Manuscript on parchment (trimmed) of Baudouin d'Avesnes (d. 1289; Lord of Beaumont and son of Margaret of Flanders), Chroniques de Hainaut. Continues to ca. 1131
Description:
In French., Script: Written in fine gothic textura. Corrections made over erasures., One fine historiated initial, 4-line (f. 4r): orange, pink and blue with white filigree; a king seated in conversation with three men, the figures orange, pink, and blue against a ground diapered in gold and blue with crowns in white; on a blue ground with white floral filigree framed in gold; curling vine serifs, red and green, extending into a 3/4 vine border, blue and pink, with red, blue, green and white leaves with some knots and gold cusping; large gold dots; two dogs, one with a bone, in lower margin. Two coats-of-arms in upper and lower margins. One fine calligraphic initial, 5-line, f. 197r, divided red and blue with particolored penwork, red and blue, with flourishes and a cascading column of I's, alternating red and blue and extending 3/4 length of inner margin. 4- to 2-line initials, red or blue, with blue or red penwork, dots and large flourishes, one on f. 4r with a cascading column of I's as above. 1-line initials, red or blue, with penwork, as above. Numerous crude marginal drawings in brown ink. Notes to rubricator, arts. 1 and 3., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Diced brown calf over heavy wooden boards which are possibly original.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Hainaut (Belgium)
Subject (Name):
Baudouin d'Avesnes.
Subject (Topic):
French literature, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Scientific or magical text in an unidentified language, in cipher, apparently based on Roman minuscule characters; the text is believed by some scholars to be the work of Roger Bacon since the themes of the illustrations seem to represent topics known to have interested Bacon (see also Provenance below.) A history of the numerous attempts to decipher the manuscript can be found in a volume edited by R. S. Brumbaugh, The Most Mysterious Manuscript: The Voynich "Roger Bacon" Cipher Manuscript (Carbondale, Illinois, 1978). Although several scholars have claimed decipherments of the manuscript, for the most part the text remains an unsolved puzzle
Alternative Title:
Voynich manuscript
Description:
In unidentified cipher., Decoration: Almost every page contains botanical and scientific drawings, many full-page, of a provincial but lively character, in ink with washes in various shades of green, brown, yellow, blue and red., and Binding: Modern (18th-19th centuries).
In Latin., Script: Written by one hand in Gothica Textualis Formata., and Binding: Sixteenth century. Pigskin over cardboard (previously over wooden boards), blind-tooled with rolls, rebacked. Red edges. On the front flyleaf there is a modern note: "The 16th century German binding has evidently been taken from another volume".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Catholic Church and Cistercians.
Subject (Topic):
Liturgy, Graduals (Liturgical books), Manuscripts, Medieval, and Monasticism and religious orders
Manuscript on parchment. Possibly produced at the Cistercian abbey of Fitero (between Pamplona and Tudela).
Description:
In Latin., Script: Copied by various hands in Iberian Praegothica., The original sections (articles 1, 2, 7 and 8) have red headings and red decorative line-fillers; 1-line plain initials and numerous 2-line (sometimes 3- or 4-line) plain or flourished initials or litterae duplices intermingled. Many round initials such as C, D, O, Q are filled with a human face ("face initials"); in art. 7 some initials I are zoomorphic and take the shape of a fish (ff. 127r, 134r). Red and purple initials normally alternate. Art. 4 has red initials. The remaining articles are undecorated., Lower edge of many leaves damaged, with loss of text. The final pages worn and smudged., and Binding: ca. 1800. Limp parchment with remains of two leather ties. On the spine the hand-written title "Charta charitatis, liber usuum et institut. Ordinis S. Bernardi. M.S." At the bottom of the spine a label with the handwritten modern number "1280".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Cistercians
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Monasticism and religious orders
Manuscript compendium of astronomical and astrological texts, including a version of the Kalendarium of Regiomontanus, with lunar eclipse tables for the years 1475-1530 and a solar calendar for 1475-1513. Other contents include a number of astronomical and astrological tables and texts. including a poem on auspicious and inauspicious days (first line: "Fortunata dies operum disponere causas"); the Canon de aspectibus planetarum; the Cognitiones naturarum secundum nativtates; and a variety of prognostic texts based on zodiac signs and the day of the week on which January 1 falls in a given year. The volume also contains several quadrant diagrams and a working volvelle
Description:
In Latin., Bookseller description available., Inscribed at the head of 2r: S[an]c[t]i Cristofori Taurini Ad usu[m] fr[atr]is Anto[ni]i de lanteo., Signature of Joseff Gregri da Bologna? on back cover., Bookplate of Samuel Verplanck Hoffman on front pastedown., Tipped in before f1: printed catalog description of this volume, undated., Layout: main text in single columns of approximately 35 lines; wide margins., Script: gothica textualis italiana., Decoration: rubricated. Initials in red and blue ink, some with penwork flourishing; many blank spaces for initials. Illustrations of lunar eclipses. Charts, diagrams, and volvelles in red, blue and brown ink., and Binding: contemporary boards, rebacked.
Subject (Geographic):
Italy, Connecticut, and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Regiomontanus, Joannes, 1436-1476.
Subject (Topic):
Astrology, Astrology, Italian, Astronomy, Calendars, Lunar eclipses, Quadrants (Astronomical instruments), Solar eclipses, Manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Renaissance, and Zodiac
Manuscript on parchment of A collection of copies of grants and concessions made to Jacobo Probo, conte di Pianelle, from Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (1466-1519), and his son Federico II (1500-40). The three documents of Francesco are dated 1496 (ff. 8r-10r), 1514 (ff. 6v-7v), 1516 (ff. 1r-2r); the two of Federico are dated 1519 (ff. 2v-5r) and 1526 (ff. 5v-6r). On f. 10v there is a statement by the notary "Castantius [sic] Iottus" authenticating these copies (dated 18 Oct. 1541). Two documents of Ferdinand II of Aragon, King of Sicily (1452-1516) confirming title to the property in question (ff. 11r-14r) seem to have been added later by another writer
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in inelegant italic for ff. 1-10; a sprawling running hand for ff. 11-14., and Binding: 15th-16th centuries. Levantine? A single gathering backstitched to the vellum lining of a semi-limp pasteboard folder covered with red-brown goatskin with corner tongues. Blind-tooled with a cross on a pedestal in a border on the upper board and an X on the lower. The design made up of fleurs-de-lis, diamonds with concave sides and flowers, the flowers bordering the turn-ins. Two ribbon fastenings, missing. Some mold and worm damage.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Mantua (Duchy)
Subject (Name):
Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, 1500-1540. and Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, 1466-1519.
Manuscript on paper of Pedro de Medina, Coloquio de cosmographia and Regimiento del altura del sol y del Norte. Addition, in another hand, by a friend of Pedro de Medina and taken from a treatise in Italian on cosmography by a Florentine member of the Compagni family
Description:
In Spanish., Watermark: compare with Briquet 7567, 7578, 7584, 7601, 7602 (?)., Script: Written by one hand in Spanish Gothico-Humanistica. Headings in Capitalis., Majuscules heightened in dark yellow. Flourished initials in liquid gold with red penwork. Diagrams in pen and ink., and Binding: Sixteenth century. Blind-tooled brown leather over cardboard, both covers decorated with frames of rolls and single stamps in the center; two green silk ties.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Medina, Pedro de, 1493?-1567?
Subject (Topic):
Cosmography, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval