Manuscript on parchment of Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae (abridged).
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Sewn on three tawed skin, kermes pink slit straps nailed in channels on the outside of the wooden boards. Yellow edges. The plain wound endbands may have been resewn. The spine is lined with cloth. Covered in brown, originally tan, sheepskin with corner tongues. Blind-tooled with two rope interlace stars in a central panel bordered with concentric frames. Spine: bands outlined with double fillets; panels diapered with triple fillets. Two truncated diamond fastenings, the catches on the lower board (one wanting), the upper board cut in for straps attached with star-headed nails., Folio 1r with partial border in inner and lower margin (rubbed). Inner margin has scrolling vine, yellow, on parchment ground with red dots, with stylized foliage, flowers and fruit in green, red, purple and dove grey. Illuminated initial, 3-line, purple on dark green ground, is incorporated into border. In lower margin, wreathed medallion (unidentified mutilated arms: per pale, or and sable?) on pink ground, supported by two heraldic dragons, parchment colored (unfinished) against red ground. All of this decoration appears to be a later addition. Plain initials and headings in red., and Script: Written in fere-humanistic script by a single scribe, below top line.
Subject (Name):
Gellius, Aulus
Subject (Topic):
Commonplace-books, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Naldo Naldi, Oratio ad Andream Vendraminium (doge of Venice 1476-78).
Description:
Binding: 15th-16th centuries, Italy. Sewn on three tawed skin, slit straps laced through tunnels in the edge of beech boards to channels on the outside and nailed. Gilt edges. Fragment of head endband. The spine is lined with tawed skin between supports. Covered in red silk with traces of four fastenings on each board., One illuminated initial of average quality, 3-line, gold against blue ground with gold filigree. Filled with half-length portrait of the doge dressed in red robes and a red hat against green ground. Dedication, 5 lines, in alternating lines of gold and blue majuscules followed by the first three lines of text in red majuscules., Script: Written in a round humanistic hand, below top line, by the poet Tommaso Baldinotti of Pistoia (1451-1511)., and The margins of f. 1 have been trimmed away from the written space, which was then mounted on another piece of parchment conjugate to the front pastedown; hence, any marginal decoration, which may have included a coat of arms, is now lost.
Subject (Geographic):
Venice (Italy)
Subject (Name):
Naldi, Naldo,--1439-ca. 1520 and Vendramin, Andrea,--1392-1478
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 (Medieval and modern)
Manuscript on parchment of Pauline Epistles (Epistola ad Romanos 2.27 through Epistola ad Hebreos 11.34), with commentary of Gilbert de la Porree. With Argumenta, later additions, all attributed to Hugo de Sancto Caro or Peter Lombard.
Description:
Binding: Twentieth century, United States (?). Half bound in dark red goatskin with gold-tooled lettering on the spine ("St. Paul/ Epistulae cum commento/ MS. 12th Cent."), marbled paper sides, and yellow edges., Script: Written in fine early gothic bookhand in two sizes of script, above top line., and Three illuminated initials at beginning of first three Epistles of excellent quality, ff. 34v, 69v, 86v, 8- to 5-line, with descenders extending into margins, red, blue, green and beige against gold ground. Bodies of initials filled with stylized scrolling foliage, bright blue, red, green, orange, silver and yellow with white highlights against gold ground. Descenders serve as a trellis for similar scrolls, some ending in biting animal's heads or fantastic birds. Scrolling foliage, f. 86v, inhabited by beasts of a canine variety, white with red shading. The decoration of manuscript is unfinished; f. 99r pen and ink underdrawing for an initial as above, with only touches of red added; blank spaces left for initals for remaining Epistles. Small initials, 3-line, gold with red penwork, for beginning of commentary for each Epistle. Headings in red or alternating red and blue majuscules. Plain initials touched with red. Running titles, later addition, in red.
Subject (Name):
Gilbert, de La Porrée, Bishop, ca. 1075-1154, Hugh, of Saint-Cher, Cardinal, ca. 1200-1263, Paul, the Apostle, Saint, and Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris, ca. 1100-1160
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--N.T.--Epistles of Paul, Bible--Commentaries, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Plato, Phaedo, translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni and preceded by his prefatory letter to Pope Innocent VII. 2) Xenophon, Hiero (Tyrannus), translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni and preceded by his prefatory letter to Niccolo Niccoli.
