Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea, ca. 329-379 Bruni, Leonardo, 1369-1444
Published / Created:
[between 1450 and 1500]
Call Number:
Marston MS 105
Image Count:
59
Resource Type:
Archives or Manuscripts
Abstract:
Manuscript composed in two parts. Part I (on parchment): 1) Basil the Great, De legendis libris gentilium, translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni and with his dedicatory preface to Coluccio Salutati. 2) Unidentified poem. 3) Benedictus Cingulanus (Benedetto da Cingoli), Carmina. Part II (on paper) : 4) Ps.-Seneca, De remediis fortuitorum.
Description:
Binding: Sixteenth century, Italy. Front and rear pastedowns from an unidentified Latin moral treatise (Italy, ca. 1450). Sewn on three supports set in grooves on the outside of wooden boards. Plain wound endbands. The spine is round. Covered in brown calf, blind-tooled wtih an arabesque border and a central diamond with assorted fleurons. Aldine leaves and acorns dotted about. Spine: four fillets at head and tail and outlining the bands. There are five large, round bosses on each board and two fastenings, the catches on the upper board and the lower one cut in for the straps, one of which is wanting., Part I: Decoration consists of one illuminated full border, f. 2r, white vine-stem ornament with pale yellow shading on vibrant blue ground, green and deep purplish red and gold ground with white dots on blue, pale yellow dots on green and red. In lower border, medallion, framed by a wreath, with mutilated coat of arms. Illuminated initial, 4-line, gold, framed in pale yellow, on blue, green and red ground with yellow and white filigree, joined to the border. One large illuminated initial, f. 1r, gold on blue, green and red ground with white vine-stem ornament, extending into the upper and inner margin to form partial border. Small initial, 2-line, gold, framed in yellow, on red, blue and green gound with yellow filigree, f. 3r. Headings in red. Part II: Initials for paragraphs set apart from written space between vertical bounding lines., Purchased from the Florence dealer Olschki by H. P. Kraus, who sold it in 1955 to Thomas E. Marston., Script: Part I (ff. 1-17): Art. 1 written in a humanistic bookhand characterized by tall ascenders, above top line; arts. 2-3 added later in a less expert hand. Part II (ff. 18-25): Written in humanistic cursive script by a single scribe, above top line., Stained throughout., and Watermarks: unidentified basilisk buried in gutter.
Subject (Topic):
Classical education, Dialogues, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin poetry, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on paper of 1) Will of Guglielmo di Montiglio, councillor of Guglielmo X (VIII) Palaeologus, Margrave of Montferrato, 1464-1483, dated Casale Montferrato, 8 Febr. 1469. 2) Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (afterwards Pope Pius II, 1458-1464), De miseriis curialium, a letter addressed to the German courtier Iohannes von Eich, written 1444
Description:
In Latin., Watermark: flower (?)., Art. 1 is copied in a rapid Humanistica Cursiva Libraria. Art. 2, by another hand, is in Humanistica Textualis Formata., Art. 1 is undecorated. Art. 2 opens with a 3-line plain initial in red and blue, followed by a line in Capitals. In the lower margin of f. 5r a coat of arms gules, with a head (?) azure and a heart-shield gold. Initial and coat of arms, of mediocre execution, are by the same hand., and Binding: Nineteenth century. De luxe binding by Chambolle-Duru. Brown morocco over pasteboard, the turn-ins gold-tooled; marbled endpapers. Spine with five raised bands and gold-tooled inscription: "AENEAS / SYLVIUS / DE / MISERIIS / CURIALIUM". Gilt edges.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Pius II, Pope, 1405-1464.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Letters, Papal, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Wills
Manuscript on paper of Boccaccio, De mulieribus claris, with dedication to Andrea Acciaiuoli.
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Parchment stays from contemporary document adhered to inner and outer conjugate leaves of quires. Original wound sewing on three tawed skin, slit straps fastened in channels in flush wooden boards. A primary endband, caught up on the spine, is sewn on tawed skin cores. Remains of red secondary embroidery. The spine is square and lined with tawed skin between central supports. Covered in kermes pink, tawed skin with corner tongues, the sides divided into triangles with right angled and diagonal fillets. Three fastenings, the catches on the lower board and stubs of green fabric straps on the upper board which is cut in to accomodate them. Eight star-shaped bosses on the upper board (one wanting) and five on the lower, each board with four bosses on their spine edges. Inscription on upper cover: "de mulieribus claris". Written in ink on fore edge: "LXXXVIII" with a helmet on each side. Label on lower board wanting., Folio 3r, partial border, of poor quality: in lower margin, a patch of green grass with two women seated, one dressed in red, the other in green and white, supporting a shield with unidentified arms (gules, 3 helmets sable [in outline only]), a later addition. From the patch of grass oak branches with leaves and acorns extend into inner and upper margins. In inner margin, a fox chasing a hare. Folio 80r, a medallion framed in red and pink and four small gold flowers, with an unidentified monogram in gold against blue ground. One pen-and-ink initial, 8-line, blue with pale red penwork. Plain initials alternate in red and blue. Headings in red (ff. 1r-7r only). Many initials touched with red. Guide letters for decorator throughout., Purchased in 1954 from C. A. Stonehill by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Text written in a well spaced gothic bookhand with humanistic features by a single scribe, below top line. Art. 1 and rubrics added in similar script by another hand., Unidentified arms, with "Cretulia" and "Thurj" added on either side, and inscription in the lower margin of f. 2v: "Quid spectas Thurum [with 3 helmets] sunt hec insignia. Thuris/ Donarunt Sacre Iuno Minerua Venus/ Cretulia., and Watermarks: Briquet Tete de boeuf 14717 and similar to Piccard Ochsenkopf XII.123.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on paper (coarse; remains of deckle edges) of 1) Cicero, De oratore I-III. 2) Cicero, Pro T. Annio Milone. 3) Cicero, Pro Q. Ligario.
