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• The Wisdom of the Ages – Athenaeum Catalog (Format: PDF)
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De Consolatio Philosophie by Boethius, Date of Manuscript: ca. 1400-1425

Boethius’s best known work is the Consolation of Philosophy (De consolatione philosophiae), which he wrote most likely while in exile under house arrest or in prison while awaiting his execution, but his lifelong project was a deliberate attempt to preserve ancient classical knowledge, particularly philosophy.
This work represented an imaginary dialogue between himself and philosophy, with philosophy being personified by a woman. The book argues that despite the apparent inequality of the world, there is, in Platonic fashion, a higher power and everything else is secondary to that divine Providence. #0681

Opuscula by John Chrysostom, Date of Manuscript: ca. 1450-65

Humanist manuscript compilation of three short treaties on the virtues of the ascetics life by St. John Chrysostom, transcribed into Latin in northern Italy and pre-dating the printed editions. The author of the translation is unknown. #0811

Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle, Date of Manuscript: 1488

This rubricated manuscript in the Latin translation of Leonardo Bruni, the first Florentine scholar to use the word “studia humanitatis” as a term for literary studies was used in grammar schools.
This couples with the large number of interlinear and marginal notations are evidence that the text was not only transmitted among the intellectual elites.  Originally written in Greek and based on lectures Aristotle gave in Athens in the fourth century B.C., concerns the end to which human behavior should be directed.  For a person to be happy, he says, they must not simply pursue pleasure, but to do well those things which are distinctly human, namely the exercise of intellectual abilities.  But, as he also explains, virtue is not solely intellectual, and mankind has a moral aspect as well. #0672

Verrine Orations Manuscript by Marcus Tullius Cicero, Date of Manuscript: 1476

Illuminated Manuscript on Parchment, in Latin. Written in the humanist style in Padua, Italy circa 1476, this volume contains Marcus Tullius Cicero’s “Verrine Orations,” a series of speeches Cicero made in 70 B.C. The speeches were made during the trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily, who was on trial for corruption and extortion. Only Cicero spoke during the trial, despite other planned orators. Verres’ lawyer, Hortensius, advised him to plead no contest and go into voluntary exile after hearing Cicero’s speeches. By the end of 70 B.C., Verres was living in exile, while Cicero was thrust into public view and considered to be the greatest orator in Rome. The trial also placed Cicero’s political career on the fast track and was elected to the Aedile in 69 B.C., an office of the Roman Republic that regulated public festivals, maintenance of public buildings, and had powers to enforce public order. Considered to be the master of Latin prose, Cicero is credited with transforming Latin into a versatile literary medium and influencing several philosophers including Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, and John Locke. #0755