Master Art

This manuscript was copied in the circle of the eminent humanists who founded the Sorbonne Press in Paris, Jean Heynlin and Guillaume Fichet. It is based on two editions of Cicero’s De officiis, one printed in Paris in 1471-1472 by the Sorbonne Press, the other printed first in Venice in 1481, of the first edition of Pietro Marso’s influential commentary. The humanist scribe of the present manuscript was clearly a careful reader of both imprints, and it seems likely that this codex was a preparatory manuscript for another edition of Cicero by the Sorbonne Press.