LATIN EXTRACTS IN EARLY MODERN MANUSCRIPTS

Guillaume Coatalen (CY Cergy Paris Université, France)

Jessica Edmondes (Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford)

The Latin text is from the Latin sources not from the manuscripts themselves.

SP State Papers

Ede, bibe, lude, etc. (Eat, drink, have fun, etc. (Sardanapalus’s epitaph at Tarsus, see Strabo, De situ orbis, 14.5.9))

Robert Pendarves his booke amen, written by me … Anno Domini 1652, Folger MS V.a.629, fol. 25r

Alain de Lille 

Parabolae

Nil aliud nisi se valet ardens ethna cremare sic se non alios invidus igne coquit (Fiery Etna can only consume itself; so too does a jealous man roast himself, not others, with his fire (trans.  Thomson and Perraud))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 13r

Dum calor est, et pulchra dies, formica laborat, Ne pereat, dum nix venerit alta, fame (While there is warmth and fine days the ant labours lest he should lose his high repute when the snow comes (trans.  Thomson and Perraud))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 4r

qui iacet in terra non habet unde cadat (He who lies on the ground can fall no farther)

The Lord Deputy to Lord Conway and Killultagh, SP 63/256 f.103, 1 June 1637

Alcuinus

Epistolae 100, 0233D: Amici tibi sint multi, consiliarius autem unus (Eccli. VI, 6: Multi pacifici sint tibi, et consiliarius sit tibi unus de mille)

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r, attributed to Cicero (Actione in Verre tertia, Gilbert Cavendish, A discourse against flatterie (1628), STC 6906, 28, note 12)

John Chrysostom

Homilia in Matthaeum, 46, 23.7: justicia … non est misericordia, sed fatuitas

Sloane MS 2215, fol. 3, commonplace book concerning select wisdoms from various authors, (1594-   )

Ad populum Antiochenum, Hom. V: ubi peccatum ibi procella [where there is sin, there is tumult]

Diary of John Ward, Vol. 1, ca. 1648, Folger MS V.a.284, p. 209

Cicero  

            Academica

Cic. Ac. Pos. 3: digladiari autem semper, depugnare in facinorosis et audacibus quis non cum miserrimum turn etiam stultissimum dixerit? (But to be always crossing swords and fighting to the end among criminals and desperadoes—who would not call this a most pitiable and also a most foolish occupation? (H. Rackham))

The Second. That the bands of footmen are at this present rather an offence than a defence to the province of Munster. SP 63/135 f.152v, 1588

            Epistulae ad Familiares

Cic. Fam. 1.7.5: ex eventu homines de tuo consilio existimaturos videremus; si cecidisset ut volumus et optamus, omnis te et sapienter et fortiter, si aliquid esset offensum, eosdem illos et cupide et temere fecisse dicturos. qua re, quid adsequi possis, non tam facile est nobis quam tibi, cuius prope in conspectu Aegyptus est, iudicare (men are likely to judge of your pokey according to its issue, that if it should fall out as we hope and pray it will, everybody wall say you acted with wisdom and courage ; if there be any hitch, the same people will say you acted with greed and rashness. And so it is not so easy for us to judge how far you may succeed, as it is for you, who have Egypt almost before your eyes (trans. W. Glynn Williams))

Throckmorton to Cecil. SP 70/26 f.79v,  May 16 1561

Cic. Fam. 10.25.3: omnia te metiri dignitate malim quam ambitione maioremque (judge of everything by consideration for your true position (trans. W. Glynn Williams))

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v, attributed to Pliny 

            De Legibus

Cic. Leg. 1.18: lex est ratio summa insita in natura, quae iubet ea, quae facienda sunt, prohibetque contraria (Law is the highest reason, implanted in Nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the opposite (trans. Clinton W. Keyes))

Sir Francis Castillion, Letter book [ca. 1590-1638], Yale MS Osborn fb69, p. 231 (pencil pagination) 

            De Natura Deorum

Cic. Nat. 3.75: donum [est] divinum rationis et consilii (Reason and counsayle is the Gifte of God (trans. from the manuscript))

Sir Francis Castillion, Letter book [ca. 1590-1638], Yale MS Osborn fb69, [p. 238]

            De Officiis

Cic. Off. 1.63: scientia, quae est remota ab iustitia, calliditas potius quam sapientia est appellanda (knowledge that is divorced from justice [is] called cunning rather than wisdom(trans. Walter Miller))

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v, attributed to Plato 

Cic. Off. 1.83: in tranquillo tempestatem adversam optare dementis est, subvenire autem tempestati quavis ratione sapientis (only a madman … in a calm, would pray for a storm; a wise man’s way is, when the storm does come, to withstand it (trans. Walter Miller))

