I don't quite understand what kind of religious (or medical?) text the Barberini texts are. I am writing a paper on tarantism, using Ernesto De Martino's Land of Remorse as a primary text, and found this excerpt from the Sertum papale de venenis (later referred to as "Ms. Lat. Barberini 306" in an appendix endnote):
'For what reason do those bitten by the tarantula find miraculous recovery in various songs and melodies? It must be said that, music and song being a reason for cheerfulness, both are thought to be useful for almost every poison: and since the bite of the tarantula produces a melancholic disease, and because the melancholy is treated in the most suitable way with cheerfulness, it follows that songs and music are quite healthy for those who have suffered such a bite…”
I would like to use the quote but am unsure how to cite it, and am having trouble figuring it out using standard websites bc I don't understand what kind of text it is. I need to do in text (author, page) and works cited/bibliography in MLA. Perhaps the earlier "Ms. Lat. Barberini 306" is fine?
I'm under the impression it's a noncanonical gospel from the middle ages from when individual congregations used to commission their own codexs/scrolls to read during mass. A direct link to the original latin can be found here: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
Ms. is for 'manu scriptum', manuscript. So in terms of its physical characteristics, that's the kind of text it is. I'm not familiar with MLA conventions but I'd be surprised if there isn't a canon for citing manuscripts.
The general convention is to cite a manuscript by its shelfmark, which is what 'Ms. Lat. Barberini 306' is: it's an approximation of the manuscript's shelfmark at the Apostolic Library. In the catalogue it's written 'Barb.lat.306' (and you can also consult a facsimile of the manuscript directly there).
You'd better keep 'Barberini' and 'lat.' in the order they're given in the shelfmark, rather than reversing them as in your source. For maximum clarity I'd suggest: 'Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. lat. 306'.
Has something led you to understand it's a gospel? You've been badly misled. The title 'sertum papale de venenis' is perfectly clear that it's a 'papal essay on poisons'. Mirabile lists the date of composition as 1362, says that it's dedicated to Pope Urban V, that it survives in three other manuscripts as well as the Barberini one, and that it was written by one Guillelmus de Marra. That attribution appears in the Barberini manuscript; the Metz manuscript attributes it to Gasparus de Sarnana. There was a well known theologian named William de la Mare who was active a century earlier, so I'm wondering if the Barberini manuscript is wrong in citing the more famous name, and if Gasparus was the true author. But that's just an off-the-cuff conjecture: you'd be better citing both possible authors.
How professional is the work you're doing? In a published piece of writing, if there's no printed edition of the text, the folio number should also be given: that is, the equivalent of a page number. Folio numbers follow the early modern convention of numbering each sheet, rather than each side of a page: so the numbering goes 1r, 1v, 2r, 2v, 3r, 3v, and so on. Mind you, if it's a professional piece of writing you shouldn't be quoting this unless you can read the Latin (which I'm guessing you can't, since you didn't understand the title). But if it's for a school assignment, just the shelfmark(s) should do.
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