The Manuscripts of Statius ― Introduction and Catalogs of Materials

Manuscript evidence is now seen as a much more practical indicator of medieval academic approaches and scholarly methodologies than medieval philosophical tracts. But despite the increased facility of extended international travel in recent decades, there are very few resources that provide detailed descriptions of large numbers of manuscripts or help locate useful manuscript materials. As a result, scholars are often forced to base studies on the examination of a very small number of manuscripts and are unable to discuss either the prevalence or the manuscript context of their materials.

The Manuscripts of Statius is the first complete and detailed catalog of the extant manuscripts of an ancient author. The volumes provide detailed descriptions of 706 extant manuscripts and 101 annotated early editions (together with several lost volumes whose makeup can be reconstructed), dating from the eighth to the seventeenth century. They also identify or classify the ancillary materials and provide analyses of key elements, from the condition of the manuscripts to the development of Statius' reception.

While these volumes are intended to foster and support Statian studies, they will also serve as a baseline for studies of other authors' manuscripts and will provide critical primary data to codicologists and scholars of medieval literary theory and criticism.

This volume contains the bibliography, introduction, and catalogs of manuscript materials, including manuscripts, annotated early printed editions, entries in medieval library inventories, and an index to the introduction.

Volume II contains the indices to the catalogs in Volume I, including summary tables and a checklist of printed editions.

Volume III contains a study of Statius' medieval reception based on editions and analyses of the central biographical materials (vitae and accessus).

This is a complete revision of the 2000 edition.

Harald Anderson is an independent scholar.