Walters Ms. W.355, Aesop, Fables; Fables of Aesop Translated by Laurentius Valla; Distichs of Cato; Book of Proverbs; Book of Ecclesiastes Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables Translated by Laurentius Valla Distichs of Cato Book of Proverbs Book of Ecclesiastes Collection of Latin moralizing texts Aesop Aesopus Cato, the Elder, 234 B.C.-149 B.C. Dionysius Cato Text not by Cato, but commonly believed to be by him or Cato the Younger at time; Dionysius Cato is alternative used when error recognized Eusebius Hieronymus St. Jerome Principal cataloger Berlin, Nicole Cataloger Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934 Editor Herbert, Lynley Copy editor Dibble, Charles Contributor Berlin, Nicole Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Wiegand, Kimber Conservator Polidori, Elisabetta Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

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 Written in Italy in the fifteenth century, this manuscript contains a collection of Latin moralizing texts. The first section is only partially preserved but contains some of Aesop's fables in Latin. Aesop (ca. 620 – 564) was a Greek fabulist about whom we know very little, other than excerpts about his life found in later sources such as Aristotle, Herodotus, and Plutarch. Although numerous fables are attributed to Aesop, it is more likely that his reputation as a storyteller led to many later fables being attributed to him retroactively (Lefkowitz 3). The second text in the manuscript is also comprised of Aesop's fables but, as the rubric indicates, this is a specific translation completed by Italian humanist Lorenzo (Laurentius) Valla (1407-1457) in 1438. From the dedication in another manuscript (Palermo, Biblioteca Comunale 2Qqc79) we know that Valla completed the translation for Ferrante, the son of the Alfonso of Arragon (also called Alfonso II, King of Naples from 1494-1495). The third text contains some of the so-called "Distichs of Cato," a collection of proverbial wisdom written in Latin. In the medieval and renaissance periods it was erroneously attributed to the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234–149 BCE) and sometimes even his great-grandson Cato the Younger (95-46 BCE). The text, however, was most likely composed in the third or fourth century CE by an anonymous author sometimes referred to as Dionysius Cato. The final two texts in the manuscript are canonical wisdom books from the Old Testament--the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes. The Book of Proverbs is prefaced by a letter (or prologue) from St. Jerome to Bishops (later Saints) Chromatius and Heliodorus, all of whom lived in the late fourth century CE. In the letter Jerome dedicates his translation of the Book of Solomon (otherwise known as Proverbs) from Greek into Latin to the two Italian clergymen, with whom he retained an ongoing correspondence. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.355 The primary language in this manuscript is Latin. 1r - 98v Collection of Latin moralizing texts 1r - 32v Aesop's Fables Tangit quod fugias quodque sequaris iter Variety of Aesop's fables in Latin Begins imperfectly with version of "De Attica terra et rege" or "Jupiter and the Frogs" (missing first line) Explicit liber Asopi deo gras amen / amen 33r - 39v Aesop's Fables Translated by Laurentius Valla Rubric partially reads: Fabulle Esope e greco a Laurentes Vallesi secretaris illust'ssmus [?] regis aragonis dicate...dm regis secretaio [sic] De vulpe et capro 40r - 54v Distichs of Cato Cum ego Cato anima adverterem First ten lines are Cato addressing his sons, telling them he will teach them how to live with dignity and honor; following lines are one-line proverbial sayings or "monostichs" (monosticha) written one after another; beginning on fol. 40v are two-line phrases or "distichs" (disticha) that take up rest of text, beginning with "Si deus est animus, nobis ut carmina dicunt, Hic tibi praecipue sit pura mente colendus." Interlinear commentary added between each line of distichs Deo Gratias Amen 57r - 77r Book of Proverbs Chromatio et helyodoro episcopis Jeronimus First page of text (fol. 57r) contains letter (prologue) from St. Jerome to Bishops (later Saints) Chromatius and Heliodorus; Proverbs begin on fol. 57 with "parabolae Salomonis filii David regis..." Deo Gratias 78r - 98v Book of Ecclesiastes Verba Ecclesiastes filii David regis ierusalem

