Manuscript on paper of Christophorus Columbus (Christopher C.,1451-1506), Epistola de insulis de novo repertis. Relation of his first voyage to America (1492-1493), addressed to Raphael Sanchez and translated into Latin by Leander de Cosco, dated 14 March 1493. Probably copied from the edition Paris, [Guy Marchant, after 29 April 1493], GKW 7175, variant (a). With Bartholomaeus Columbus (Bartholomew C., c. 1460-1514), Descrizione della navigazione nel Mondo Nuovo. The text is in the wrong order, being probably copied from an exemplar in four pages, of which pages 2 and 3 were inverted. The manuscript should be read in the following order: (1) p. 1, lines 1 to 20 asai; (2) p. 2, lines 6 lavorate to 28 vidono di; (3) p. 1, line 20 dismontar to p. 2, line 6 corazze; (4) p. 2, line 29 bambaso to the end. Copied by one hand in Gothica Hybrida Formata verging to the Semitextualis, with a typographic outlook (but totally different from the printing type used in the presumed exemplar).
Description:
At the top of the first page the autograph ownership inscription of Sigismondo Pandolfo de Malatesta (1498-1543?), son of Pandolfo Malatesta. From the Gritti family archives., Cite as: Christopher Columbus, Epistola de Insulis de Novo Repertis. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University., In Latin and Italian., Paragraph marks, flourished initials (5 ll. f. 1r, 3 ll. f. 5r) and Columbus coat of arms all in the same brown ink as the text. The arms closely resemble those found in the Genoa codex of his Book of Privileges., Unbound. Placed in a boardpaper portfolio and leather-backed boardpaper slip-case., and Watermark: cardinal's hat, var. Briquet 3409 ... (1519-1527?).
Subject (Geographic):
North America -- Description and travel--Early works to 1800
Subject (Name):
Columbus, Christopher and Cosco, Leandro di
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian literature -- 16th century, Manuscripts, Medieval -- Connecticut -- New Haven, and Navigation
Aurispa, Giovanni, ca. 1376-1459 Bruni, Leonardo, 1369-1444 Griffolini, Francesco, 1418-1483 Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, 6th cent. B.C Plutarch Tibullus
Published / Created:
[between 1450 and 1475]
Call Number:
Marston MS 100
Image Count:
224
Resource Type:
Archives or Manuscripts
Abstract:
Manuscript on paper of 1) Phalaris, Epistolae, translated into Latin by Francesco Griffolini of Arezzo and dedicated to Malatesta Novella of Cesena. 2) Unidentified couplet. 3) Ps.-Brutus, Epistolae, translated by Rinuccio Aretino and dedicated to Pope Nicholas V. 4) Ps.-Plutarch, Epistola ad Traianum. 5) Ps.-Philip of Macedon, Epistola ad Aristotelem. 6) Plutarch, Pyrrhus (extract), Lat. tr. of Leonardo Bruni. 7) Ps.-Caesar, Epistola ad Ciceronem. Arts. 8-11 are excerpts from an 11th- or early 12th-century supplement to Curtius Rufus, Historia Alexandri Magni. 12) Ps.-Phalaris, Epistula ad Demotelem, Lat. tr. Giovanni Aurispa. 13) Tibullus (attributed), Priapea I.
Description:
Binding: Date? Italy (?). Sewn through pieces of vellum. Limp vellum case with title in ink on spine: "Phalaridis Epistole". Badly worm eaten., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1955 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Arts. 1 and 3-12 written in humanistic cursive by a single scribe, above top line; arts. 2 and 13 added in a more flamboyant style of humanistic cursive., Two illuminated initials, 4-line, gold against blue, green and dark red grounds with white vine-stem ornament and white dots. From the corners issue penwork inkspray with leaves, green with yellow or gold highlights, and blue or red blossoms, extending into margins to form partial border. Plain initials alternate in blue and red. Headings in pale red., and Watermarks: similar in design to Briquet Fleur 6597, 6601.
