Vergil

Vocabulary Mastery Curves for Aeneid and Gallic War 2

    How many lemmata (dictionary headwords) does one have to master to read Latin comfortably? In the case of Vergil's Aeneid and Caesar's Gallic War the answer to this question can be represented as a graph, thanks to data collected by LASLA in a human inspetion and parsing of these texts. The graph here represents the percentage of all lemmata in the works which is accounted for by the top 1000 most frequent lemmata in those texts (excluding proper names). Knowing the 20 most frequent lemmata, along with the rules of Latin morphology, the reader will recognize 20% of word forms in the Aeneid and 28% of those in the Gallic War. Knowing 100 frequent lemmata, the reader will recognize 38% of word forms in the Aeneid and 52% of those in the Gallic War. The top 1,000 lemmata account for 81% and 91% of word forms, respectively).The LASLA data were analyzed by Seth Levin and Connor Ford. The visualization was produced by Seth Levin and Connor Ford using Excel. 

    Type
    Image
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
    Date
    2016

    Vocabulary Mastery Curves for Aeneid and Gallic War 1

      How many lemmata (dictionary headwords) does one have to master to read Latin comfortably? In the case of Vergil's Aeneid and Caesar's Gallic War the answer to this question can be represented as a graph, thanks to data collected by LASLA in a human inspetion and parsing of these texts. The graph here represents the percentage of all lemmata in the works which is accounted for by the top 100 most frequent lemmata in those texts (excluding proper names). Knowing the 20 most frequent lemmata, along with the rules of Latin morphology, the reader will recognize 20% of word forms in the Aeneid and 28% of those in the Gallic War. Knowing 100 frequent lemmata, the reader will recognize 38% of word forms in the Aeneid and 52% of those in the Gallic War. Another graph represents the same figures for the top 1,000 lemmata (81% and 91% respectively).The LASLA data were analyzed by Seth Levin and Connor Ford. The visualization was produced by Seth Levin and Connor Ford using Excel. 

      Type
      Image
      License
      Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
      Date
      2016

      80 most frequent non-core lemmata in the Aeneid

        The most frequent non-core lemmata (dictionary headwords) in Vergil's Aeneid, including proper names. The data derives from human inspection and parsing of the Aeneid carried out by LASLA. The data were analyzed and collated with the DCC Core Latin Vocabulary by Lara Frymark, Seth Levin, and Connor Ford. The visualization was produced by Seth Levin using Tableau. See full data here.

        Type
        Image
        License
        Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
        Agent
        Date
        2016

        80 most frequent lemmata in the Aeneid

          The most frequent lemmata (dictionary headwords) in Vergil's Aeneid, excluding proper names. The data derives from human inspection and parsing of the Aeneid carried out by LASLA. The data were analyzed and collated with the DCC Core Latin Vocabulary by Lara Frymark, Seth Levin, and Connor Ford. The visualization was produced by Seth Levin using Tableau. In the Aeneid, the only non-core lemma present in the top eighty is the interjection O. See full data here.

          Type
          Image
          License
          Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
          Agent
          Date
          2016
          Image Credit

          Claude Lorrain: Aeneas Hunting

            Sketchbook drawing by Claude Lorraine: Coast scene with Aeneas hunting, illustration from Virgil's 'Aeneid', I, 158-93, translated by Annibale Caro, record of painting in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brussels from the Liber Veritatis; in foreground Aeneas and Achates hunting a herd of deer, beyond at left the Trojan fleet in a harbour. 1672 Pen and brown ink and grey wash, with grey-brown wash (British Museum)

            Associated Passages
            Type
            Image
            License
            Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
            Date
            1672
            Dimensions
            193mm x 255 mm
            Inscription
            Signed, inscribed and dated: "CLAVDIO/fecit/Roma/1672[formerly 1670]" and inscribed: "libro Di Virgilio/folio 10" Verso inscribed with notes
            Location
            London: The British Museum

            Bonasone: Neptune calming the Tempest

              Comments

              Attributed to Giulio Bonasone (Italian, active Rome and Bologna, 1531–after 1576) (in Bartsch, but questioned)

