Description and transcription, 19th century, of a manuscript of the German translation of the romance of 'Pontus and Sidonia', 1465, in the Landesbibliothek Gotha.
Scope and Contents
The volume contains a 19th-century description and transcription of manuscript Chart. A 590, held in the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha. Chart. A 590 contains the German translation of the French romance 'Pontus and Sidonia', and according to a scribal colophon was written in 1465 by Nicolaus Huber, presbyter in Brixen.
The German translation has been attributed to Eleanor of Austria (1433-1480), daughter of King James I of Scotland and wife of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria. The Gotha manuscript is the only contemporary manuscript of Eleanor's translation. The first printed edition, arranged by Eleanor's husband, was published in Augsburg in 1483.
The writer of the description and transcription is not named in the volume, but can be identified by his hand as Johann Heinrich Möller, historian, archivist and librarian in Gotha. The description, which comprises 5 unnumbered pages at the beginning, is in German. It is followed by a page containing handwritten facsimiles of two passages from the manuscript, recreating its black writing with red capitals. The transcription follows on 250 numbered pages.
Dates
- Creation: 1465, 19th century, probably early 1820s.
Creator
- Eleanor, Consort of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, 1433-1480 (Person)
- Möller, Johann Heinrich, 1792-1867 (Person)
Language of Materials
The language of the transcribed manuscript is Middle High German. The description is in modern German.
Conditions Governing Access
Normal access conditions apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.
Extent
1 Volumes
Custodial History
The transcription was made at the request of the Advocates Library and probably dates from the years when the German scholar Ferdinand Becker was assistant keeper of the Library. Becker left the Library in 1825. The transcription is mentioned in David Irving's 'History of Scotish Poetry', published posthumously edited by John Aitken Carlyle (Edinburgh 1861), p. 160, as having "lately been procured for the Advocates Library".
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Presented, 1925, by the Faculty of Advocates to the nation on the foundation of the National Library of Scotland.
Physical Description
A folio-sized notebook, half-leather, with boards of red paper over cardboard and a red leather spine.
- Title
- National Library of Scotland Catalogue of Manuscripts
- Author
- National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division Repository
Archives and Manuscript Division
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EJ
0131 623 3700
manuscripts@nls.uk