Images of Iliad Manuscripts from the Marciana Library
Editors: Casey Ducute & Mary Ebbott
Architects: Christopher Blackwell & Neel Smith
This collection contains images commissioned by the Center for Hellenic Studies of four Homeric manuscripts of the Iliad, housed in the Marciana Library: the tenth-century Marcianus Graecus Z. 454 (= 822) (Venetus A), the eleventh-century Marcianus Graecus Z. 453 (= 821) (Venetus B), the twelfth/thirteenth-century Marcianus Graecus Z. 458 (= 841), and Codex E4. Venetus A is the primary basis for all modern Iliad editions; the deluxe edition is unequalled in beauty and design by any other surviving Iliad manuscript. The scholarly commentary in its margins is extremely valuable; much of it derives from scholars affiliated with the library of Ptolemaic Alexandria in the second and first centuries BCE. The margins of Venetus B and the twelfth/thirteenth-century Marcianus Graecus Z. 458 preserve commentary different from in Venetus A, providing further information about the epics and past interpretation.
Imaging occurred at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana 5/2/07 - 6/5/07 and the summer of 2010. Imaging of Codex E4 made possible by the cooperation of the Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escoria.
Content is provided here under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Copyright the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. Anyone seeking access to these images under terms other than these must contact the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.