Nicholas Webster, fl. 1650, Certain profitable and well experienced collections for making conserve of fruits . . . as also of surgery, approved medicines, Folger V.a.364, front endleaf 5 recto

Cic. Off. 1.87: sine acerbitate dissensio (there was in it no trace of rancour (trans. Walter Miller))

Sir John Davys to Sir Ralph Wynwood. SP 63/232 f.212, Oct. 31 1614  

Cic. Off. 2.43: ficta omnia celeriter tamquam flosculi decidunt, nee simulatum potest quicquam esse diuturnum (all pretences soon fall to the ground like fragile flowers, and nothing counterfeit can be lasting (trans. Walter Miller))

Nicholas Webster, fl. 1650, Certain profitable and well experienced collections for making conserve of fruits . . . as also of surgery, approved medicines, Folger V.a.364, front endleaf 5 recto

Cic. Off. 2.71: fundamentum enim est perpetuae commendationis et famae iustitia, sine qua nihil potest esse laudabile. (For the foundation of enduring reputation and fame is justice, and without justice there can be nothing worthy of praise. (trans. Walter Miller))

Nicholas Webster, fl. 1650, Certain profitable and well experienced collections for making conserve of fruits . . . as also of surgery, approved medicines, Folger V.a.364, front endleaf 5 recto   

Cic. Off. 3.30 omne quod honestum est, idem etiam est utile [Est enim nihil utile, quod idem non honestum (For nothing can be expedient which is not at the same time morally right (trans. Walter Miller)]

Dr Dale to Burghley SP 77/3 f.215, April 26 1588      

           De Oratore

Cic. De Orat. 2.36: Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae nuntia vetustatis 

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r 

            In Pisonem

Cic. Pis. 24. 57: fructus verae virtutis honestissimus (the most honourable reward of genuine virtue (trans. C.D. Younge))

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v 

            De Republica

Cic. Rep. 5.8: Ut enim gubernatori cursus secundus, medico salus, imperatori victoria, sic huic moderatori rei publicae beata civium vita proposita est, ut opibus firma, copiis locuples, gloria ampla, virtute honesta sit; huius enim operis maximi inter homines atque optimi illum esse perfectorem volo. (Letters to Atticus 8.11.1 As a safe voyage is the aim of the pilot, health of the physician, victory of the general, so the ideal statesman will aim at happiness for the citizens of the state to give them material security, copious wealth, wide-reaching distinction and untarnished honour. This, the greatest and finest of human achievements, I want him to perform. (trans. E. O. Winstedt))

The Second. That the bands of footmen are at this present rather an offence than a defence to the province of Munster. SP 63/135 f.149r, 1588

            Tusculanae Disputationes

Cic. Tusc. 1.2: honos alit artes, omnesque incenduntur ad studia gloria (honor nourishes arts, and glory is the spur with all to studies (trans. Young))

Sir Rob. Wingfield to [Henry VIII], Cotton Vitellius B/XIX f.349v, 28 Nov 1516  

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v 

Horace

             Ars Poetica

Hor. Ars Poet. 343: Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci (He has won every vote who has blended profit and pleasure (trans. Fairclough))

BL Add MS 5956, fol. 2r, a miscellany of prose and poetry (1598-1641)

              Epistles

Hor. Ep. 1.2.40: dimidium facti qui coepit habet (Well begun is half done (trans. H.R. Fairclough))

Merchant’s notebook containing notes on the wool trade, letters and proclamations, astrological notes, travel directions, 1538-1578, Queens’ College MS 34, paste in r

Hor. Ep. 1.11.27: cælum, non animum, mutant, qui trans mare currunt (they change their clime, not their mind, who rush across the sea (trans. H.R. Fairclough))

William Norris, 1602-3, commonplace book, Sloane MS 1606, fol. 1v

Memorandum concerning the affairs of Munster, [1598], SP 63/202/4, fol. 122v

Hor. Ep. 1.4.13: omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum(believe each day that dawns on you is your last (trans. Jon R. Stone))

Beinecke Osborn b234, p. [183] (https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2007331) William Hill, commonplace book, early 17th century

Hor. Ep. 1.4.13-14: omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum: grata superveniet quae non sperabitur hora (believe each day that dawns on you is your last; more gratefully will you greet the hour that is not expected (trans. Jon R. Stone))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 3v

Hor. Od. 3.3.8: Impavidum ferient ruinae  (ruins would smite him undismayed (trans. C.E. Bennett))

John Colville to Sir Robert Cecil SP 52/65 f.75, Sept. 9 1599  

Hor. Od. 3.4.45-6: qui terram inertem, qui mare temperat/uentosum et urbes regnaque tristia (Who rules dull earth and stormy seas,/And towns of men, and realms of pain (trans. Conington))

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v

Justus Lipsius

collimari ad unum scopum (aim at the same target) [Epistola 340: Cur nefas plures collimare ad unum scopum?]

