Historical Milton: Print, Manuscript, and Political Culture in Revolutionary England

Appendix B: The Scribal Entries in Milton’s Commonplace Book: Amanuenses, Students, Researchers, or Visitors?

221 Appendix B The Scribal Entries in Milton’s Commonplace Book Amanuenses, Students, Researchers, or Visitors? An analysis of the evidence follows this list of entries for each of the amanuenses originally labeled by Hanford in “Chronology of Milton’s Private Studies,” with the later attributions given in parentheses. The dates provided are from Ruth Mohl’s annotations in the Yale edition. The page numbers supplied follow those of the Commonplace Book itself, and after these I’ve listed whether or not the scribe has listed a page number for the citation. Except for the page number supplied on page 195 and a strangely garbled page number on page 198, no page numbers are given in the scribal citations, which is very unusual in entries in Milton’s hand. There is only one entry in English, thirteen in Italian with occasional Latin and one English comment, and thirteen in Latin. Symbols * = on a page with other scribes  = on a page without any writing of Milton Amanuensis A; same hand found in Milton’s copy of Giovanni della Casa, Rime Berni, Orlando Inamorato, p. 71; after Milton’s entries. Latin, Italian.  Boiardo, Orlando Inamorato, p. 77. Latin, Italian. Berni and Boiardo compared, p. 187; after Milton’s entries. Latin, Italian. Amanuensis B or Edward Phillips * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 197, on an exclusive page of amanuenses (see Amanuensis D). Latin. * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 197. Latin, Italian. Machiavelli Scribe (John Phillips?)  Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 148, by itself on the page. Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 185, squeezed between Milton’s entries. Italian. * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 195, after Milton’s entries, with other amanuenses (see C). Italian. 222 Appendix B * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 195, after Milton’s entries, with other amanuenses (see C). Italian. * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 198, on an exclusive page of amanuenses (see E). Latin. * Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 198, on an exclusive page of amanuenses (see E). Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 242, squeezed between Milton’s entries. English, Italian. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 242, after Milton’s entries. Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 242, after Milton’s entries. Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 243, after Milton’s entries. Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 243, after Milton’s entries. Latin. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 245, after Milton’s entries. Italian. Machiavelli, Discorsi; p. 246, after Milton’s entries. Italian. Amanuensis C or Jeremie Picard, whose hand appears in: De Doctrina Christiana; Milton’s Bible, in which Picard recorded the death of Milton’s wife, Katherine, in February 1658 and the birth of his daughter in March 1658 (BL MS Additional 32310); and the Trinity Manuscript’s copy of “Me thought I saw my late espoused saint,” (Cambridge Trinity College MS R.5.5, p. 47; 1658–60). At least one of these entries, to Augustine, can be dated more precisely to sometime before October 1658, when the second edition of Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio was printed. Rivet, Commentarius; p. 188, no page; after Milton’s entries. Latin. Only known use of this book in Milton’s corpus. *Augustine, De Civitate Dei; p. 195, after Milton’s entry, with others (see Machiavelli Scribe). Latin. This passage is used in Pro Populo, in a passage added to the 1658 edition (CPW 4:419, PW 146). Picard cites the same chapter of Augustine cited in Pro Populo. Milton also cites passages not cited here, and cites Augustine more generally (for the first and only time in his corpus in other passages in 1651, at CPW 4:375). Amanuensis D (the same hand is found in the Paradise Lost ms; hence Mohl’s date of “1650–1667”) * Dante, Divina Comedia (?); p. 197, an exclusive page of amanuenses (see E). Italian.  Choniate, Historia (Paris, 1647); p. 249 after Preston; heading in scribe’s hand. Page number. English. Amanuensis E “after 1652” * Buchanan, Historia (Edinburgh, 1582); p. 198, page supplied, although totally off. Latin. Amanuensis F “after ca. 1650” Costanzo, History di Napoli; p. 5, after Milton’s entries; page number. Italian. The Scribal Entries in Milton’s Commonplace Book 223 Sigonius, Imperio (Frankfurt, 1618?); p. 19, page number (203). Latin. Sigonius, Imperio (Frankfurt, 1618?); p. 181, no page; squeezed between M’s entries “date uncertain.” Costanzo, History di Napoli; p. 248. after Milton’s entries; page number. Italian. The Scribal Hands: An Analysis of the Evidence Once the posthumous entries by Lord Preston are excluded, the hands other than Milton’s do not amount to a substantial number. There are 27 entries...