Manuscript on parchment of Diogenes Laertius, Vitae et sententiae philosophorum, translated into Latin by Ambrogio Traversari and preceded by his dedicatory letter to Cosimo de' Medici.
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. A hybrid Italo-Greek binding. Sewn or resewn (the sewing is too tight to determine with certainty) on five tawed skin, slit straps. Wooden boards which are not flush at head and tail are grooved on the edges. Beaded Western endbands added. Covered in dark brown calf, blind-tooled with a triple cross made up of gilt annular dots and rope interlace in a central panel within concentric frames alternately made up of a beaded zigzag ribbon and feathered rinceau. Similar tools are used on Marston MSS 39 and 68. Spine: bands outlined and panels diapered with triple fillets. Traces of four braid-and-pin fastenings, the pins in the edges of the lower board instead of the upper board as is usual in Greek bindings. "Diogenes ***" is added on the fore edge; "diogenes laergi" is written in batarde on a label under horn at the head of the upper board, possibly added in northern Europe., Script: Main text written in round humanistic bookhand by a single scribe., Some worming at beginning of text., and The decoration consists of a 3/4 border, f. 1r, of intricate white vine-stem ornament curling around thin gold bars (doubled in inner and lower margins) on a blue, green and pale pink ground dotted with white, yellow and blue, and gold balls. Incorporated into the lower border are a medallion (blank) framed by a laurel wreath and two narrow gold bands, a stag, and a putto with multi-colored wings in blue, green and dark red. In the inner margin are two birds in brown, orange and white. Ten illuminated initials, 9- to 4-line, gold on blue, green and pale pink background with white vine-stem ornament. Numerous smaller initials, 3- to 2-line, gold on blue and pink or green and pink grounds with white and gold filigree. Headings in black majuscules. Running headlines, in red, on ff. 1-4 only.
Subject (Name):
Diogenes Laertius and Medici, Cosimo de',--1389-1464
Subject (Topic):
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 Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium ad Tiberium cesarem.
Description:
Binding: 15th-16th centuries. Resewn on four tawed, slit straps laced through the edge of wooden boards and nailed in channels which are filled in with plaster. There is a piece of leather at the exit from one tunnel and what may be the tips of nails just inside the channel so earlier supports may have been of leather, nailed twice. The endbands, sewn on twisted leather cores laid in grooves, were tied down through a leather spine lining, the embroidery with three beads. The edges are gilt with a design scratched on them, the spine square. Covered in dark brown goatskin with corner tongues, blind-tooled with a star in a circle with wide rope interlace panels above and below, inside concentric outer borders. Small diamonds and dots on the spine. Four brass catches on the lower board and stubs of velvet straps nailed to the upper. One joint cracked and repaired and one endband added., On f. 3r, a good historiated initial, 7-line: the author in armor, holding his book; thick, curling foliage forms, pink, orange, blue, and green, on an irregular gold ground, edged in black. Nine illuminated initials (ff. 16r, 29v, 43r, 57r, 72r, 85v, 98r, 111v, and 126r) to open Books 2-10, composed of foliage, as above, and striated color strips, in vibrant blue, orange, crimson, mauve, green, and occasionally yellow, highlighted in white and variations of the same basic hues. 4-, 2-line initials, blue with red penwork or vice versa. Book numbers at top of page, red and blue; rubrics throughout. Remains of guides for rubricator., and Script: Written by a single scribe in fere-humanistic script. Marginal and interlinear notes in several contemporary and later hands.
Subject (Geographic):
Rome--History--Tiberius, 14-37
Subject (Name):
Valerius Maximus
Subject (Topic):
Didactic literature, Latin, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library