Manuscript on paper of 1) Prologue by the translator, addressed to Henry of Lusignan, Prince of Galilee (d. 1427). 2) Plutarchus (c. 46-120), Vita Luculli, Latin translation by Leonardus Iustinianus (Leonardo Giustiniani, 1388-1446). 3) Plutarchus, Comparatio vitarum Cimonis atque Luculli, Latin translation by Leonardus Iustinianus
Description:
In Latin., Script: copied by one scribe in a broad Humanistica Textualis Formata of "typographic" character and marked by unusual features such as the occasional use of round s in medial position and long i in final position, and inconsistencies in the use of ae/ẹ, the form of final s and m, etc. Majuscules at the beginning of lines protrude into the margin. Line fillers in the shape of expunged i., Headings in pale red. Art. 1 opens with a 6-line initial in red with the pen drawing for unexecuted white vinestem decoration. The 6-line initial at the head of art. 2 is purplish red on a blue background delicately heightened with silver arabesques, extended in the margin with red and green acanthus leaves. At the bottom of the same f. 387r there was a coat of arms flanked by two fleur-de-lys and four balls in purplish red and blue and red ribbons; the coat of arms has been cut out and the page has been repaired with a piece of paper; on it a modern coat of arms accompanied by the initials W and S (Walter Sneyd) is drawn in pencil., and Binding: 19th century. Quarter brown leather (with corners) and reddish brown marbled paper over cardboard. Gold-tooled flat spine with inscription: “PLUTARCHI VITA LUCULLI LATINE M.S.”.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Cimon, d. ca. 450 B.C., Lucullus, ca. 117 B.C.-ca. 56 B.C., and Plutarch.
Subject (Topic):
Biography, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment of 1) John Lydgate (ca. 1370-ca. 1451), Life of Our Lady. The beginning is missing (Book I, verses 1-70 ). 2) The Privity of the Passion, an anonymous English translation, here attributed to Walter Hilton (d. 1396), of part of Ps.-Bonaventura, Meditationes vitae Christi
Description:
In Middle English with some Latin., Script: Probably copied by one scribe, writing Gothica Cursiva Libraria (Secretary). The headings in art. 2 are in a larger form of the same script, more close to Anglicana., In art. 2 the scribe left space for 2-line initials (a 3-line initial at the opening) and generally wrote guide-letters, but initials were never added and all other forms of decoration are missing., Low quality parchment, with holes and irregular edges. The upper outer corner of f. 79 is torn away with loss of text., and Binding: Twentieth century. Glossy brown leather over pasteboard, both covers framed with blind-tooled fillets; spine with four raised bands; in the second compartment the gold-tooled inscription "LYDGATE - LIFE OF OUR LADY"; at the bottom: "C. 1450". Sprinkled edges.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451?
Subject (Topic):
Devotional literature, English (Middle), English poetry, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper (thick) of Giordano Ruffo, Marescalcia equorum, translated into Italian
Description:
In Italian., Watermarks: unidentified basilisk in gutter., Script: Written in fere-humanistic script., Crudely executed border design, in red, on f. 1r. Plain initials, 3- to 2-line, in red; some embellished with simple foliate ornamentation or with human and animal grotesques (e.g., ff. 24v, 44v). Headings in red., Upper portion of f. 55 (chs. 146, 149) cut out; ff. 63v-64r (chs. 189-95) crossed out. Some staining and wear affecting text., and Binding: 19th-20th centuries. Tan, "pasta espanola" paper case.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Ruffo, Giordano.
Subject (Topic):
Horses, Italian literature, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper of Giordano Ruffo, Marescalcia equorum, in an anonymous Italian translation. With medicinal recipes and prayers
Description:
In Italian., Watermark: unidentified bull's head in gutter., Script: Written in a poorly formed Italian notarial script; notes in contemporary cursive hands., Plain initial, 5-line, in red and black, at beginning of art. 1; initial strokes and rubrics for ff. 1r-9v only., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Limp vellum case. Stamped on upper cover: "Medecine des chevaux/ manuscrit du XV siecle".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Ruffo, Giordano, fl. 1250-1260.