Subject (Name):
Phalaris,--Tyrant of Agrigentum,--6th cent. B.C
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin letters, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Ambrose, Saint, Bishop of Milan, d. 397 Jerome, Saint, d. 419 or 20
Published / Created:
1439-1440.
Call Number:
Beinecke MS 766
Image Count:
620
Resource Type:
Archives or Manuscripts
Abstract:
Manuscript on parchment of St. Jermone, Epistulae et tractatus. With Ambrosius Mediolanensis (St. Ambrose, 339-397), De excessu fratris.
Description:
Binding: Sixteenth century. Brown leather over cardboard boards, the covers blind-tooled with a triple fillet lozenge inside a floral roll frame, the center and the corners gold-tooled with two different floral tools. Spine with four raised bands and remnants of gold-tooled lilies in the compartments. Edges painted blue. Marks of two pairs of ties., Headings in red. Red heightening (stroking) of the majuscules. 2-3-line flourished initials (with guide letters) in red with penwork varying from pale red to purple. A large (10 lines) decorated flourished initial in red, with developed purple penwork (“R” instead of “D”) in littera duplex style on f. 229v. Two Gothic historiated initials on gold background with floral marginal extensions: f. 1r: St. Jerome with lion and boy holding open a book (damaged); f. 25v: a monk copying., Script: Apparently four scribes: A, Iohannes de Carnago, is the main scribe and copied ff. 1r-260v (with the exception of 8 lines at the bottom) in Gothico-Humanistica Semitextualis Libraria; B copied from the bottom lines of f. 260v to f. 270v, in Humanistica Textualis Libraria; C copied ff. 271r-275v in Gothico-Humanistica Textualis Libraria; and D copied ff. 276r-304v in Gothico-Humanistica Semitextualis Libraria., and The codex belonged to the Diocesan Library of Dunedin, New Zealand. Sotheby sale, London, 27 March 1950 (catalogue, no. 35).
Subject (Name):
Jerome,--Saint,--d. 419 or 20
Subject (Topic):
Christian literature, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin letters, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Vegetius, Epitome rei militaris.
Description:
Binding: Eighteenth century, England or France. Bound in olive green goatskin gold-tooled with a "broken cable" border and decorated edges. Probably bound by Richard Wier (active in London and Toulouse to ca. 1792). Decorated edges. Title on spine: "Vegetius De Viris Il"., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1953 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written in small gothic bookhand by a single scribe., and Three illuminated initials, 3-line, at the beginning of the Prologue (f. 1v), Bk. 3 (f. 29v), Bk. 4 (f. 58r), blue or mauve with white filigree against gold ground thinly edged in black. Initials filled with stylized leaves, blue and mauve with white filigree. Black inkspray with spiky gold leaves and small blossoms in pink or blue extend into the margins to form partial borders. Numerous small initials, 2-line, gold, on mauve and blue ground with white filigree. Running headlines in red and blue; headings in red. Paragraph marks alternate red and blue. Initials stroked with pale yellow.
Subject (Name):
Vegetius Renatus, Flavius
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Military art and science--Early works to 1800
Manuscript on parchment of Ambrose, Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam. With Acts of the synod of Piacenza, March 1095 (Urban II), chs. 1-14.
Description:
Binding: 1800-1810, Italy. Half bound in brown calf with bright pink paper sides that have been covered with tan paper; edges spattered blue-green. Two gold-tooled labels on spine, the first left blank and the lower one reading "Saecul XII". Bound in the same distinctive style as Marston MSS 50, 125, 128, 135, 151, 153, 159, and 197, also from the Cisterican abbey of Hautecombe. and Numerous pen and ink initials of good quality, 8- to 3-line, drawn in red. The initials are constructed of thick vine stems, divided in half and swelling at the ends, issuing sprouts of intertwining stylized foliage. On f. 10v the letter E is formed from a bird and its extended wing; on ff. 75r and 103r the initials terminate in animal heads. The most important initials, ff. 1v, 13r, 36v, 62r, 75r, 114r, 115v and 119v, are touched with patches of ochre and summary modelling in the same color. On f. 1v the continuation capitals are filled in with red and ochre. Plain initials and headings in red. Remains of instructions to the rubricator along outer edge perpendicular to text (e.g., ff. 119v, 120v).
