Autograph manuscript, [c. 1701], of William Baxter's unpublished commentary on Juvenal's Satires. The manuscript is incomplete and in its current form consists of commentaries on all of three, and parts of a further six, of the sixteen Satires: Satire I (ff. 5 verso-24 verso), II (ff. 25-44 verso), III.1-113 (ff. 44 verso-57 verso), VIII.186-240 (ff. 58-63 verso), X.286-366 (ff. 64-69), XI (ff. 69 verso-84), XII.1-11 (ff. 84-85 verso), XIV.250-331 (ff. 86-91 verso) and XV.1-128 (ff. 92-101).
Typically the volume consists of transcripts of the Satires in sections of some 10-50 lines at a time, in the original Latin, followed by Baxter's numbered notes relating to that section, in Latin and Greek; there are numerous deletions, corrections and insertions throughout. The volume also includes a brief life of Juvenal with accompanying notes (ff. 4-5) a number of Latin quotations (f. 5 recto-verso) and the transcript of the remainder of Satire XV (f. 101 recto-verso). A fragment of a title page taken from an earlier printed edition of Juvenal, [1550x1619], has been pasted in on f. 2. The numbering of the surviving bifolia suggests the commentary originally encompassed the whole of the Satires. There are now four major lacunae, with some one hundred and sixty-four leaves missing after f. 57, thirty-eight after f. 63, fifty-four after f. 85 and an unknown number at the end, all lost before Moses Williams wrote his transcript of 1732 and prior to the present binding. The beginning of the commentary (ff. 5 verso-6) was published as a specimen in Williams' Proposals for printing by subscription D. Gulielmi Baxteri quæsupersunt enarrationes & notæ in D. Junii Juvenalis satyras (London: [William] Bowyer, 1732, ESTC T135764).
Commentary on Juvenal's Satires
This material is held atNational Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
- Reference
- GB 210 NLW MS 23975D.
- Alternative Id.(alternative) vtls004494901
- Dates of Creation
- [c. 1701]
- Physical Description
- 102 ff. (original foliation 2-27, 110-112, 132-142, 170-177 in the inner margins of alternate folios) ; 320 x 195 mm. and less.
Bound in nineteenth-century half calf over boards with triple blind fillets and marbled endpapers by Hatton Binder, Manchester; Macclesfield arms in gold on front cover and blind stamped on f. ii verso; 'G. BAXTERI IN JUVENALIS SATYRAS ANNOTATIONES QUAE SUPERSUNT OMNES. MS. AUTOGR.' (in gold on spine); page edges stained red.
- Location
- ARCH/MSS (GB0210)
Scope and Content
Note
Title based on contents.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 23975D.
Alternative Form Available
Text
Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements
Many leaves missing after ff. 57, 63, 85 and 101 prior to binding; some page edges frayed with minor loss of text; some splitting of joints between cover and spine.
Custodial History
Armorial book plate, 1860, of the Earls of Macclesfield's North Library [at Shirburn Castle] inside front cover; manuscript press marks '115.G.15' on book plate and on f. 1. The existence and location of the manuscript does not seem to have been generally known in 1957 (see Arthur Percival, 'William Baxter (1649-1723)', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1957), 58-86 (p. 81).
Additional Information
Published