Codex Baroccianus


Baroccianus is an adjective applied to manuscripts indicating an origin in the Baroccianum, a Venetian collection assembled by the humanist Francesco Barozzi. A large part of that collection was sold after the death of Iacopo Barozzi or Barocci, nephew and heir to Francesco; and the purchase by William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke led in turn to his donation in 1629 of a substantial collection of Greek manuscripts from the Baroccianum to the Bodleian Library. The designation Codex Baroccianus followed by a number is an indication that a manuscript is in the Bodleian Catalogue and has its provenance in this donation.

History

The Earl of Pembroke's purchase cost him £700; his donation was bound in 242 volumes. He was persuaded to make the deal and gift by William Laud. Some remaining manuscripts from the collection were given by Oliver Cromwell in 1654. Both Pembroke and Cromwell were Chancellor of the University of Oxford at the time of their gifts.
In fact the manuscripts of Barozzi were already with Laud: they had been brought to England by Henry Featherstone in 1628. Featherstone acted as agent for the Bodleian, from 1621. The origins of the Oxford University Press are connected with Laud's plan to have these manuscripts edited and published, even though it took around 40 years and the efforts of John Fell to take the practical steps to create a scholarly publishing house in Oxford.

Manuscripts