Burney 86, c.86v from the Townley Homer (vellum)

Burney MS 86 Date ?1059 Title Townley Homer Content Iliad of Homer, with extensive marginal and interlinear scholia (ff 1r-281v). Completed in the 11th century, almost certainly in 1059, the Townley Homer is one of the most important manuscripts of Homer in existence. It contains the text of Homer’s The Iliad, but is perhaps best-known for the vast number of marginal notes (scholia) and interlinear glosses found on every page. Most of these notes, which relate to the text of The Iliad, date back to antiquity. The scholia found in the Townley Homer are particularly noteworthy as they are exegetical, that is, rather than focusing on whether specific lines were actually composed by Homer, they concentrate on interpreting the poetry and attempting to explain unclear or complicated passages. The manuscript was written somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean, quite possibly in Constantinople, and was in Italy by the 15th century, when it was owned by the Salviati family.