Description:
Binding: Between 1800 and 1810, Italy. Rigid vellum case with the title gold-tooled on a label on the spine: "Leon. Aret. Opus". Gilt edges and faint lettering on the head edge., Decorated in the early style of Gioacchino de' Gigantibus. On f. 1r a partial border in upper, lower and inner margins, white vine-stem ornament on blue, green and dark pink with grey dots on blue grounds, blue dots on pink grounds, and gold balls. In lower border, medallion framed by gold interlace bands and supported by two putti wearing red necklaces, with a coat of arms, now erased, on green ground. Four illuminated initials, 7- to 5-line, in gold, framed in yellow, on blue, green and red grounds, with dots as above. Initial on f. 1r, inhabited by standing putto wearing a red necklace, is joined to the border. Other initials have vine-stem decoration extending into the margins and terminating with groups of three gold balls. Headings and names of interlocutors in red., Purchased from L. C. Witten in 1954 by Thomas E. Marston., and Script: Written by a single scribe in a somewhat angular humanistic bookhand.
Subject (Name):
Hieron--I,--Tyrant of Syracuse,--d. 467 or 466 B.C, Innocent--VII,--Pope,--1336-1406, Niccoli, Niccolò,--ca. 1364-1437, and Plato
Subject (Topic):
Biography--To 500, Dialogues, Greek, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Philosophy, Ancient
Manuscript on parchment of Nicolaus de Lyra, Postillae on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and I-IV Kings.
Description:
19 pen-and-ink drawings with washes in red, green, blue and pale yellow, some inserted into the text column, others up to half-page size dealing with the Tabernacle in the Desert and the Temple of Solomon: the drawings serve to clarify the written text by depicting differences in interpretations between Jewish and Catholic exegesis; contrasting drawings are usually juxtaposed and labelled with the respective source for each., Binding: Modern restoration? Limp vellum case with earlier title (mostly illegible) running lengthwise on spine and later title added at top of spine: "Fr. Nicolai de Lyra ord. min. Commentaria in Libro historico Sacrae Scripturae"., ff. 43-44 loose., Many fine flourished initials, red and blue divided, 9- to 3-line, with penwork designs in red, blue and/or purple; somewhat smaller less ambitious initials alternate red and blue with designs in the opposite color. The minor decoration appears inconsistently, with running headlines, rubrics, paragraph marks and underlining of Biblical texts, in various colors or totally absent., Purchased in 1958 from Emile Rossignol, Paris, by L. C. Witten, who sold it the same year to Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written by several scribes in gothic bookhand., and Written by several scribes in gothic bookhand.
Subject (Name):
Nicholas,--of Lyra,--ca. 1270-1349
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--O.T.--Historical Books, Bible.--O.T.--Pentateuch, Bible--Commentaries, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Scholasticism
Manuscript on parchment (speckled on hair side) of 1) Petrarch, Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. 2) Petrarch, Triumphi.
Description:
Acquired from H. P. Kraus in 1960 by Thomas E. Marston., Binding: Nineteenth century, Italy. Brown calf, blind- and gold-tooled. Gilt edges. Title on spine: "Petrarca". Signed by "CR"., Illuminated by Antonio di Niccolo di Lorenzo. The decoration consists of an illuminated title page with full border, white vine-stem ornament on blue, red and green ground with white, blue and pale yellow dots, respectively, with a thin gold bar in all margins, forming a diamond (black) in inner and a roundel with a profile head of a young woman against blue sky with some clouds in the outer margin. In the lower border a medallion (erased) framed in gold and supported by four round-faced putti with multicolored wings in green and red. Superimposed on the border are a variety of multicolored birds, a lion and two putti. These animals are related to animals in contemporary Florentine manuscripts and perhaps reflect the use of a model book. Historiated initial, 10-line, gold, on blue green and red ground with white vine-stem ornament attached to the inner border, with a half-length portrait of Petrarch holding a book against a blue sky with white cloud formations. Six illuminated initials (ff. 143r, 155v, 159r, 168v, 176r, 178v), 6- and 5-line, gold on blue, red and green grounds with white vine-stem ornament extending into margin, and gold dots with hair-line extensions. On f. 143r, initial joined to partial border, same as above. Plain initials in blue, paragraph marks alternate red and blue. Headings in red., and Script: Written by Carlo di Palla Guidi in a round humanistic script, above top line.
