A New Attempt at Reconstructing the Balassa Codex

Észrevételek a Hozzászólásokhoz

Abstract

The Balassa Codex is a mid-seventeenth century manuscript songbook consisting of three parts: the collections of the poems of Bálint Balassi, János Rimay, and “present-day poets,” respectively. These poems were copied by four hands; however, the names of the copyists are not known. The present essay ventures to make two claims. First, that the use of the fascicles is not consistent, most probably because of an involuntary switching of the paper and the intention to avoid empty sheet and leaf pairs (the theory of intolerance). Second, that despite all appearances, the copyists evenly distributed the material amongst themselves (the theory of a balanced division of labour). The latter claim leads to several textual consequences. The most important of these may even have a bearing on the dating of certain Rimay poems.