Tiro's Secret

Tironian notes formed a medieval shorthand system which made life easier for the writers, and much harder for us modern readers. The script, said to have been devised by Cicero's secretary Tiro, is not a secret. You "only" have to learn it.

This week, the Vatican Library has kindly digitized a 10th-century ninth-century (thanks Martin Hellmann!) manual to get you started. Vat.lat.3799 seems to have been put together in Northern France, perhaps in St. Amand. As a foretaste, try copying Adam and Eve:

If you think that it would be quicker to write Eva longhand, you might be right.

Martin Hellmann, who created a Tironian online manual back in 2011, has made another stride for independent scholarship with a handy index of the medieval manuals which he brought online a few months ago at his Martinellus website.

In all, 61 manuscripts have just arrived online. My list:

1. Borg.lat.260,
2. Ott.lat.3380,
3. Ott.lat.3381,
4. Ross.28 (Upgraded to HQ),
5. Ross.43,
6. Ross.44,
7. Ross.46,
8. Ross.48,
9. Ross.52,
10. Ross.53,
11. Ross.54,
12. Ross.55,
13. Ross.56,
14. Ross.57,
15. Ross.58,
16. Ross.63,
17. Ross.64,
18. Ross.68,
19. Ross.69,
20. Ross.75,
21. Ross.77,
22. Ross.78,

    Have a nice weekend in front of a Christmassy fireplace like this...
    
    Ross.78 #LatestDigitizedManuscripts 🔥🦌🎄🍪🍷https://t.co/ZydDbFhdwM pic.twitter.com/9Euzhk5fk1

    — Digita Vaticana (@DigitaVaticana) December 14, 2018

23. Ross.79,
24. Ross.80,
25. Ross.82,
26. Ross.93,
27. Ross.111 (Upgraded to HQ),
28. Ross.121,
29. Ross.122,
30. Ross.123,
31. Ross.124,
32. Ross.152,
33. Ross.155,
34. Ross.159 (Upgraded to HQ),
35. Ross.168,
36. Ross.172,
37. Ross.179,
38. Ross.185,
39. Ross.196,
40. Ross.226 (Upgraded to HQ), a canon law commentary, Liber de vita christiana by Bonizo of Sutri, according to Hermann Schadt, who identifies the following bizarre drawing as a descent genealogy of Noah and his three sons:
    
41. Ross.240,
42. Ross.242,
43. Vat.gr.2625 (Upgraded to HQ),
44. Vat.lat.2466, medical translations of Hippocrates and Avicenna by Jacobus Forlivius. See the list in Jordanus
45. Vat.lat.3799, manual of Tironian notes, 10th or 11th century (above)
46. Vat.lat.4184,
47. Vat.lat.4267,
48. Vat.lat.4344,
49. Vat.lat.4387,
50. Vat.lat.4392,
51. Vat.lat.4400,
52. Vat.lat.4423,
53. Vat.lat.4426, a 13th-century compilation of 11 texts from diverse authors, five of them natural philosophy texts listed in the eTK incipits 
54. Vat.lat.4429, a compilation of 12 scientific works by Avicenna, Thomas Bradwardine, Aristotle and others. See the list in Jordanus
55. Vat.lat.4431,
56. Vat.lat.4440, 11 medical works including On Fevers: see eTK incipits 
57. Vat.lat.4442,  
58. Vat.lat.4465,
59. Vat.lat.4479,
60. Vat.lat.4508,
61. Vat.lat.11829, Francesco Tonii, L'Ignoranza: a play, seemingly written under the patronage of Felice Rospigliosi to entertain Pope Clement IX

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 189. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.