              Attributed to Girolamo Fagiuoli (Italian, active Bologna, by 1539, died 1574 Bologna) by S. Boorsch

              After Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi) (Italian, Florence 1501–1547 Rome) (Metropolitan Museum)

              Bartsch, although he lists this print under Bonasone, doubts that it was done by this artist. The editors of The Illustrated Bartsch concur in doubting the attribution. Massari accepts the attribution. (Museum of Fine Art, Boston)

              Associated Passages
              Type
              Image
              Date
              1531–76
              Culture
              Medium
              Location
              New York, Metropolitan Museum

              Vat.lat. 3225 31v

                F: Fulvii Ursini schedae Bibliothecae Vaticanae (Vaticanus Latinus 3225), also known as the Vergilius Vaticanus or "Vatican Vergil." A magnificent illustrated codex written in Italy in rustic capitals at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century AD. The surviving 75 leaves contain parts of the Georgics and scattered sections from throughout the Aeneid. Originally it would have included the complete Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid. 50 illustrations survive (see Wright 2011, full text at Google Books) out of an original total of around 280. Though the text contains many errors it nonetheless preserves some readings of great importance (Conte 2011, x), and is the one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid.

                Comments

                Wright 1993, 1-2:

                "The Vatican Vergil is the most important surviving ancient example of an illustrated book of classical literature. We have several early illustrated biblical manuscripts, but the Vatican Vergil, having been made in Rome within a couple of decades of the year 400, is older than all but one of these, and because of its classical contents it draws on still older traditions. We also have a few ancient illustrated scientific texts, but they necessarily allow only a limited range of artistic expression. For illustrated classical literature we have only two other ancient manuscripts, both from later in the fifth century: the Ambrosian Iliad is a sadly damaged set of miniatures cut out of a book once generally comparable in character to the Vatican Vergil, while the Codex Romanus of Vergil is a large and pretentious book, but it has carelessly painted illustrations that in many aspects suggest the transition from classical to medieval bookmaking. Therefore a close study of the Vatican Vergil offers our best opportunity to find out how a fine illustrated book was made in classical antiquity, how it embodied long-standing traditions of classical art.

                "This study must be undertaken carefully, with great patience. First there is the problem of the sad condition of our book (now Vat. lat. 3225 in the Vatican Library). Its seventy-five surviving folios are scattered fragments, sometimes a single leaf, sometimes a cluster of four or five successive leaves; they now contain fifty illustrations, some of them badly damaged. But from these fragments it is easy to reconstruct the form of the original book. It must have contained, as was customary at the time, all the canonical works of Vergil but no introductions or other accessory texts, and so it comprised about 440 folios bound in one volume. Extrapolating from the surviving illustrations and the traces of pigment from lost paintings, we can conclude that there were about 280 illustrations. The book was a precious copy of Vergil, fully illustrated but reasonably handy in size, made to be read and enjoyed. Where we have a relatively well-preserved group of successive folios we can appreciate directly the character of the book, but we must take a deliberate effort to imagine it in perfect condition and in its full original extent.

                "A fine book of this kind was still a fairly new invention when the Vatican Vergil was produced; indeed, no surviving book of comparable quality is significantly older. Previously the standard form of book had been the papyrus roll, but that form had serious disadvantages, especially for the luxury market. Each book of the Aeneid or of the Georgics required a separate roll, while all ten Eclogues could be written on one roll. A reader unrolled the roll from the right hand into the left while reading columns of text, and then rolled it back up before putting it away. Papyrus has a relatively rough surface that absorbs ink well and also holds pigments reasonably well, but it was much less appropriate than parchment for fine books. Papyrus is also relatively fragile, and therefore with constant use a roll would wear out rather quickly. A luxury roll could be made of parchment, but all the unrolling and rerolling hastened the process of causing the pigments of an illustration and even the ink of the text to flake off the smooth polished surface of the parchment. Once it was invented, the new codex form—our normal book—had enormous advantages, not only because it made handling easier, allowing a reader to turn quickly to a particular passage, but also because it permitted much more elaborate paintings. The heavy application of pigment for an elaborately decorated frame or a fully painted background, impractical in a roll, could now be used to make book illustrations that in style are miniature versions of the wall paintings known from Pompeii and Rome."