Subject (Name):
Urban--II,--Pope,--ca. 1042-1099
Subject (Topic):
Bible. N.T. Luke --Commentaries--Early works to 1800, Bible--Commentaries, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Papal documents
Manuscript on paper of Poggio Bracciolini, Facetiae.
Description:
Binding: Sixteenth century, Italy. Backs of quires cut in V's. Brown goatskin case faintly blind-tooled with concentric frames and spiralling dragon motifs that incorporate flowers and long beaked birds. Rebacked., One illuminated initial on f. 1r, 6-line, gold against deep red, green, and blue cusped ground with white filigree and white dots. From left corners penwork sprays issuing forth into inner margin, with blue and red blossoms and green leaves. Plain initials, placed between vertical rulings, alternate blue and red, some omitted., Script: Written in a round humanistic bookhand by a single scribe, below top line., and Watermarks: similar to Briquet Lettre S 9050; watermark on back pastedown similar to Briquet Fleur 6596-97, 99 and 6602.
Subject (Topic):
Fabliaux, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin poetry, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of 1) Gospel of Matthew, preceded by Prologue to Gospels from Jerome; letter of Jerome to Damasus; spurious addition to letter attributed to Jerome; Prologue to Matthew. 2) Gospel of Mark, preceded by Prologue. Final leaf missing; the conclusion of Mark is added on a piece of parchment (Germany, ca. 1150) stitched in between ff. 110 and 112 (formerly glued to f. 112).
Description:
At the beginning of each Gospel, full-page initials, f. 9r (Matthew) and f. 71r (Mark) incorporating symbols of the Evangelists; f. 9r with gold foliate scrolls with silver tendrils, one with a pink dragon-head terminal, against blue, light green and orange; f. 71r gold and silver, with spiraling foliage in shaded blue, orange and green, supported by a pink and gold dragon; both followed by display capitals in alternate lines of gold and silver, shaded in blue. Large initials in gold and silver as above, 2-line, f. 1r, and 6- or 5-line, ff. 3r, 5r, 5v, and 68v, for prefaces, epistles and prologues. 3-line initials, as above, for chapter divisions. 1-line initials throughout, inner margin, orange, filled with gold and/or silver. Rubrics in orange. Some oxidization of silver., Binding: 19th-20th centuries. Red velvet case., and Script: Written in German minuscule by a single scribe.
Subject (Name):
Jerome,--Saint,--d. 419 or 20
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--Latin--Versions--Vulgate, Bible.--N.T.--Mark, Bible.--N.T.--Matthew, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Anonymous grammatical treatise in prose (Grammatica Latina secundum Donatum). 2) Disticha Catonis.
Description:
1-line red versals and 2-line red plain initials. Two large initials: f. 1r, at the beginning of the text of art. 1, historiated 10- line initial in pink on a blue background, containing a half-length profile of a poet or teacher in outline with a yellow dress; f. 10r, at the beginning of art. 2, decorated 9-line initial in pinkon a blue background, filled with red, yellow and green leaves., Binding: Original half brown leather binding over heavy bevelled wooden boards; sewn on two split leather thongs; the spine damaged. Remnants of one strap attached to the front cover, with iron pin on the rear cover., Due to intensive use the pages are badly rubbed and the legibility is impaired; whole passages have been rewritten by a later hand. The corners of the leaves are worn off. Holes and sewings., and Script: Copied by one hand in large Southern Gothica Textualis Formata (Rotunda). The opening majuscule of each verse set off in a separate column.