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Stays cut from parchment manuscripts (text washed) inside the quires and also outside the first two. Original sewing on three tawed skin, slit straps attached to wooden boards. Beaded, chevron, natural, pink, and green endbands are sewn on tawed skin cores. Covered in dark brown calf with narrow corner tongues and blind- tooled with two circles and corners of rope interlace in a central panel with concentric frames, one with beaded zigzag ribbon tools similar to those on Marston MSS 38 and 68, and gilt annular dots. Spine: double fillets at head and tail and outlining the bands; panels diapered with double fillets. Two fastenings, the catches on the lower board; the straps and clasps probably later additions., Collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 2814). Passed from the collection of Giuseppe (Joseph) Martini to H. P. Kraus, who sold it to Thomas E. Marston in 1955., Partial border, f. 1r, white vine-stem ornament on blue, green and pink ground with white and pale yellow dots. At the terminals, gold balls with hair-line extensions. Illuminated initial, 4-line, gold on blue, green and red ground as above joined to the border. In lower margin, wreathed medallion for arms (drawn with a compass), blank. Five smaller initials, 4- and 3-line, gold on blue, green and red rectangular grounds with white or pale yellow filigree and white dots. Headings and colophons in red., Script: Written in a neat upright humanistic cursive by a single scribe., and Watermarks: Briquet Echelle 5904, Briquet Fleur 6306, and similar to Briquet Ciseaux 3668.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Speeches, addresses, etc., Latin
Manuscript on parchment (poor quality) of Leonardo Bruni, De primo bello punico, compiled largely from Polybius.
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century, England (?). Quarter bound in red, hard-grained goatskin, gold-tooled, with printed marbled paper sides. Edges spattered yellow and black. Title on spine: "Leonardi Aretini, Commentarii. MS. in membranis"., One large illuminated initial, 4-line, gold on blue, light green and pink ground with white vine-stem ornament. Initial joined to partial border, white vine-stem ornament on blue, light green and pink ground with white dots and gold balls with penwork extensions in brown ink. Two smaller initials on ff. 23v and 38r, 4-line, gold, outlined in yellow on blue grounds with white highlights. Plain initial, f. 1v, and headings in pale red., Purchased from Maggs Bros., London, in 1955 by L. C. Witten, who sold it in the same year in 1954 by Thomas E. Marston., and Script: Text written by a single scribe in humanistic cursive script, above top line. Marginal notes (mostly proper names and events) added by at least two hands, 15th-16th centuries, with one set added throughout in red by a scribe who also placed Roman numerals for each book in upper margin.
Subject (Geographic):
Rome--History, Military--265-30 B.C
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment (palimpsest) of 1) Francesco Barbaro, De re uxoria, with his dedicatory preface to Lorenzo di Giovanni de' Medici. 2) Leonardo Bruni, Oratio Heliogabali ad meretrices. 3) Plato, Crito, the first version of the Latin translation by Leonardo Bruni (1420s). 4) Xenophon, Apologia Socratis, translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni. 5) The ps.-Virgilian Epistola Virgilii ad Maecenatem written by Pier Candido Decembrio as a young man in 1426; he had difficulty convincing his contemporaries that it was not genuine.
