The Manuscripts of Statius ― Reception: The Vitae and Accessus

Publius Papinius Statius was one of the most popular classical Latin poets through the mid-eighteenth century. His epics---the Thebaid and Achilleid---were among the most influential works in the Middle Ages, with the former being the inspiration for countless versions of the story of Thebes, including the Roman de Thebes, and the latter forming part of the most common Latin "textbook," the liber Cato-nianus. In medieval literature, he is best known for being Dante's co-chaperone through Purgatory and his sole chaperone into Paradise. Through the Silvae, Statius wielded an even stronger influence in the early modern period, introducing a previously unknown ancient genre at a time when literature was starting to break away from medieval traditions and giving birth to the concept of "writing while the fire is hot," which set a classical precedent for what would become the Romantic movement.

This volume discusses Statius' reception, interpretation, and popularity through the beginning of the sixteenth century. The discussion and analysis is based on the richest primary source of this type of information, biographical details found in the manuscripts and printed volumes, which are listed and described in the first two volumes. The purpose of this discussion is to illustrate the most important issue in medieval criticism of Statius, one that crops up in most manuscripts in one form or another: the question of his biography; and to shed light on the very peculiar circumstances of Statius' biographical tradition, which, given the lack of information available to medieval scholars, shows much more clearly the use of sources and the development of academic methodologies and scholarly interests than the traditions of other authors.

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 the known extant manuscripts and annotated early editions, with materials dating from the eighth to the seventeenth century.

Volume I contains the bibliography, introduction, and catalogs of manuscript materials. Volume II contains indices of the materials in Volume I and provides classifications of different ancillary texts.