Subject (Name):
Petrarca, Francesco,--1304-1374
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian poetry--To 1400, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Rudimenta grammatices (Grammatica latina secundum Donatum). 2) Disticha Catonis.
Description:
Binding: Twentieth century, England (?). Quarter bound in brown, blind-tooled calf over wooden boards., Historiated initial, f. 1r, 11-line, pink against blue ground with a half-length portrait in profile of the author, dressed in red and green robes and a red hat against parchment ground with brown penwork. Foliage serifs, green, blue and red extending into inner and upper margin to form partial border. In center of lower margin, blank shield for coat of arms, flanked by stylized foliage, blue and red. In outer margin, small patch of green with boy or man sitting under a tree (visible under ultra-violet light). One illuminated initial on f. 11r, 8-line, pink against blue ground filled with stylized foliage, blue, green and red. Plain initials in red. Small initials touched with yellow., Purchased from H. P. Kraus in 1955 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written in round gothic bookhand by a single scribe., and The entire manuscript is well worn, affecting the text; f. 1r is badly rubbed and stained.
Subject (Name):
Donatus, Aelius
Subject (Topic):
Catonis disticha, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin language--Grammar, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Stoics
Manuscript on paper (thick, coarse) of Lives of the Saints, preceded by accounts of events in the Bible from both the Old and New Testaments. Folios 51 and 61 interchanged in rebinding.
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century, Italy. Rigid vellum case with two red labels on spine: "Trattati di storia sacra" and "Manuscritto 1360"., Crudely executed title page, f. 1r, consisting of floral and foliage motifs in upper margin, scroll around column in inner margin, and, in outer margin, scroll around column terminating in elongated arm with text on the scroll (much rubbed and stained). In lower margin a coat of arms (damaged; probably: or, two columns gules); the letters B and C on either side in the bases of columns in inner and outer margins. The decoration of title page in bright red and green. Plain initials (some with simple foliage designs), headings, paragraph marks, pointing hands, and hands holding crosses or symbols of passions of martyrs (e. g., gridiron for Laurence), all in bright red, green, and/or black., Folio 1 damaged; no loss of text., Script: Written by several scribes in unruly mercantesca script, above top line. Script becomes smaller and tighter toward end of codex., and Watermarks: similar in design to Briquet Ciseaux 3708 dated Genoa, 1465.
Subject (Topic):
Christian hagiography, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian literature--15th century, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on paper of Summulae naturalium, composed in 1408 by Paulus Nicolettus Venetus O.E.S.A. (1369/72-1429).
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century, England. Blind-tooled brown goatskin with the same gold-tooled title on the spine and both covers: "Summule Naturalium/ Paulus de Venetiis/ M. S. 1373". Bound by Riviere (London) before 1881. Red edges., Brittle. Acidic ink damage with some loss of text., Decorated title page, f. 1r, with border, in black and red ink composed of various decorative devices: in the upper margin a bar border with a central semicircle flanked by stylized scrolls in black and red. In the outer margin, a roundel, black with red and black frame, filled with a flower of 6 petals in red; the roundel flanked by stylized scrolls. In center of lower margin a medallion framed in narrow black and red bands containing a flaming heart pierced by an arrow and an open book, also flanked by stylized scrolls. Numerous decorated initials, 30- to 4-line, black and red with interior designs of lozenges, small flowers, and wavy lines of paper ground. Plain initials and paragraph marks in red. Guide letters for rubricator throughout., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1953 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written by several scribes in humanistic cursive script with gothic features, below top line; inital words of each section in gothic bookhand., Watermarks, obscured by text: similar to Harlfinger Chapeau 17 and unidentified ladder., and Worm-eaten; some minor loss of text.
Subject (Name):
Aristotle, Augustinians, and Venetus, Paulus
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, Physics--Early works to 1800, and Scholia