Scholarly Markings: Notes, Diagrams and ‘Active Reading’
Read MorePublished in 1503, the poems in this collection by the Roman poet Horace are surrounded by printed commentaries by the Flemish scholar, Josse Badius, and the highly regarded Italian educationalist, Antonio Mancinelli. His comments at the beginnings of each ode - indicated by 'ANT' or 'ANTO' - analyse the patterns of meters and refer to other technical aspects of the verse.
On this page, an industrious Renaissance reader seems to have been particularly interested in the 'Saphicum metrum' (Sapphic stanza), a form of verse originally used by Sappho of Lesbos (c. 630-c. 570 BC). The reader has drawn a diagram of a hand that represents the first verse of the ode 'Jam satis terris nivis atque dirae'. The verse is broken down into syllables, with each one ascribed to a joint or tip of a finger. As a mnemonic and calculating device, hand diagrams such as this date back to ancient times, one of the most celebrated practitioners having been the medieval music theorist Guido of Arezzo, whose 'Guidonian hand' was widely used as a means to teach and remember musical intervals and melodies.
Author: Horace
Title: Odae [Odes] (Paris, 1503)
Shelfmark: I.6.29 (catalogue record)
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