Kasza Péter (szerk.): Stephanus Brodericus - Epistulae (Bibliotheca Scriptorum Medii Recentisque Aevorum, Series Nova XIV., Argumentum Kiadó - Magyar Országos Levéltár, Budapest, 2012)

1512

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István Brodarics to Aldus Manutius1 Buda, 15 September 15122

Manuscript used: BA, E. 36 inf., föl. 16.

Published: Ábel Jenő, Adalékok a humanismus történetéhez Magyarországon, Budapest, 1880, 30.; and Pierre de Ambroise Nolhac, Les correspondents d'Alde Manuce.

Matériaux nouveaux d’histoire littéraire 1485-1514. Rome, 1888, 242.;

In Hungarian: V. Kovács Sándor (ed.). Magyar humanisták levelei XV-XV1. század, Budapest, 1971, 558.

Six years ago he left a manuscript of Janus Pannonius with a hook merchant by the name of Jordan so that the latter would forward it to Aldus Manutius in order to print it. He requests Aldus to give the volume to the Hungarian King's envoy, who is to arrive at Venice, ifit has been printed.

Excellentissime Vir, Amice Observandissime. Salutem ac prosperitatem.

Iusseram cuidam librario Alemanno Iordano nomine3 Venetiis agenti sexto iam circiter abhinc anno tum videlicet, cum ego ex gymnasio Patavino4 in patriam redirem, ut quaedam opuscula Ioannis illius Pannonii,5 pro quorum impressione et ego tunc et

1 Aldus Manutius (Bassion, 1449-Venice, 1515), Humanist, an emblematic printer of the Renaissance. On his Hungarian connections see: Gerézdi Rábán, Aldus Manutius és magyar barátai, Magyar Könyvszemle, 1945, 38-98. More on his life: Julius Schück, Aldus Manutius und seine Zeitgenossen in Italien und Deutschland, Berlin, 1862.

2 On the back side of the letter we find 17 October. Rábán Gerézdi does accept this date (compare: Aldus Manutius magyar barátai, Magyar Könyvszemle, 1945, 67), and this date appears on the version that appeared in Hungarian in the volume of V. Kovács. However, this is obviously false, since we know that Ftilöp Csulai Móré took the letter, and about him we know that he was received in Venice in great pomp on 7 October. (Compare: Fedeles Tamás, Egy Jagelló-kori humanista pályaképe. Csulai Móré Flilöp (1476/1477-1526), Levéltári Közlemények, 2007, 60-61.) The misunderstanding stems from an incorrect resolution of the Roman-type date at the end of the letter. According to Roman calculation we do not add 17 days to the Kalendae, 1 October, but distract 17 days, and this is how we get the real date of the letter, 15 September. This way of dating can be reconciled with Csulai’s trip, who was already in Zengg at the end of September, where he embarked on a ship to Venice.

5 Jordan von Dinslaken, printer from Cologne. He was banned from Venice in 1520 for distributing Luther’s works. Compare: Boda Miklós, Pécs-Medvevár-Pécs. Janus Pannonius a pécsi utóélet tükrében = Bartók István, Jankovits László, Kecskeméti Gábor (ed.), Humanista műveltség Pannóniában, Pécs, 2000. 83.

4 Brodarics obtained doctorate in canon law in Padua sometime around 1505-1506.

5 On Brodarics’ role in the publication of Janus’ works and on the manuscript he had, see more: Boda Miklós, A „sevillai kódexek " és a Janus Pannonius-szöveghagvomány kérdőjelei. Baranyai Helytörténetírás 17-18. (1985-1986), 475^193. - More recently, Ágnes Ritoókné Szalay found a manuscript with Janus' works. He established a connection between the compilation and Brodarics convincingly. Compare: Ritoókné Szalay Ágnes, Janus Pannonius leveleinek kézirata a Pray-gyűjteményben, Az Egyetemi Könyvtár Évkönyvei, 14-15 (2011), 283-292.

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