1749 – Handwritten Commentary on Classical Poetry | Virgil Aeneid & Homer

Censurae in Poetarum by Jesuit Fathers Servinellius and Brabant is a complete, 1749 handwritten Latin manuscript designed as a rhetoric and philosophy instructional manual. This book was used at the Collegium Rhetoricae as a means of instructing poetry, philosophy, and linguistics students. The manuscript itself provides commentary on classical poets, particularly Virgil and Homer, with notable contents on Virgil’s The Aeneid. Specifically, this work offers debates on the true beginning of the Aeneid—weighing Virgil’s “Arma virumque cano” against the disputed “Ille ego qui quondam.” Other exercises analyze mythological inconsistencies involving Antenor and Evander and assess Virgil’s portrayal of Aeneas’s fear through Aristotelian ethics. The authors also reference Servius, Ovid, Ausonius, Scaliger, and Tassoni.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Censurae in Poetarum
• Author(s): Father Servinellius; Father Brabant
• Publisher: Manuscript; likely Jesuit Collegium Rhetoricae
• Edition: 1749
• Binding: Full vellum
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Size:  8 in x 6 in (20.3 cm x 15.2 cm)
• Collation: unnumbered leaves
• Illustrations:
• Contents Include:
  • Debate on the opening of the Aeneid (“Arma virumque cano” vs “Ille ego qui quondam”)
  • Exercise on Antenor and Evander as precursors to Aeneas
  • Commentary on fear and moral philosophy in Virgil
  • References to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics VI
  • Notations on classical commentators: Servius, Ausonius, Ovid, Martial, Scaliger, Tassoni

Condition:

Good. Full vellum binding with moderate age toning and corner loss; spine shows wear consistent with age. Some staining to covers and edges. Pages generally clean, showing mild spotting and occasional foxing. Text block is tight and secure.

Why Collect This?

• Rare surviving 18th-century Jesuit Latin manuscript on classical rhetoric
• Unique, unpublished commentary on Virgil and Homer
• Of particular interest to collectors of Latin manuscripts and Jesuit pedagogy

Item Number: # 29659