É. Apor (ed.): Codex Cumanicus. Ed. by Géza Kuun with a Prolegomena to the Codex Cumanicus by Lajos Ligeti. (Budapest Oriental Reprints, Ser. B 1.)
L. Ligeti: Prolegomena to the Codex Cumanicus
PROLEGOMENA TO THE CODEX CUMANICl'S 53 It seems highly likely that the place of origin of the Missionaries' Book was another, presently undetermined, monastery. In this monastery, the Persian language was no longer needed (as opposed to the vicinity of Sarai), and what is more, a substantially different dialect of the Coman tongue was spoken. As was seen, this monastery was not the final resting place of the Missionaries' Book. It went on to a third monastery operated by German friars. These friars also obtained the Interpreters' Book, and it was they who filled in the blank pages of the two books with German and Latin glosses. The three fascicules subsequently passed from the German Franciscans to the Italians again under unknown circumstances. Finally, the last owner of the Codex has to be mentioned. The following can be read on the originally blank page 156: «iste liber est de Antonio de Finale». This is followed by a verse putting the plague on anyone who tries to steal the book, a common inclusion in mediaeval books. G. Kuun discussed this curse in detail (pp. 218 219). E. Teza also touched upon it in his review (elucidating the abbreviations), he read malici morte non videatur in the second to last line. G. Kuun rightly refused the reading videatur in his Hungarian response to the criticism (p. 11), replacing it with viduetur, the only reading which fits the context. The meaning of the curse confirms him: who ever steals my book «shall not be deprived of the bad death (the plague shall not avoid him)». According to Kuun, it argues in favour of the Genoan origin of the ItaloLatin part that this certain Antonio di Finale (the reading Zinale or Zinale adopted by Györffy is unwarrantable) came from a renowned Genoan family, also called di Finari or di Finar. Referring to an oral comment made by S. Simoni, Kuun claims that a member cf the family, Andreas eli Finale, is mentioned in documents of the 14th century. 6 8 For some reason, the Ligurian origin of the di Finale family is still used today as a big argument in favour of the Genoan origin of the Codex. Somehow it has escaped the attention of researchers that the registration certifying the ownership of di Finale is on a page belonging to the third fascicule of the Codex, and this is the really crucial piece of evidence, it proves that the Cedex was no longer in the possession of Italian c( lonists, nor in the hands of the Franciscans of the Monastery of St. John, near Sarai. But it did not belong to the 6 8 D. Drüll reiterates (pp. 131 —132) Kuun's arguments in favour of the Genoan origin of de Finale, quoting data on the possible lamily relations from documents dating from 1281, 1289 and 1290, edited by BrStianu: Naturally, the 14th century refeitnce mentioned by Kuun is not among them. Györffy gives the authentic text of this remarkable record after Frati (Versi italiani, p. 7): Iste liber est de ard(onio) de Ziuale (Zinale ?) q(ui) manet aput. Qui 8c(ri)ssit sc(ri)bat semper c(unt) do(mi)no viuat in celix arit(onius) no(m)i(n)e felix. Qui me furat(ur) malta m(or)te no(n) uid(u)atur n(o)n.