Chris Clarkson has suggested the paper is fourteenth century, but given the date of the text, it is more likely fifteenth century; binding retains the original parchment guards hooked around each quire; the pastedowns and flyleaves at the front and back composed of bifolios of modern wove twentieth-century paper that are hooked in to the first and last gatherings

 Foliation: i + 98 + i13.7 21.5 13.0 9.5 Modern (?) ink foliation, upper right corners, rectos

Quire 1: 10 + 1 (fols. 1-11); Quire 2: 12 (fols. 12-23); Quire 3: 16 (fols. 24-39); Quires 4-8: 8 (fols. 40-79); Quire 9: 6 + 1 (fols. 80-86); Quire 10: 12 (fols. 87-98) Occasional catchword; in black ink, visible in lower center margin versos, as on fol. 11v Fol. 11 is tipped in at the parchment guard; fol. 80 is tipped in at the parchment guard and has its edges cut differently than the rest of the quire, further suggesting it is added in

 Each individual text is ruled differently so the written surface height and width are averages Commentary on each distich written in smaller script than rest of text Each individual text in a differently-sized humanist script First seven folios decorated with marginal drawings of six different fables: Frogs who asked for a king (fols. 1r-v), Hawk and the doves (fol. 2r), Thief and the dog (fol. 2v), Boar and the fox (fol. 3r), Mountain in labor (fol. 3v), wolves and the sheep (fol. 4r) Seven marginal line drawings illustrating Aesop's fables (fols. 1r-4r); added detail throughout in red and blue ink; in some parts the red and blue ink is used to divide text sections or lines (such as on fol. 57r); text in black ink Frogs and an Idol Aesop's Fables: Frogs Who Asked for a King Pen Drawing Frogs and a Dragon Aesop's Fables: Frogs Who Asked for a King Pen Drawing Hawk and Doves Aesop's Fables: Hawk and the Doves Pen Drawing Man and Dog Aesop's Fables: The Thief and the Dog Pen Drawing Boar and Fox Aesop's Fables: The Boar and The Fox Pen Drawing Men and a Grassy Mount Aesop's Fables: The Mountain in Labor Pen Drawing A Wolf and Sheep Aesop's Fables: The Wolves and The Sheep Pen Drawing

Bound in Italy, in seventeenth (?) century, with limp (goat?) vellum; Chris Clarkson suggests that perhaps the modern repairer put the cover back on upside down based on the direction of the title on the spine; the pastedowns and flyleaves at the front and back composed of bifolios of modern wove twentieth-century paper that are hooked in to the first and last gatherings; evidence of three alum-tawed straps on the top board, suggesting a late sixteenth to early seventeenth binding to Clarkson; both the top and bottom cover made of thin paste board; title of the book written in ink on the spine reads “Esopi Fabulae Pron Eccles”

 15th century CE Italy Created in Italy, fifteenth century Leo S. Olschki (bookseller, Florence) ca. 1912 (list no. 14, inv. no 8578) Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Olschki, ca. 1912 Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest Relevant Works De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 834, no. 454. The Walters Art Gallery. "Greek Orthodox Celebration." The Walters Art Gallery Bulletin 33, no. 6 (1981). Lefkowitz, Jeremy. "Aesop and Animal Fable." In The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life, edited by Gordon Lindsay Campbell. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014: 1-23. Carr, Annemarie Weyl, Lynn Jones, and Kathleen Maxwell. Byzantine images and their afterlives: essays in honor of Annemarie Weyl Carr. London: Routledge, 2016, p.182, illustration no. 8.2. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Textbook Scholarly compendium Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Literature Japanese Japan Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Literature Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Italian Humanistic Italy 15th century Literature -- Poetry Private devotional text Scholarly compendium Illumination Manuscript Walters Art Museum Devotion Scripture Book Codex Drawing Illustration