Dr Dale to Burghley SP 77/3 f.215, April 26 1588      

Juvenal

             Satires

Juv. Sat. 6.268-72: Semper habet lites alternaque iurgia lectus / In quo nupta iacet, minimum dormitur in illo (The bed which contains a bride is always the scene of strife and mutual bickering. There’s precious little sleep to be had there (trans. Niall Rudd))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 1r

Martial

Harborne to Walsingham. SP 97/1 f.66v, June 28 1584  

Mart. 2.59.3-4: Frange toros, pete vina, rosas cape, tinguere nardo: Ipse iubet mortis te meminisse deus. (Crush the couches, call for wine, wear roses, anoint thee with nard ; the god himself bids thee to remember death. (trans. Walter C.A. Ker))

Thomas More         

Epigrammata

Qui capit uxorem defuncta uxore secundam / naufragus in tumido bis natat ille freto (The widower who marries again is a shipwrecked sailor who a second time sails the threatening sea (trans. Leicester Bradner))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 1v

Ovid
            Ars Amatoria

Besides, being young and a widow, she comes, as Ovid says of women going to see a play, to see and to be seen, that, perhaps, the Emperor may like her Ov. Ars.1.99: Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae (they come to see, they come that they may be seen (trans. J.H. Mozley))

Ov. Ars. 2.155: dos est uxoria lites (the dowry of a wife is quarrelling (trans. J.H. Mozley))

Sir Francis Castillion, Letter book [ca. 1590-1638], Yale MS Osborn fb69, p. 233 (pencil pagination) 

Ov. Ars. 3.546: Et studio mores convenienter eunt (And our behaviour is akin to our pursuit (trans. J.H. Mozley))

Throckmorton to Cecil. SP 70/26 f.78v,  May 16 1561

Ov. Ars.3.63–65: Nec quae praeteriit, iterum revocabitur unda, / Nec quae praeteriit, hora redire potest. / Utendum est aetate: cito pede labitur aetas (The wave that has gone by cannot be called back, the hour that has gone by cannot return. You must employ your time: time glides on with speedy foot (trans. J.H. Mozley))

Humfrey Coningsby’s verse miscellany c. 1580s, BL Harl. MS. 7392(2), fol. 11r

           Fasti

Ov. Fast. 1.485-6: quia conscia mens ut cuique est ita concipit intra/pectora pro facto spemque metumque suo (As each man’s conscience is, so doth it, for his deeds, conceive within his breast or hope or fear (trans. Sir James George Frazer), quoted by Montaigne Essais 2.5, ed. Rat p. 348)

John Colville to Sir Robert Cecil SP 52/65, fol.75, Sept. 9 1599

Ov. Fast. 6.771: Tempora labuntur, tacitisque senescimus annis,
et fugiunt freno non remorante dies. (Time slips away, and we grow old with silent lapse of years; there is no bridle that can curb the flying days.(trans. Sir James George Frazer))

Beinecke Osborn b234, p. [345] (https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2007331) William Hill, commonplace book, early 17th century

           Heroides

Ov. Her. 1.2: nil mihi rescribas attinet: ipse veni! (writing back is pointless: come yourself! (trans. G. P. Goold))

Sir George Carew to Florence McCarthy, SP 63/207/4, fol. 240, 1600

Ov. Her. 11.118:  diripiunt avidae viscera nostra ferae (Greedy wild beasts are rending in pieces the child my womb put forth.(trans. G. P. Goold))

Edward Dering (1598-1644), Folger X.d.530, fol. 20v, commonplace book

           Metamorphoses

Ov. Met. 1. 84-6: Pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram,/ homini sublime dedit, caelumque videre/iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. (though all other animals are prone, and fix their gaze upon the earth, he gave to man an uplifted face and bade him stand erect and turn his eyes to heaven.(trans. Miller))

Dorothy Phillips, A sermon book [manuscript], 1616-1617, Folger V.a.347, fol. 4r

Ov. Met. 1. 507: amor est mihi causa sequendi (love is the cause of my pursuit (trans. Miller))

Miscellany of verse, prose, drama, and other notes; English, Latin, and Greek; second half of the seventeenth century, Brotherton Collection, MS Lt 91, fol. 173r

