Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Itinerarium et vitae curriculus, das ist seine völlige Reis-Beschreibunge und gantzer Lebenslauff, sampt einigen merckwürdigen Begebenheitten und Anzaigungen derer iedes orthsbefindlichen Raritäten

Authors

• Pastorius, Melchior Adam, 1624-1702

Other related names

• Rosengarten, J. G. 1835-1921, former owner

Call number

Ms. Codex 1150
(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 4286466
• http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/medren/4286466

Publisher

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries

Language

German and Latin, with some words or phrases in Greek (f. 51r, 96r, 121v, 125v, 205r)

Origin

Date

ca. 1694-1698

Place

Windesheim

Summary

Pastorius's account of his life and travels (f. 1r-49r) referred to in the title, makes up the first part of the volume. On the title page and verso (f. 1r-v) are verses in Latin that introduce the content (Synopsis actionum). The German-language narrative is interspersed with poems in Latin and German, some of which are poems on friends and acquaintances that begin with an anagram of the person's name. The narrative contains descriptive and historical passages about places, including a brief history of Pastorius's home city, Erfurt (f. 2-5), beginning with its founding and ending abruptly with reference to the arrival of Jesuits in 1589 (f. 6-7 have been torn out); a detailed description of Rome (f. 21r-28r); and shorter passages about other cities in Germany (Frankfurt, Mainz, f. 11r; Würzburg, f. 11v-12r), Italy (Ferrara, f. 14v; Venice, f. 32r-34r; Padua, f. 34r-v), France (Lyon, f. 41v; Paris, including a poem in Latin, f. 40v), and Switzerland (Geneva, f. 42r; Basel, f. 43r). The narrative ends with Pastorius's appointment in the service of Count Georg Friedrich of Limpurg in Sommerhausen in 1649, and his marriage to Magdalena Dietz; a genealogical chart (f. 49r), entitled Amici materni Francisci Danielis Pastorii, shows his wife's family, from her parents to their grandchildren, including his and her own son, Francis Daniel Pastorius. The remaining portion of the volume (f. 49v-238v) is a compendium of poetry and prose passages, in Latin and German. Many of the poems are about people, beginning with an anagram of the person's name and sometimes accompanied by biographical notes. One section (Familiae Pastoriorum descriptio; f. 111r-140r) is devoted to family members (family members are also mentioned elsewhere; f. 88v, recto of back flyleaf), including poems, prose passages, and mentions of births, deaths, and marriages. Other subjects are friends or acquaintances, and contemporary or historical personages, including Count Georg Friedrich and his family (f. 50v-53r); William Penn (f. 89r, 232r); Roman figures (Julius Caesar, f. 155r; Tiberius Nero, f. 155v); saints, Church Fathers, and other Christian figures (Joseph Arimathea, f. 157r; Mark the Evangelist, f. 159r; Origen, f. 165r; Augustine, f. 174v); Martin Luther (f. 198r); kings and emperors of Germany from Friedrich Barbarossa (f. 189r) to Leopold I (f. 214v); and rulers of Brandenburg (f. 223r-225r). Interspersed are historical chronologies (1559-1576, f. 205r), and poems or passages on places (Windesheim, f. 60v-61r; Rothenburg ob der Tauber, f. 144r; Paris, f. 220r; England, f. 221r-222r). Some poems written for a specific occasion, such as a death, birth, or marriage, are dated (f. 63v, 93r, 125v). Some poems are acrostics (f. 63v, 68r, 73r, 74v, 80v, 91v, 92r, 95v-96r, 98r, 100r, 103r, 104r, 145v-146r, 231r). An index of names (f. 239r-242v) covers the entire codex. Biographical information about Pastorius is listed on the recto of the front flyleaf, including the names of his parents, his birth date, and the names and birth dates of his last wife, Dorothea Esther Pastorius, and of his 5 children. On the verso of the back flyleaf are anagrams of Pastorius's own name, along with Latin verses. The following Latin quotations are written on the inside upper cover: 1) Auro quid melius? Iaspis. Q[ui]d iaspide? Virtus. Quid virtute, Deus. Q[ui]d Deitate? Nihil. 2) Amores / Sex fuge, quinq[ue] tene, fac bis duo, trina sequentur.

Notes

• Ms. codex.
   
• Title from title page (f. 1r).
   

Extent

244 leaves : 153 x 96 mm. bound to 160 x 105 mm

Foliation

Paper, i + 244 + i; 1-5, 8-22, 22-58, 60-79, [ii], 80-90, [i], 91-148, 148-240, [241-242] (f. 109, 110, 141, 143, 152, 169, 218, and 219 are blank). Contemporary foliation in ink, modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. Catchwords on the verso of the majority of leaves.

Support

Paper

Binding

Contemporary (?) leather (Zacour-Hirsch), with clasp straps.

Decoration

Small drawings of a snake, heart, and sun (f. 124v); a heart enclosing a poem (f. 127r); Latin saying in a shaped design (f. 61v); and a genealogical chart (f. 49r). Titles, anagrams, initials of acrostics, and occasional phrases in red ink.

Script

Written in a German cursive hand, with Latin passages in a book script.

Provenance

• Gift of J. G. Rosengarten (Philadelphia), 1908.
   

Subjects topical

• German poetry--Early modern, 1500-1700

Genres

• Travel literature
• Autobiographies
• Poems
• Anagrams
• Acrostics
• Codices
• Manuscripts, German--17th century
• Manuscripts, European

Licenses

• Text

  This description is ©2016 University of Pennsylvania Libraries. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

• Text

  All referenced images and their content are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Table of contents

• fol. 1r — Synopsis actionum, f. 1r
• fol. 1r — Life and travels of Pastorius, f. 1r
• fol. 2r — Description of Erfurt, f. 2r
• fol. 80v — Acrostic, f. 80v
• fol. 89r — Passage on William Penn, f. 89r