivered on particular occasions (e.g. praising the sciences or mourning someone’s death). Apart from very popular fifteenth-century texts such as Andrea Giuliano’s speech for the funeral of Manuel Chrysoloras, the collection also includes Italian rhetorical texts which had hitherto been known only from Cracow manuscripts. An analysis of the manner in which the works are arranged within the volume in question allows us to distinguish certain ‘packages’ of texts that are also present in other European manuscripts.

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