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.
Manuscript on paper (trimmed) of Five Novelle. First novella about Valeria married against her will to Pietro Lombardo; Second: "Julia e Prunneo"; Third: "Lucretia e Hyeronimo"; Fourth: "Camilla e Estore"; Fifth: "Justa Victoria," by Felice Feliciano.
Description:
Binding: Eighteenth century. Gilt, gauffered edges. Brown sheepskin over wooden boards, blind-tooled. Floral woodblock paste paper pastedowns and endleaves. Two fastenings with shell-shaped clasps on the upper board and pins in the edge of the lower. Rebacked., Decorated with several miniatures and borders in water and body color: f. i verso, full-page miniature of tomb in a landscape, with an epigraphic inscription. Arms above inscription: azure, a fess or; an inescutcheon azure, a bend wavy or. On f. 1r, a full frame, outer, inner and upper margins with bucrania, trophies, swags, jewels, arms and armor (including two shields: azure, a fess or; and azure, a bend wavy [Marcello]), in blue, pink, green and gold, framed in gold; lower margin, a parapet with a cornice, enclosing a cartouche with bust, supported by putti and flanked by the letters "A. A.", background filled with spiral flowing vines, pink, blue, green and gold, with brown hair-spray. Cartouches bearing inscriptions on ff. 53v, 82v, 105v. On f. 145v a scroll, written in red and blue letters festooned on a tree in a landscape, the ends supported by two putti. At the beginning of each novel, a 3- or 2-line initial, gold, against a purple or crimson ground with gold floral filigree; followed by several words in text script, gold against a crimson or purple rectangular ground., Script: Written by one person in bold italic., and Watermarks: crossed arrows buried in gutter.
Manuscript on paper of 1) Sonnet by the Franciscan Alessandro de Ritiis, or by his compatriot from L'Aquila, Buccio di Ranallo, lamenting the loss of a loaned book. 2) Polistorio, attributed to the Dominican Bartolomeo da Ferrara (1308-1444).
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Parchment stays are adhered inside the quires. Rear pastedown (now lifted): parchment leaf from a lectionary, Italy (North?), 1050-1100; a parchment leaf, perhaps from the same manuscript, is concealed under front paper pastedown. Each leaf, with a stub, is folded around the front and back flyleaves, sewn, and glued down under the pastedowns. Original sewing on five tawed skin, slit straps laid in channels on the outside of beech boards and nailed. Yellow edges. Plain wound, natural color endbands are sewn on leather cores. Covered in brown calf with narrow corner tongues. There is a large, eight-petalled fitting in the central blind-tooled panel and four corner fittings have flower and agnus dei designs on them. The concentric outer frames are filled with rope interlace or small roses. The Marcello arms were stamped on each board on an inlaid leather shield which is wanting on the upper board. Spine: bands outlined with triple fillets, an X of three fillets in the panels. Four fastenings, the catches on the lower board, the upper one cut in for red fabric straps, attached with star-headed nails., Collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (no. 3008). Purchased from H. P. Kraus in 1956 by Thomas E. Marston., Fully illuminated title page, f. 6r. Floral border in inner and upper margin, black inkspray with blossoms, green, blue and purple with white highlights and gold balls. Bar border between text columns, gold and red, extends from buds (mauve, green and blue with white highlights) with stylized foliage, purple, blue and green and gold with white highlights; surmounted in upper margin by half-length figure of Virgin with Child. In outer margin, elaborate partial border of stylized foliage and flowers, green, blue and purple with white and yellow highlights and gold balls, framing central wreathed medallion with triton blowing a curved horn, on gold ground with penwork filigree. In center of lower border, arms of the Marcello family of Venice (azure, a bend wavy or) on deep red ground within wreathed medallion, both with yellow highlights. Arms symmetrically flanked by 2 putti plucking fruit from wreathed medallion and holding rods, green, blue, and purple with scrolls bearing the mottoes "sola virtus" and "dulcia poma" in red, and two triton-putti, one playing a flute, the other a stringed musical instrument. One historiated initial, 6-line, of stylized foliage in green, purple, and blue with white filigree on gold ground, with a half-length figure of a crowned and bearded man, perhaps the Emperor Augustus. The design of the upper and inner border and of the historiated initial is conservative in style and close to the work of Leonardo Bellini., Script: Written in fere-humanistic script by a single scribe, above top line., and Watermarks: Briquet Arbalete 746.
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.