Shall we so confirm the perfect description of Ovid in his Metamorphoses, that with flaming eyes and wrinkled faces ever pining and macerate we never cease the rage but by another man’s high displeasure and aggrievaunce? [Ov. Met. 2.775-83: pallor in ore sedet, macies in corpore toto. nusquam recta acies, livent robigine dentes,pectora felle virent, lingua est suffusa veneno; risus abest, nisi quem visi movere dolores; nec fruitur somno, vigilantibus excita curis, sed videt ingratos intabescitque videndo successus hominum carpitque et carpitur una suppliciumque suum est. (Pallor o’erspreads her face and her whole body seems to shrivel up. Her eyes are all awry, her teeth are foul with mould; green, poisonous gall o’erflows her breast, and venom drips down from her tongue. She never smiles, save at the sight of another’s troubles; she never sleeps, disturbed with wakeful cares; unwelcome to her is the sight of men’s success, and with the sight she pines away; she gnaws and is gnawed, herself her own punishment. (trans. Miller), many thanks to Stephanie McCarter for the identification]

Plain Speaking, SP 1/236 f.339, 1530

Ov. Met. 11.793: fecit amor maciem: longa internodia crurum (His passion made him lean; his legs between the joints are long (trans. Miller))

Daniel Foote, Commonplace book c. 1650, Sloane MS 595, fol. 3r

Ov. Met. 13.70:  Aspiciunt oculis superi mortalia justis (the gods regard the affairs of men with righteous eyes (trans. Miller)) 

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 2v

           Tristia

Ov. Tr. 1.1.41: carmina secessum scribentis et otia quaerunt (Poetry requires the writer to be in privacy and ease (trans. A. L. Wheeler))

Peter Bekwithius, of Calais, to Guillermus Groulius, M.A., of St. Omer (Adomarensis), SP 1/102 f.73, 1535

Ov. Tr. 1.4.1-2: Tinguitur oceano custos Erymanthidos ursae (The guardian of the Erymanthian bear dips in the ocean (trans. A. L. Wheeler)) 

Edward Dering (1598-1644), Folger X.d.530, fol. 29v, commonplace book

Ov. Tr. 3.4.25-6: crede mihi, bene qui latuit bene vixit, et intrafortunam debet quisque manere suam (Let me tell thee, he who hides well his life, lives well; each man ought to remain within his proper position (trans. A. L. Wheeler)) 

Pentadius

Carmina (anth. Riese) 268

Femina nulla bona est; vel, si bona contigit ulla/Nescio quo fato res mala facta bona est. (No woman can be good,/Or if a good one comes, then freakish fate/Good out of ill has managed to create (trans. J. Wight Duff))

Pliny the Younger

           Panegyricus

Plin. Pan. 42: Locupletabant et fiscum et aerarium non tam Voconiae et Iuliae leges, quam maiestatis singulare et unicum crimen, eorum qui crimine vacarent. Huius tu metum penitus sustulisti, contentus magnitudine qua nulli magis caruerunt, quam qui sibi maiestatem vindicabant (Both exchequer and treasury used to be enriched not so much by the Voconian and Julian laws as from the charges of high treason, the unique and only way of incriminating men who had committed no crime (trans. Betty Radice))

Sextus Propertius            

           Elegies

Prop. 2.28.21-22: Andromede monstris fuerat devota marinis,/ Haec eadem Persei nobilis uxor erat (Andromeda was vowed as sacrifice to a monster of the deep: she, none other, became the famed wife of Perseus (trans. Goold))

Sir Francis Castillion, Letter book [ca. 1590-1638], Yale MS Osborn fb69, p. 231 (pencil pagination) 

Prop. 3.1.14: Non datur ad musas currere lata via (Narrow is the path that leadeth to the Muses (trans. H. E. Butler))

Throckmorton to Cecil. SP 70/26, fol.78v,  May 16 1561

Proverbs

Mel in ore, verba lactis, fel in corde, fraus in factis

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r

vivere quisque diu quaerit bene vivere nemo / at bene quisque potest vivere nemo diu. (To live long all desire; to live well none: / Yet all may live well,  but none can live long (trans. Robert Fleming))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 3v

John Lilliat, verse miscellany c. 1550-ca.-1590s, Bodleain Rawl. poet. 148, fol. 110v

Publius Syrus 

Publius Syrus Sententiae 22 amare et sapere (vix deo conceditur) (to love and to be wise (is scarcely granted even to a god))

A device by the Earl of Essex for the Queen’s entertainment. SP 12/254 f.140r,  [Nov. 17.] 1595  

Seneca

          Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales

Sen. Ep. 4.3: Nullum malum est magnum, quod extremum est (No evil is great which is the last evil of all (trans. Richard M Gummere))

Dorothy Phillips, A sermon book [manuscript], 1616-1617, Folger V.a.347, fol. 112r

           Fragments

Sen. Frag. 39 Sapiens servabit tamquam legibus iussa, non tamquam diis grata

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r

          Naturales Quaestiones

Sen. Nat. 4A. 18: Si vera sunt, coram magno teste laudatus es; si falsa, sine teste derisus es (If they are true, you are praised in front of a great witness, yourself. If they are false, no one is a witness to your being made a fool of (trans. Thomas H. Corcoran))

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r

Terence

          Andria

Ter. An. 1.1.41: Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit.   

