Basilius Magnus
The manuscript, probably not originally meant for the royal library, was copied in Johannes Vitez’s environment. Later, however, it entered the monarch’s collection, and the coat of arms was added by the “First Heraldic Painter”. The coat of arms on the title-page is incomplete because it was scratched out at a later time. The removal of King Matthias’s possessor’s note from the Corvinas was typical of the first decades of the 16th century. From the 17th century onwards, such an intervention would have been inconceivable as after the destruction and scattering of the collection of Buda, any preserved item was regarded as a valuable relic.
On the first flyleaf of the codex, we find the letters CMP and the number 441. The letters stand for C[uspinianus] M[edicus] P[oeta] ‒ Iohannes Cuspinianus (1473‒1529), notable humanist of Vienna and leading figure of the academy-like circle Learned Society of the Danube who accomplished several diplomatic missions in Buda. The number is the manuscript’s shelfmark in Cuspinianus’s library that after his death was purchased by Fabri, archbishop of Vienna. Cuspinianus was most interested in history as reflected by the other codices he acquired from the Corvina Library. Therefore, Saint Basil’s theological work could rather be taken from Buda by J. A. Brassicanus and only then passed into Cuspinianus’s possession. (Ferenc Földesi. The entry written for the guide to the exhibition was made on the basis of Edina Zsupán’s description below: The CORVINA LIBRARY and the Buda Workshop. Exhibition Catalog. (Publication in progress.) Budapest: NSZL, 2019, Cat. H21)
DATA SHEET
Shelfmark: Cod. Lat. 426.Country: Hungary
City: Budapest
Keeper location: National Széchényi Library
Author: Saint Basil the Great (Basilius Magnus)
Content: Homiliae in hexaemeron
Translator: Eustachius diaconus
Writing medium: parchment
Number of sheets: 44 fol.
Sheet size: 243 × 164 mm
Place of writing: probably Hungary
Date of writing: Mid-15th century
Scriptor: Central European (probably Hungarian) scriptor. From the vicinity of Iohannes Vitéz?
Illuminator: "first" heraldic painter
Place of illumination: Buda
Date of illumination: late 1480s
Crest: The crest is unfilled; floral ornaments around it
Possessor, provenience: Johannes Cuspinianus (see possessor entry on f. Ir); Johannes Fabri, Bishop of Vienna (comp. bookplates); St. Nicolas College of the University of Vienna (1540); University of Vienna; Imperial Court Library, Vienna (1756); in line with the Venice Agreement (signed on November 27, 1932), it was returned to National Széchényi Library.
Binding: nubuck leather
Language of corvina: Latin
Hungarian translation(s) of work(s) included in the corvina: Nagy Szent Baszileiosz művei / [ford. és a jegyzeteket írta Vanyó László]. Budapest : Szt. István Társ., 2001 ([Győr] : Széchenyi Ny.)[nem biztos, hogy benne van]