OVID, Heroides Electronic version according to TEI P5.1 Fragmentarium - Digital Research Laboratory for Medieval Manuscript Fragments

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 Victoria, B.C. University of Victoria Libraries Ms.Lat.7 OVID, Heroides 1401-1475 Italy Latin Epistulae Heroidum On the recto are the beginning words of the ending of XVII and beginning of XVIII. The only two legible lines and words of XVII read "Cet(er)a p(er) s-" and "Que m-". Following this is an empty line, and then the beginning of XVIII, reading "M[[c/t]]ti-". The bottom visible line is a portion of vides, "d(e)s." By counting the remaining lines (and the continuation of text on the verso), the last line of the recto would have begun at "redditur." The verso (front-facing side) of the fragment has the ends instead of beginning of lines. It begins at "e(st)" and the last clear word is "-eror," though there is, in thinner ink, the ghost of the word "turre," the last word of the next line.  https://www.loebclassics.com/view/ovid-heroides/1914/pb_LCL041.247.xml Paper 1 in-situ fragment patch70 90120 14040 50120 12082–77 mm long x 48 mm wide

Cut to serve as a patch, this bottom corner of a page has a clean edge along the top, bottom, and right-hand side. The left side is ripped unevenly. The text is in good condition, even on the underside, except where there is evidence of text transfer onto the parchment beneath.

Handwritten paper copies of OVID's Heroides are difficult to locate, and it is likely the original manuscript was created for personal use. Like other commonplace books at the time, it may have been heavily annotated (there is some evidence of this, nearly illegible, on the fragment above and between the words "illa nataret") and amidst a collection of other literature. 

 Lead 40 50 7 7

Italian Semigothic 

 Colour-filled capital letters are visible on the recto in letters C and Q. Original colour may have been red or burgundy; currently it appears a faded gold or brown. Also on the recto, the capital M denoting the beginning of XVIII is two-lines tall and unique to the 15th century. Alone, the left and right strokes of the M resemble mirrored "P"s, while the center appears as a hollow I. They connect with a flat line at the top, and the right-hand "P" completes with a small, upwards flourish at its bottom.    Paper copies of handwritten Heroides seem to be few and far between. This piece fits uniquely between the era of handwritten parchment codices and the widespread use of print.  Italian semigothic script suggests Italy, 1400-1475. Host volume is placed in Central or Northern Italy (Umbria?) ca. 1260-1300. Purchased by University of Victoria Libraries from Les Enluminures (TM 785) in 2017.  Description by: Juls Macdonell, UVic 2023 "Choir Breviary (Franciscan Use)". University of Victoria Libraries, https://www.uvic.ca/library/locations/home/spcoll/collections/medieval/ms-lat-7.php#:~:text=Used%20for%20singing%20by%20the,the%20private%20Mass)%2C%20the%20Franciscan   Ovid. Heroides. Amores. Translated by Grant Showerman. Revised by G. P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 41. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1914.