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r

          Eunuchus

Ter. Eu. 4.5.3: neque pes neque mens satis suom officium facit (neither feet nor senses were quite equal to their duty (trans. Henry Thomas Riley))

Sir Arthur Gorges To Sir Robert Cecil, Cecil Papers [297],  April 14 1600.

Vives

De tradendi disciplinis (Opera I, 1555, 505): Historia si adsit ex pueris facit senes : sin absit , ex senibus pueros. 

Christopher Rous, Commonplace book 1623-4, Folger L.b.674, fol. 3r

Virgil

           Eclogues

Verg. Ecl. 1.6: deus nobis haec otia fecit (it is a god who gave us this peace (trans. G. P. Goold))

 Sir Fulke Greville to Lord Cecil,  Aug. 1 [1604],  Cecil Papers 189.5

Verg. Ecl. 1.67: penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos (the Britons, wholly sundered from all the world (trans. G. P. Goold))

Sir Thomas Challoner to the Earl of Essex, Cecil Papers 37.56, Jan. 8 [1596-7], misattributed to Lucan  

          Eneid

Verg. A. 1.198-9: O socii — neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum —/O passi grauiora, dabit deus his quoque finem. (Companions mine, we have not failed to feel calamity till now. O, ye have borne far heavier sorrow (trans. Theodore C. Williams))

Rogers to Wilson SP 81/2 f.52v, June 28 1581  

Verg. A. 4.47-9: Quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes, quae surgere regna/
coniugio tali! Teucrum comitantibus armis/Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus! (O sister, what a throne,/and what imperial city shall be thine,/if thus espoused! With Trojan arms allied/how far may not our Punic fame extend/in deeds of power? (trans. J. B. Greenough))

Anthony Gosson to Davison, SP 83/12 f.57, Aug. 22 1579

Verg. A. 7.312: Flectere si nequeo Superos, Acheronta movebo (If Heaven I may not move, on Hell I call. (trans. Theodore C. Williams))

Thomas Tebolde to the Earl of Wiltshire SP 1/89 f.18v, 10 Jan 1535  

The King of Scotland to the Queen, Cecil Papers [1172], April 13 1594 

Sir Robert Cecil to Robert Bowes SP 52/53 f.53v, May 17 1594

Robert Bowes to Burghley SP 52/53 f.65, June 9 1594

Thomas Wenman to the Earl of Essex, Cecil Papers [786], Aug. 18 1599 

Richard Bower to Williamson, SP 29/367 f.211, Cecil Papers [2922], Jan. 27 1675 

Verg. A. 11.354: nec te ullius uiolentia uincat (Let not wild violence thy will restrain (trans. Theodore C. Williams))

Dr. Dale to Burghley, SP 77/4 f.227, July 12 1588  

Verg. A. 12.82-6: poscit equos gaudetque tuens ante ora frementis,/ [Pilumno quos ipsa decus dedit Orithyia],qui candore nives anteirent, cursibus auras./circumstant properi aurigae manibusque lacessunt/pectora plausa cavis et colla comantia pectunt. (he calls for his steeds, and exults to see them neighing before his face[—the steeds that Orithyia herself gave as a glory to Pilumnus], because they excelled the snows in whiteness and the gales in speed. The eager charioteers stand round, patting with hollow palms their sounding chests, and combing their flowing manes (trans. Theodore C. Williams))

           Georgics

Verg. Geo. 1.3: optima quaeque dies miseris mortalibus  aeui / prima fugit; subeunt morbi tristisque senectus / et labor, et durae rapit inclementia mortis. (Life’s fairest days are ever the first to flee for hapless mortals; on creep diseases, and gloomy age, and suffering; and stern death’s ruthlessness sweeps us away (trans. Henry R. Fairclough))

Edward Gunter, miscellany c. 1570s, Bodleian MS Rawl. poet. 108, fol. 18r

Verg. Geo. 4.76: si parva licet componere magnis (if we may compare small things with great (trans. Henry R. Fairclough))