In the afternoon I viewed some
remarkable images of the major basilicas, churches and palaces of Rome etched
in 1753. The image above of Saint Peter’s
Basilica is from the cover of the book called Le magnificenze di roma nelle incisioni di Giuseppe Vasi. I also read three reviews of various
manuscripts of the life of Saint Melania the Younger, one written in French by Alès
Adhémar in 1906, a second written in English by Edward C. Butler, OSB in 1905,
and a third written in Italian by Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro in 1900,
which seems to have been the source document for the other two. All three conclude that the best and most
reliable story of the life of Melania the Younger is found in the Escurial MS and a chapter in the Lausiac History of Palladius. I found the full text of Cardinal Rampolla’s Life of Melania the Younger, translated from
these sources into English and published by Benziger Brothers, online at
archive.org. I will review this manuscript over the
weekend and highlight the most important points.