                Type
                Image
                Date
                early 5th c. AD
                Medium
                Dimensions
                25 X 43 cm
                Location
                Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica
                Image Credit
                article Nav
                Previous in Series
                Next in Series

                Vat.lat. 3225 31r

                  F: Fulvii Ursini schedae Bibliothecae Vaticanae (Vaticanus Latinus 3225), also known as the Vergilius Vaticanus or "Vatican Vergil." A magnificent illustrated codex written in Italy in rustic capitals at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century AD. The surviving 75 leaves contain parts of the Georgics and scattered sections from throughout the Aeneid. Originally it would have included the complete Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid. 50 illustrations survive (see Wright 2011, full text at Google Books) out of an original total of around 280. Though the text contains many errors it nonetheless preserves some readings of great importance (Conte 2011, x), and is the one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid.

                  Comments

                  Wright 1993, 1-2:

                  "The Vatican Vergil is the most important surviving ancient example of an illustrated book of classical literature. We have several early illustrated biblical manuscripts, but the Vatican Vergil, having been made in Rome within a couple of decades of the year 400, is older than all but one of these, and because of its classical contents it draws on still older traditions. We also have a few ancient illustrated scientific texts, but they necessarily allow only a limited range of artistic expression. For illustrated classical literature we have only two other ancient manuscripts, both from later in the fifth century: the Ambrosian Iliad is a sadly damaged set of miniatures cut out of a book once generally comparable in character to the Vatican Vergil, while the Codex Romanus of Vergil is a large and pretentious book, but it has carelessly painted illustrations that in many aspects suggest the transition from classical to medieval bookmaking. Therefore a close study of the Vatican Vergil offers our best opportunity to find out how a fine illustrated book was made in classical antiquity, how it embodied long-standing traditions of classical art.

                  "This study must be undertaken carefully, with great patience. First there is the problem of the sad condition of our book (now Vat. lat. 3225 in the Vatican Library). Its seventy-five surviving folios are scattered fragments, sometimes a single leaf, sometimes a cluster of four or five successive leaves; they now contain fifty illustrations, some of them badly damaged. But from these fragments it is easy to reconstruct the form of the original book. It must have contained, as was customary at the time, all the canonical works of Vergil but no introductions or other accessory texts, and so it comprised about 440 folios bound in one volume. Extrapolating from the surviving illustrations and the traces of pigment from lost paintings, we can conclude that there were about 280 illustrations. The book was a precious copy of Vergil, fully illustrated but reasonably handy in size, made to be read and enjoyed. Where we have a relatively well-preserved group of successive folios we can appreciate directly the character of the book, but we must take a deliberate effort to imagine it in perfect condition and in its full original extent.

                  "A fine book of this kind was still a fairly new invention when the Vatican Vergil was produced; indeed, no surviving book of comparable quality is significantly older. Previously the standard form of book had been the papyrus roll, but that form had serious disadvantages, especially for the luxury market. Each book of the Aeneid or of the Georgics required a separate roll, while all ten Eclogues could be written on one roll. A reader unrolled the roll from the right hand into the left while reading columns of text, and then rolled it back up before putting it away. Papyrus has a relatively rough surface that absorbs ink well and also holds pigments reasonably well, but it was much less appropriate than parchment for fine books. Papyrus is also relatively fragile, and therefore with constant use a roll would wear out rather quickly. A luxury roll could be made of parchment, but all the unrolling and rerolling hastened the process of causing the pigments of an illustration and even the ink of the text to flake off the smooth polished surface of the parchment. Once it was invented, the new codex form—our normal book—had enormous advantages, not only because it made handling easier, allowing a reader to turn quickly to a particular passage, but also because it permitted much more elaborate paintings. The heavy application of pigment for an elaborately decorated frame or a fully painted background, impractical in a roll, could now be used to make book illustrations that in style are miniature versions of the wall paintings known from Pompeii and Rome."