Subject (Topic):
Didactic poetry, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin language--Grammar, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Aurispa, Giovanni, ca. 1376-1459 Barbaro, Francesco, 1390-1454 Buonaccorso, da Montemagno, ca. 1391-1429 Guarino, Veronese, 1374-1460 Lucian, of Samosata
Published / Created:
1465
Call Number:
Marston MS 63
Image Count:
144
Resource Type:
Archives or Manuscripts
Abstract:
Manuscript on paper, composed of two closely related parts. Part I: Guarino da Verona, Ipotesia ad Hieronymum (filium) suum, written in 1443. Part II: 3) Francesco Barbaro, De re uxoria, with the prefatory letter to Lorenzo di Giovanni de' Medici (1395-1440). 4) Anonymous text, 12 lines, listing the moral qualities of a good wife. 5) Ps.-Bernard of Clairvaux, Epistola de gubernatione rei familiaris. 6) Lucian, Contentio de presidentia P. Scipionis, Lat. tr. Giovanni Aurispa. 7) Buonaccorso da Montemagno, Controversia de nobilitate. 8) Unidentified oration delivered before the faculty at the university of Siena in 1465. 9) Francesco Pontano, unidentified oration delivered before the faculty at the university of Siena. 10) Bartholomaeus Senensis, unidentified oration delivered before the faculty at the university of Siena. Part II was written by the jurist and diplomat Rainerius de Maschis of Rimini.
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Sewn on three tawed skin, slit straps laced through tunnels in the edges of beech boards to channels on the outside and nailed. Natural color endbands, beaded on the spine, were sewn on tawed skin cores laid in grooves in the boards and nailed. There is tawed skin under the endband tie downs. Covered in green (?) tawed skin with a strip of red leather, 19th-20th centuries, added on the spine. Two truncated diamond catches with the IHS monogram within a sunburst (as used by St. Bernardinus of Siena) on the lower board. The upper board is cut in for clasp straps which are a later addition. Both clasps and catches have the word AVE. The title De re uxoria written in ink on both head and tail edges. The boards are badly worm eaten., Illuminated initial, f. 4r, 4-line, gold on blue, green, and red ground with yellow and white filigree. In lower border wreathed medallion with ribbons on either side, bearing the arms of Rainerius de Maschis of Rimini; the initials R and A, in gold, on either side of shield. Headings, paragraph marks, punctuation and marginalia, in red., Purchased from H. P. Kraus in 1955 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Part I (ff. 1-3): Written in a small neat humanistic cursive by a single scribe, above top line. Part II (ff. 4-67): Written in a slanting humanistic bookhand with gothic features by a single scribe, above top line., and Watermarks: Part I: unidentified two-wheeled wagon. Part II: similar to Briquet Chapeau 3387.
Subject (Name):
Guarino,--Veronese,--1374-1460
Subject (Topic):
Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Speeches, addresses, etc., Latin (Medieval and modern)
Manuscript on parchment of Ovid, Heroides 16 (Paris to Helen) 1-38, 145-378, with an unidentified French translation. Latin text, which is written only on the verso of each leaf, faces the French translation, which is written on the recto of each leaf.
Description:
Binding: Seventeenth century, France (?). Bound in red goatskin, gold-tooled. Gilt edges. Title, much worn, on spine., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1956 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Latin text written in a round humanistic script much influenced by printing; Scribe 1) ff. 1v-21v and Scribe 2) ff. 22r-36r. French text written in upright batarde; Scribe 1) ff. 2r-22r and Scribe 2) ff. 22r-36r (a more flamboyant style of script)., and Two initials, one at beginning of Latin text (2-line), the other at the beginning of French text (3-line), respectively gold on blue square ground with gold filigree and gold on dark red square ground with gold filigree. Most stanzas introduced by paragraph marks in gold on blue or red alternating grounds, with gold filigree. First letter of each verse stroked with yellow, as are usually majuscules in text. Headings on ff. 1v and 2r in red.
Subject (Name):
Ovid,--43 B.C.-17 or 18 A.D
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Narrative poetry, Latin