Statius (45-96 AD) - photo 1
Statius (45-96 AD) - photo 2
Statius (45-96 AD) - photo 3

Statius (45-96 AD)

Lot 8
10.12.2025 12:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1514531
Lot 8 | Statius (45-96 AD)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
Statius (45-96 AD)
Achilleid, in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Italy, 15th century]
'One of the most entertaining short narratives of all time': an attractive copy of a poem about Achilles’s youth.

c. 217 × 125mm, ii + 22 + ii leaves, complete, collation: 110, 212, with a catchword, 26 lines written in Humanistic a script with some gothic features, ruled space: c. 150 x 80 mm, rubrics in red or alternating brown and pale red characters, the first of them in majuscules, the first letter of each line with pale yellow wash and/or stroked in red, decorated with initials in red, the first with ornamental penwork (a few stains, some fading to ink). Bound in modern undecorated polished mid-brown morocco, signed ‘Bound by James MacDonald Co., New York City’, the spine lettered in gilt capitals ‘MS. Statius Achilleis Italy, Saec. XV.’ (edges a little rubbed).

Provenance:
(1) Friedrich von Schennis (1852–1918), Swiss-born German painter: his shield-shaped armorial ink-stamp on the first and last pages of text; much of his library was sold after his death by Hiersemann: Katalog 460: Handschriften [...] der Bibliothek des Kunstmalers F. von Schennis, Leipzig, 1918, but apparently not including the present manuscript.

(2) Wilfred M. Voynich (1865–1930): bought from his estate by:

(3) Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913–1994): her circular gilt navy blue leather book label as Phyllis Walter Goodhart, MS 8. On deposit at Bryn Mawr, BMC 5. Published in De Ricci, Census, II, p.1677, no 8.

Content:
Statius, Achilleid, beginning: ‘Stacii Achilleidos poetæ clarissimi liber primus incipit. Magnanimum eacidem formidatam [...] Hec memini et meminisse iuvat. scit cetera mater’; blank, 22v; the books start on ff.1, 4v, 8v, 13v, and 19; the first page has numerous marginal and interlinear glosses, there are a few side-notes thereafter.

The text has been described as ‘One of the most entertaining short narratives of all time, the Achilleid is a stand-alone work of compelling contemporary interest that moves with great rapidity and clarity. Its compact narrative, which encompasses a brutish childhood, an overprotective mother, temporary gender bending, sexual violence, and a final coming to manhood with the promise of future military prowess, may be unparalleled in a single narrative of such brevity’ (Prof. Marjorie Curry Woods).




Literature

S. De Ricci, Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, II, 1961, p.1677, no 8.
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