The collection of the Marciana Library contains 4,639 manuscripts and 13,117 manuscript volumes.Patrimonio librario. Biblioteca. Retrieved 21 September 2019. Its historical nucleus is the private collection of Cardinal Bessarion, which was donated to the Republic of Venice in 1468.

Manuscripts

Some significant manuscripts in the collection include:

Greek Gr. Z. 196 (=743): commentary by Olympiodorus on Plato's Gorgias and Alcibiades (ninth century) on-line Gr. Z. 228 (=406): includes Books I and II of Peri Psychēs by Aristotle with commentary by Simplicius of Cilicia and Sophonias and paraphrases by Themistius together with commentary by Pseudo-Diadochus on Plato's Timaeus, commentary by Simplicius of Cilicia on Aristotle's Peri Ouranoû, commentary by Ammonius Hermiae’s on Plato's Phaedrus, and commentary by Proclus on Plato's Parmenides. (fourteenth century) on-line Gr. Z. 313 (=690): Mathematiké sýntaxis by Ptolemy (tenth century) Gr. Z. 388 (=333): Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis by Ptolemy with 27 map projections, commissioned by Bessarion and attributed to John Rhosos (fifteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 122. For a description of the codex, see the exhibition catalog Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2013), pp. 17–19, . Gr. Z. 395 (=921): Romaiki istoria by Cassius Dio, the oldest manuscript containing Books XLIV, 35, 4–LX, 28, 3 (ninth century) Gr. Z. 447 (=820): Deipnosophistaí by Athenaeus of Naucratis, the oldest surviving and most complete extant text (tenth century) on-line Gr. Z. 453 (=821): "Homerus Venetus B" (eleventh century) on-line Gr. Z. 454 (=822): "Homerus Venetus A", text of Homer's Iliás epic with annotations, glosses, and commentaries (tenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 62 on-line Gr. Z. 460 (=330): commentary on Homer's Odýsseia by Eustathius of Thessalonica, autograph copy (twelfth century) Gr. Z. 479 (=881): Cynegetica by Oppian of Apamea and Vita Oppiani by Constantine Manasses, the oldest illustrated version with 150 miniatures (eleventh century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 64 Gr. Z. 481 (=863): Anthologia Planudea, autograph copy of Greek epigrams by Maximus Planudes (1299–1301)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 82 on-line

Italian It. VIII, 2 (=2796): De architectura by Antonio Averulino, commissioned for Matthias Corvinus and illustrated with 152 designs (fifteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 148 on-line It. IX, 276 (=6902): Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri, illuminated with 170 miniatures (fourteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 115 on-line

Latin Lat. Z. 549 (=1597): "Codex Cumanicus", handbook of the Cuman language for missionaries with glossaries and a collection of religious texts, linguistic data, and folkloric materials (fourteenth century)For a discussion, see The Codex Cumanicus in Peter B. Golden, ed.,Studies on the peoples and cultures of the Eurasian steppes (Bucharest: Academiei Române, 2011), pp. 333–366, . on-line Lat. I, 99 (=2138): "Breviarium Grimani", Breviary illuminated by the Flemish miniaturists Gerard Horenbout and Alexander and Simon Bening, once belonging to Cardinal Domenico Grimani (c. 1515–1520)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 192 on-line Lat. I, 103 (=11925): "Evangelistarium Grimani", Gospel illuminated by Benedetto Bordone and Giulio Clovio for Cardinal Marino Grimani (1528)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 196 on-line Lat. VI, 86 (=2593): De remediis by Francesco Petrarch and Cato Maior de senectute by Cicero (fourteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 102 Lat. VI, 254 (=2976): Historia naturalis by Pliny the Elder, illuminated copy commissioned by Pico della Mirandola (1481)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 144 Lat. XII, 68 (=4519): De bello punico by Silius Italicus, illuminated by Zanobi Strozzi and Francesco Pesellino (fifteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 162 on-line Lat. XIV, 35 (=4054): De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii by Martianus Capella, illuminated by Attavante degli Attavanti for Matthias Corvinus (fifteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 166 on-line

Oriental languages Or. 90 (= 57): İskendernâme by Taceddin İbrahim bin Hizir Ahmedî, illuminated Ottoman version of the Alexander Romance (fifteenth century)Zorzi, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia, p. 180

Biblical manuscripts Old Testament Gr. Z. 1 (=320): Old Testament (beginning with the Book of Job), companion to the Vatican codice Vat. Gr. 2106 (eighth century) on-line Gr. Z. 17 (=421): "Psalmi cum catena", the 150 Psalms with commentary and illustrations, (tenth-early eleventh century) on-line Gr. Z. 538 (=540): "Catena in Job", text of the Book of Job with catena and 30 miniatures (905)

New Testament

Uncial 030 Uncial 0243 Minuscule 205 Minuscule 207 Minuscule 208 Minuscule 209 Minuscule 210 Minuscule 211 Minuscule 212 Minuscule 213 Minuscule 214 Minuscule 215 Minuscule 217 Minuscule 354 Minuscule 355 Minuscule 357 Minuscule 405 Minuscule 406 Minuscule 407 Minuscule 408 Minuscule 409 Minuscule 410 Minuscule 411 Minuscule 412 Minuscule 413 Minuscule 414 Minuscule 415 Minuscule 416 Minuscule 417 Minuscule 418 Minuscule 419 Minuscule 599 Minuscule 891 Minuscule 893 Lectionary 107 Lectionary 108 Lectionary 109 Lectionary 110 Lectionary 139 Lectionary 140 Lectionary 141 Lectionary 142 Lectionary 264 Lectionary 265 Lectionary 266 Lectionary 267 Lectionary 268 Lectionary 269

Cartography Fra Mauro map It. Z. 76 (=4783): "Bianco world map", nautical atlas by Andrea Bianco with eight portolan charts and two world maps (1436) on-line It. VI, 213 (=5982): "Corbitis Atlas" (early fifteenth century) on-line

Music manuscripts There are some important music manuscripts. The composers represented include: Francesco Cavalli operas (from the collection of mostly Venetian opera manuscripts amassed by Marco Contarini, which was donated to the Biblioteca Marciana in 1843). Works include La Calisto (1651) and Erismena (1655, 1670). Domenico Scarlatti keyboard sonatas (volumes acquired from the singer Farinelli).

Notes

References Labowsky, Lotte, Bessarion's Library and the Biblioteca Marciana, Six Early Inventories (Rome: Storia e Letteratura, 1979) Raines, Dorit, 'Book Museum or Scholarly Library? The ‘Libreria di San Marco’ in a Republican Context', Ateneo veneto, CXCVII, terza serie, 9/II (2010), 31–50 () Rapp, Claudia, 'Bessarion of Nicaea', in Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis, ed., The Classical Tradition (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010), pp. 125–126 Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Græca D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1740) Zanetti, Antonio Maria, ed., Latina et italica D. Marci Bibliotheca codicum manu scriptorum per titulos digesta (Venetiis: Casparis Ghirardi & Simonem Occhi, 1741) Zorzi, Marino, Biblioteca Marciana Venezia (Firenze: Nardini, 1988)

External links

Catalogue of Greek codices Catalogue of Latin codices (includes French and Italian codices)