| Item Description: | Engr. t.p., ornamental border with reproductions of ancient seals, reliefs, etc. ; at the lower end, a lectern (with the codex on its ledge) enclosing the Tabula iliaca: three engr. head-pieces (cf. p. ii).
Half-title: Iliadis fragmenta et pictvrae. Accedvnt Scholia vetera ad Odysseam. Item Didymi Alexandrini Marmorvm et lignorvm mensvrai.
"De codicibus Homeri Ambrosianis editoris prooemivm," p. i-lvi; "Scholia vetervm grammaticorvm ad Homeri Odysseam ex Ambrosianis codicibvs ervta, " p. [lxv]-lxx, [1]-148; "Didymi Alexandrini Marmorvm et lignorvm qvorvmvis mensvrae." p. [149]-163; "Classicorvm avctorvm opera ab Angelo Maio, A.C.D. Mediolani, edita an. MDCCCXIII-MDCCCXIX" (last page).
The Ambrosian Ilias-the oldest illustrated manuscript of classic authors thus far known-is in its present state represented only by 58 colored miniatures (on 52 loose leaves cut from the original volume) with portions of the text written in uncial characters upon the reverse sides. The manuscript was formerly ascribed to the 5th century; according to A. de Marchi, Vesti, armi [ecc.] nel cod. omer. illus. dell'Ambrosiana (Miscell. Ceriani, 1910) the miniatures were drawn at the end of the 3d or beginning of the 4th century: cf. also Palæogr. soc. Facsim. I (1873-1883) pl. 39-40; 50-51; Sir Edward M. Thompson, An introduction to Greek and Latin palaeogr. 1912.
In this-the first-edition, the miniatures, engraved by E. Schott, are reproduced on 58 plates, with descriptive letterpress in Latin, and the corresponding portion of the Ilias. In the 2d edition (1835) the miniatures are reproduced by lithography; the text, the scholia, and the treatise of Didymus are omitted. A heliotype reproduction of the manuscript, edited by A.M. Ceriani and A. Ratti, appeared at Milan in 1905 with title, "Homeri Iliadis pictae fragmenta Ambrosiana." The Scholia were reprinted in P. Buttmann's edition of "Scholia antiqua in Homeri Odysseam," Berlin, 1821. The separate edition of the "Mensurae," Mediolani, 1817, 8 quoted by Hoffmann, Bibliogr. lex. I (1838) p. 546, does not exist. In his preface to the Mensurae, Mai states that his intention to publish, in 1817, an edition of this treatise with translation and notes, had been abandoned. |
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