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| Folio 188 recto of Escorialensis Ω.I.12 |
Escorialensis Ω.I.12 (= Allen E4; West F), an eleventh-century CE manuscript of the
Iliad now housed in the
library of the Escorial in Spain, is not a manuscript that has received much scholarly attention, despite its antiquity and despite the fact that the layout and the organization of its text and scholia set it apart from the other tenth- and eleventh-century manuscripts of the
Iliad with scholia. And yet these distinctions immediately raise many fascinating questions about the manuscript’s history and sources. Where was this manuscript constructed? Why was it acquired for Philip’s library, in addition to the
Iliad manuscript known as Escorialensis Υ.I.1? Are the two manuscripts related in any way, or is it simply a coincidence that they were both for sale in Venice in 1572 and both were purchased for Philip’s library? Is the unusual layout of Escorialensis Ω.I.12 reflective of a separate channel of transmission for its text and scholia? What kind of scholia does it contain and how do they relate to those of other manuscripts?
A preliminary exploration of this manuscript is
now available on the Homer Multitext site. This introduction is meant to be an invitation to others to study the manuscript in more depth using the
high-resolution images we acquired in 2010. We encourage you to build on this work, and let us know about any publications or presentations that result.