Description:
Binding: 19th-20th centuries, Germany (?). Case bound with leaves from a parchment manuscript (Breviary, France, 1250-1300). On the front pastedown: rubrics for the major feasts and their octaves occurring in late June (John the Baptist, 24 June) through mid-August (Assumption, 15 August), and the beginning of the lessons to be read within the octave of the feast of John the Baptist; on the back pastedown: end of the lessons for Hilarianus of Arezzo (7 August) and beginning of the second lesson for Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus (8 August)., Illuminated initial of poor quality, f. 1r, 7-line, gold (almost completely rubbed), with red penwork filigree and small stylized leaves, with some touches of gold. At the top of the page, beneath rubric, arms of the Rustichelli family (per pale, or, a lion rampant sable; or, 4 bars nebuly sable), surrounded by red penwork. Plain initials in red and blue. Headings in red. Some small initials touched with yellow. Off-set impression of eyeglasses on ff. 33v-34r., Purchased in 1957 from H. P. Kraus by L. C. Witten, who sold it in 1959 to Thomas E. Marston., and Script: Written in humanistic bookhand by a single scribe, above top line.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Petrarch, De remediis utriusque fortunae
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in beautiful batarde script characterized by calligraphic flourishes (some stroked with yellow) in upper and lower margins., 4-line initial on f. 1r, blue with white highlights, on a gold ground, with a coat of arms (effaced) against burgundy ground with gold floral sprays; short floral border, pink and blue flowers on green stem, infilled with gold dots with black hair-spray. 6-line initials on ff. 84r and 87r green with yellow highlights, on gold ground, with a love-knot connecting E (brown with gold highlights) and N (blue) against silver ground, borders as above. 2-line initials at beginning of chapters, gold with black penwork and flourishes; 1-line initials (R for Racio, and G, S, D, M, for the other interlocutors) blue or gold, with red or black penwork., On ff. 1r and 8r three quarters of the page was ruled, but left blank, presumably for miniatures., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Red velvet case, much worn.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Petrarca, Francesco, 1304-1374.
Subject (Topic):
Conduct of life, Dialogues, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (fine, smooth) of 1) Prologue. 2) Moamin, De scientia venandi per aves, translated into Latin by Theodorus of Antioch. Although the prologue states that there are four treatises composed by Moamin, the fourth (Quartus naturam et medicamen qutrupedum [sic] cum quibus uenamur) is omitted in this manuscript. 3) Treatise of Dancus rex. 4) Treatise of Guillelmus falconarius. 5) Four anonymous descriptions of types of falcons. Produced probably for Ferdinand II of Aragon (arms on f. 1r).
Alternative Title:
Moamin
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in elegant round humanistic script below top line., One miniature, f. 1r, five falcons sitting on a perch in a niche, with a 6-line initial, blue and light green, with green and blue acanthus, against gold, framed in red, with white dots; full border, pink and blue flowers on stems with pink, orange and green leaves and gold dots spiraling around a pink and gold bar; framed in gold and inhabited by birds, putti, four of the putti in lower margin supporting a coat-of-arms. 5-line initials, gold, filled with blue or crimson with flowers in white, on irregular grounds, crimson or blue with flowers in white, and hair-spray extensions with crimson and blue leaves, flowers and gold trefoil leaves or dots. 2-line initials, gold, filled with crimson or blue against irregular crimson or blue grounds with white filigree. Rubrics throughout., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Red goatskin, gold-tooled with "Cetreria" on spine. Gilt edges with lettering on fore-edge.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Falconry, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment of M. Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.), Cato Maior de senectute, with a List of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
Description:
Binding: original Italian, repaired: brown leather over thin wooden boards, the covers blind-tooled and decorated with numerous small gold dots. Marks of two clasps; on the spine, now detached and kept separately, a gold-tooled reddish brown title label (17th century?) with the inscription “STR // DE // SEN”. Gilded edges., Pink headings. The names of the interlocutors and the colophon on f. 48r are written in pink Capitals. The first line of the various sections following the dentelle initial is written in alternately pink and black Capitals, except on f. 2r, where it is written in gold Capitals. The illuminated opening folio before f. 1 has been cut out. The smaller sections open with a pink Capital placed between the double bounding lines. 2-line Renaissance dentelle initials in gold on a divided and indented red and blue background, decorated with silvery penwork, at the beginning of the major subdivisions of the text., R.G. Babcock, T.N. Thomas, D.M. Kibbey, E.P. Archibald, A Book of Her Own. An Exhibition of Manuscripts and Printed Books in the Yale University Library that were Owned by Women before 1700 (New Haven, 2005), p. 66., Record created by Beinecke staff from catalog description by Albert Derolez., Script: copied by Giovanmarco Cinico from Parma in Humanistica Textualis Formata. This famous scribe was active in Naples from ca. 1458 to ca. 1498., and Written for the young Beatrice of Aragon (1457-1508), daughter of Ferrand of Aragon, King of Naples and future Queen of Hungary. Purchased 1994 from Bernard Quaritch (?) on the Edwin J. Beinecke Fund.
Subject (Name):
Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Subject (Topic):
Dialogues, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Old age
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Joannes de Sacro Bosco, De sphaera. 2) Unidentified Cosmographicae libellus. 3) Nicolas Oresme, Traite de la sphere, in a Latin translation apparently extant only in this manuscript
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by one person in small fere-humanistic script bordering on cursive, verso., Simple decorative initials, 5- to 2-line, in red. Headings, paragraph marks, strokes on majuscules at beginning of sentences, and marginal notes, in red., Seventeen carefully executed astronomical drawings and two tables, in red, black, yellow and beige, accompany arts. 1 and 3., and Binding: 18th-19th centuries. Limp vellum case. "Tractatus spere" on tail edge.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Sacro Bosco, Joannes de, active 1230.
Subject (Topic):
Astronomy, Medieval, Cosmography, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval