The earliest known copy of the first humanist Latin grammar

Gaspar Veronensis (Gaspar of Verona). Regulae de constructione [Activum verbum est quod in o finitum format passiuum in or ut lego legor amo amor … tam arborem quam fructum significat].

€ 65.000,00

An exceptional medieval manuscript of Gaspar of Verona's Latin grammar "Regulae de constructione", here in the earliest known dated copy, signed and dated by the scribe and preserved in its original binding. This manuscript was created during the lifetime of the author, and barely a day’s ride from his hometown.

The "Regulae de constructione" is the first, or one of the first, Latin grammars wholly humanistic in character, characterized by the introduction of classical sources. The rise of the Humanism across Europe and re-discovery of classical texts, provided Verona the examples needed for the construction of his work. A very rare text, of which no modern edition exists.

This copy was unknown to Bursill-Hall’s, Census of Medieval Latin Grammatical Manuscripts, which lists ten copies in Italian institutions, to which can be added one at the Beinecke Library (Marston MS 262). The script is a neat humanistic book hand signed and dated by the scribe at the end, establishing the manuscript’s priority within the tradition. The unrestored contemporary binding, with pink skin over wooden boards and original metal bosses, is a striking survival of mid Quattrocento workshop practice.

A manuscript of notable importance for the history of humanist grammar and the early diffusion of Gaspar’s text in the Veneto, likely close to the author’s milieu.