According to the so-called «Lachmann’s method», the relationship among the manuscripts can be demonstrated only on the presence of conjunctive errors. Nevertheless, in the event that conjunctive errors are few or entirely absent, it is possible that the classification takes into account formal variants («microvariants») or, more broadly, variants that may have occurred independently. Variants of this kind are usually regarded as polygenetic, and excluded from the notion of significant innovations.
This does not mean that they are altogether useless to study the history of the transmission of a text. This article aims at demonstrating that micro-variants may help to increase the plausibility of classification hypotheses essentially based on circumstantial evidence. An example of this is given by the textual transmission of Cavalcanti’s ballata Fresca rosa novella. The analysis of the microvariants attested in the manuscript tradition serves to corroborate the view that the Canzoniere Chigiano «contaminated» the reading of its main source with that of a very authoritative manuscript, probably similar to the Vatican Canzoniere.