                  Type
                  Image
                  Date
                  early 5th c. AD
                  Medium
                  Dimensions
                  25 X 43 cm
                  Location
                  Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica
                  Image Credit
                  article Nav
                  Previous in Series
                  Next in Series

                  Vat.lat. 3225 30v

                    F: Fulvii Ursini schedae Bibliothecae Vaticanae (Vaticanus Latinus 3225), also known as the Vergilius Vaticanus or "Vatican Vergil." A magnificent illustrated codex written in Italy in rustic capitals at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century AD. The surviving 75 leaves contain parts of the Georgics and scattered sections from throughout the Aeneid. Originally it would have included the complete Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid. 50 illustrations survive (see Wright 2011, full text at Google Books) out of an original total of around 280. Though the text contains many errors it nonetheless preserves some readings of great importance (Conte 2011, x), and is the one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid.

                    Comments

                    Wright 1993, 1-2:

                    "The Vatican Vergil is the most important surviving ancient example of an illustrated book of classical literature. We have several early illustrated biblical manuscripts, but the Vatican Vergil, having been made in Rome within a couple of decades of the year 400, is older than all but one of these, and because of its classical contents it draws on still older traditions. We also have a few ancient illustrated scientific texts, but they necessarily allow only a limited range of artistic expression. For illustrated classical literature we have only two other ancient manuscripts, both from later in the fifth century: the Ambrosian Iliad is a sadly damaged set of miniatures cut out of a book once generally comparable in character to the Vatican Vergil, while the Codex Romanus of Vergil is a large and pretentious book, but it has carelessly painted illustrations that in many aspects suggest the transition from classical to medieval bookmaking. Therefore a close study of the Vatican Vergil offers our best opportunity to find out how a fine illustrated book was made in classical antiquity, how it embodied long-standing traditions of classical art.

                    "This study must be undertaken carefully, with great patience. First there is the problem of the sad condition of our book (now Vat. lat. 3225 in the Vatican Library). Its seventy-five surviving folios are scattered fragments, sometimes a single leaf, sometimes a cluster of four or five successive leaves; they now contain fifty illustrations, some of them badly damaged. But from these fragments it is easy to reconstruct the form of the original book. It must have contained, as was customary at the time, all the canonical works of Vergil but no introductions or other accessory texts, and so it comprised about 440 folios bound in one volume. Extrapolating from the surviving illustrations and the traces of pigment from lost paintings, we can conclude that there were about 280 illustrations. The book was a precious copy of Vergil, fully illustrated but reasonably handy in size, made to be read and enjoyed. Where we have a relatively well-preserved group of successive folios we can appreciate directly the character of the book, but we must take a deliberate effort to imagine it in perfect condition and in its full original extent.

                    "A fine book of this kind was still a fairly new invention when the Vatican Vergil was produced; indeed, no surviving book of comparable quality is significantly older. Previously the standard form of book had been the papyrus roll, but that form had serious disadvantages, especially for the luxury market. Each book of the Aeneid or of the Georgics required a separate roll, while all ten Eclogues could be written on one roll. A reader unrolled the roll from the right hand into the left while reading columns of text, and then rolled it back up before putting it away. Papyrus has a relatively rough surface that absorbs ink well and also holds pigments reasonably well, but it was much less appropriate than parchment for fine books. Papyrus is also relatively fragile, and therefore with constant use a roll would wear out rather quickly. A luxury roll could be made of parchment, but all the unrolling and rerolling hastened the process of causing the pigments of an illustration and even the ink of the text to flake off the smooth polished surface of the parchment. Once it was invented, the new codex form—our normal book—had enormous advantages, not only because it made handling easier, allowing a reader to turn quickly to a particular passage, but also because it permitted much more elaborate paintings. The heavy application of pigment for an elaborately decorated frame or a fully painted background, impractical in a roll, could now be used to make book illustrations that in style are miniature versions of the wall paintings known from Pompeii and Rome."

                    Type
                    Image
                    Date
                    early 5th c. AD
                    Medium
                    Dimensions
                    25 X 43 cm
                    Location
                    Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica
                    Image Credit
                    article Nav
                    Previous in Series
                    Next in Series
                    Subscribe to Vergil