Basis grammaticae (Foundations of Grammar)

Basis grammaticae (Foundations of Grammar)

Guillaume Tardif (ca. 1436–95), born in the central French town of Le Puy-en-Velay, attended the University of Paris in 1456 and became a tutor first to Prince Charles of France (1446–72), and then to the Dauphin, the future Charles VIII (1470–98), who named Tardif his official “lecteur” upon his accession to the throne. Tardif was instrumental in introducing the work of the Italian humanists to the Valois court, translating works by Petrarch, Lorenzo Valla, and Poggio Bracciolini into French. This is the autograph copy of Tardif’s earliest work, an original textbook on Latin grammar. As such, it is the earliest humanistic grammatical text written in France. Currently the only known document in Tardif’s hand, it was dedicated and offered to his pupil Charles Mariette, godson of Charles of France, as a New Year’s gift for 1470. The first illuminated initial features the arms of the Mariette family.

Author and Scribe: Guillaume Tardif

1 January 1470

Manuscript on parchment, 20 fols.

University of Pennsylvania, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, LJS 242

Paris, France