This volume, S 56, from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca.
1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) in
five parts brings together various Latin texts, classical texts as
well as works by Italian humanists; the first two parts are printed
(with initials in red and green), the latter three are handwritten.
The first part, printed around 1472 by Michael Wenssler and
Friedrich Biel in Basel (GW 3676), contains the Epistolae by the
humanist and professor of rhetoric Gasparino Barzizza from Bergamo
(ca. 1360-1431). This is followed by The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius, also from the workshop of Michael Wenssler in Basel
from about 1473-1474 (GW 4514). Next is the first handwritten text
(incomplete, with marginal and interlinear glosses), Jesuida seu De
passione Christi by the humanist and physician Girolamo della Valle
from Padua († ca. 1458 or 1494). This work, written in hexameter
and dedicated to Pietro Donato, Bishop of Padua from 1428 until
1447, was most likely copied from the edition of about 1474 that
was printed by Michael Wenssler in Basel (GW M49385) and that also
served as model for the lay-out. The fourth part contains the
Catiline conspiracy by Sallust. At the end of the volume, the fifth
part is made up of three works by two authors (with marginal and
interlinear glosses; initials in red and green); due to a
bookbinder’s error, the order of the quires is mixed up. This
fifth part contains the Elegantiolae (the order for reading would
be: ff. 1r-10v, 27r-38v, 11r-20r) by the humanist and professor of
rhetoric Agostino Dati from Siena (*1420 or 1428, †1478), as well
as two treatises by Gasparino Barzizza, which are already included
in the printed part, the Praeceptorum summula (ff. 20r-21v) and the
Modus orandi (ff. 21v-26v, 39r-43r). The three handwritten parts of
the volume were produced by different hands, among them that of the
anonymous scribe of Georg Supersaxo. S 56 therefore is comparable
to the other manuscripts (S 51, S 101, S 105) that were made for
Georg Supersaxo at the time when the young man studied law in Basel
(around 1472-1474). Among the annotations on the flyleaves one can
recognize a note of ownership by his father Walter Supersaxon,
Bishop of Sion (f. N2r).