Subject (Topic):
Horses, Italian literature, Literature, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Medicine, Medieval
Manuscript on paper of Ovid, Metamorphoses, translated into Italian and with allegorical interpretations by Giovanni Bonsignori (Citta di Castello, d. after 1377), finished 29/30 Nov. 1377. With various Italian poems by different poets. The scribe Giovanni Tolosini did the copying from an Apulian exemplar and at the request of Chirico di Pietro Tolosini
Description:
In Italian., Watermarks: Briquet 8348 and 11868-11869 (?)., Script: Copied by Giovanni Tolosini in very small Gothica Semihybrida Libraria/Currens (Mercantesca)., Headings in black up to f. 27v, afterwards in red. Heightening of majuscules in yellow up to f. 27v. 3- (sometimes 4- or 5-) line flourished initials alternately in red with blue penwork and blue with red penwork, with penwork extensions in the left margin or in the intercolumnar space. Large decorated flourished initials with developed and diversified penwork (c. 7 lines) in the same colours., The upper edges damaged by moist, especially in the fold., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Half leather (red-brown goatskin, which replaces an original wider piece of leather) with unbevelled wooden boards and remnants of two clasps attached to the front cover. Bound on three white leather thongs. On the spine a paper label with the handwritten 18th-century inscription "Metam. d'Ovidi[o]". On the front board the number "45" is written in ink; on the inner side of the rear board a 5-line account in Italian, 16th century, by the same hand (?) as copied the latter part of art. 8.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 A.D. or 18 A.D.
Subject (Topic):
Classical literature, Italian poetry, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper (various sizes and qualities) of a collection of notes and documents mostly related to Italian cities, dioceses and abbeys; Eastern churches and monasticism; and Central Europe; but containing also saints' lives, poetry, letters, archaeological treatises, etc
Description:
In Latin, Italian, French and Greek., Script: many different hands writing Humanistica Cursiva or Gothica Cursiva, sometimes in careful, but mostly in rapid execution., A few pen and ink drawings., Composed of numerous detached pieces (numbered and occasionally annotated by an English hand (1890-1900)), in various hands, some original, but mostly copies of documents and manuscript books, and often almost illegible due to the use of acid ink or the cursivity of the script. Many blank pages; many (blank?) leaves got lost after the codex was foliated., and Binding: 18th century (?). Quarter parchment over pasteboard, the covers in marbled paper. Flat spine gold-tooled, with red leather label carrying gold-tooled inscription "MANUSCRIT. / 16. SIÈCLE".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Italy
Subject (Topic):
Eastern churches, Literature, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, Monasticism and religious orders, and Description and travel
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Treatise on Christian love. 2) On the contemplation of death, final judgment and hellish punishment. 3) Six prescriptions for Christian life given by St. Bonaventure (Bonaventura, 1221-1274) to a young friar. Translated into Italian. 4) The qualities of a perfect monk
Description:
In Italian and Latin., Script: Copied by one hand in large calligraphic Humanistica Textualis Formata; line-fillers in the form of crossed i., 2-line plain initials (Capitalis) in red, with guide-letters. A few flourishes in black at the end of articles., and Binding: Sixteenth century. Italian brown leather over pasteboards, both covers blind-tooled: fillet frames and a border of floral tools, in the centre a fleuron. Marks of two ties. Yellow edges.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Christian literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Didactic literature, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper of Gregory I, Pope, Moralia in Iob. Books 1-4 translated into Italian by Zanobi de Strata
Description:
In Italian., Several watermarks, most indeterminate, but one resembling Piccard, vol. 10, II 307 (Pavia, 1397-99)., Copied in Italian humanist cursive., and Binding: Plain vellum over boards. Endleaves from a 14th-century breviary.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Gregory I, Pope, approximately 540-604.
Subject (Topic):
Christian literature, Italian, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on paper (trimmed) of Aristoteles, Oeconomica, translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni
Description:
In Latin., Watermark: bird (Briquet 12127?)., The main scribe (artt. 1-2) writes Gothica Hybrida (often close to Gothica Semitextualis) Libraria under strong Humanistic influence, visible in the use of Roman Capitals and straight s in final position., Space and partly guide-letters for a few initials were provided but the decoration is missing. In the space for the first initial (f. 1r) a coat of arms (silver, with a bend gules) was afterwards drawn., and Binding: Twentieth century. Half brown leather over pasteboard, the covers covered with brown paper. On the spine the gold-tooled title "ARISTOTLE . OECONOMICA . MS. 15TH CENT.".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Aristotle. and Bruni, Leonardo, 1369-1444.
Subject (Topic):
Classical literature, Literature, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (speckled on hair side) of Greek works translated into Latin by Leonardo Bruni: 1) Demosthenes, Olynthica tertia. 2) Aeschines, Epistola senatui populoque Atheniensi. 3) Anaximenes of Lampsacus, Epistola Philippi ad Athenienses. 4) Aeschines, Oratio contra Ctesiphontem. 5) Demosthenes, Oratio pro Ctesiphonte (De corona).
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written in an expert humanistic bookhand characterized by prominent approach and finishing strokes. The headings in red are by a different scribe., One very fine illuminated initial, 12-line, in gold on vibrant blue ground with white vine-stem ornament. The stems of the initial are divided into compartments and filled with penwork decoration in red, blue and green on parchment ground. Four small initials, 6- to 5-line, gold on vibrant blue ground with white vine-stem ornament. Headings in red., and Binding: Nineteenth century, France or Italy. Brown calf blind- and gold-tooled, with shells and caducei in the blind-tooled borders. Edges red.