Manuscript on paper and parchment containing 1) Ownership inscription and note on the scribe, followed by a variant form of a Biblical quotation (Lamentations 3:27-28). 2) Legend of St. Jerome in Italian, with special attention for miraculous events, as an introduction to artt. 4-6. Quotes Iohannes Belet (12th century), St. Augustine, Prosper of Aquitaine, Isidore of Seville, Sulpicius Severus. 3) Ps.-Eusebius, Epistula de morte Hieronymi (BHL 3866), Italian translation. 4) Ps. -Augustinus Hipponensis, Epistola de magnificentiis Hieronymi (BHL 3867), Italian translation. 5) Ps.-Cyrillus, Epistola de miraculis Hieronymi (BHL 3868), in Italian translation. 6) History of abbot Daniel living in Thebais and his disobedient servant, to whom he tells the life of a virtuous man they have met, called Eulogius, who eventually became patricius and praefectus praetorio in Constantinople at the time of emperor Justinus I (518-527); due to the loss of one or more quires the major part of the text, containing the intervention of the Virgin, is missing.
Description:
Binding: Quarter binding of bevelled wooden boards (worm-eaten) and brown leather; spine with three raised bands and paper title label with handwritten 17th-century inscription: “Vita / di S. / Girola.” On the boards marks of one clasp attached to the front board and on the front board the ca. 1800 inscription “JO.” written in black ink. Possibly the binding once belonged to another manuscript., Collection of Bernard M. Rosenthal (MS 38). Purchased from him on the Edwin J. Beinecke Fund., Description follow modern foliation which includes two preliminary leaves.., Headings in pale red, often difficult to read. Yellow heightening of the majuscules. Initials, with guide letters written in the space reserved for the initial: (1) flourished initials (3-4 lines) in red with pale red (or brown) penwork or in blue with red penwork, sometimes with marginal penwork extensions; (2) at the beginning of each text a larger initial; the letters following this type of initial are majuscules. F. 3r: 12-line blue initial of the littera duplex type with extensive penwork in red and some blue, with decorative border in the same colours in the inner and lower margin and tendrils in the other margins containing flowers and acorns; the border of the lower margin terminates in a medallion containing a coat of arms; ff. 8r, 41r: 9-line initial of the same type and in the same colours; f. 47v: 6-line, idem; f. 77v: 7-line black initial., Script: Copied by one hand in a peculiar form of Southern Gothica Textualis Libraria under Humanistic influence as visible in the total lack of compression; special features are: the sloping hairline at the top of the second stroke of e, parallelled by the sloping stroke on i; h with exceptionally long curved extension under the baseline; the forked lower ending of f and straight s on or under the baseline and the forked descender of p; and the very fancy majuscules., and The lower margin of f. 62 torn off.
Manuscript roll, on parchment, in a single hand, illuminated, containing the "Arma Christi" poem and other prayers, in Dutch, including prayers ascribed to Popes Sixtus IV and Alexander VI. The prayers are preceded by a rubric instructing readers to kneel as they recite the prayers in order to obtain an indulgence.
Description:
Binding: section of leather sewn to top of scroll. Accompanied by seventeenth-century? fabric case with fabric and metal appliqués., Decoration: Rubricated. Initials in red or blue. Large miniature at head of roll containing a bust of Christ wearing a crown of thorns, displaying his stigmata, and surrounded by the "arma Christi" (also known as the Instruments of the Passion). On a blue ground in gold frame. One large decorated initial immediately below miniature. Text accompanied by decorated borders on both sides., Layout: single column of text., Purchased from Richard Linenthal (Sotheby's London sale, 2014 July 8, lot 48) on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2014., and Script: gothic.
Subject (Geographic):
Netherlands--Religious life and customs--Early works to 1800
Subject (Name):
Alexander VI, Pope, 1431-1503, Catholic Church--Prayers and devotions--Dutch, Jesus Christ--Passion--Art, Jesus Christ--Passion--Prayers and devotions, Jesus Christ--Passion--Prayers and devotions--Early works to 1800, and Sixtus IV, Pope, 1414-1484
Manuscript on parchment of Leonardo Bruni, Commentaria rerum graecarum (De principatu Graeciae), preceded by Bruni's letter to Angelo Acciaiuolo.
Description:
Binding: Twentieth century, Italy. Rigid vellum case with a green, gold-tooled label on spine: "L. Bruni De principatu graeciae. Sec. XV"., Purchased from Hoepli of Milan in 1955 by L. C. Witten who sold it in the same year to Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written in round humanistic bookhand by two scribes who use somewhat different physical formats. Scribe I) ff. 1r-16r, written above top line, with initials for paragraphs set apart from the text between outer vertical bounding lines. Scribe 2) ff. 16v-26v, written below top line and leaving blank the final line of written space., and Two illuminated initials on ff. 1r and 2r, 5-line and 3-line, gold on blue, green and pale mauve ground with white vine-stem ornament and grey-green dots. On f. 1r vine-stem ornament on blue ground extends into inner margin (3-lines) to form partial border. Possibly by the same artist who executed the initials in Marston MS 257.
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Bartholomaeus de Chaimis (de Mediolano, d. c. 1496), OFM, Confessionale. 2) Ps.-Anselmus Cantuariensis (Pseudo-Anselm of Canterbury), Interrogationes faciendae infirmo morienti.
Description:
Binding: Original brown leather over bevelled beech boards, both covers blind-tooled with fillets and small tools in ropework design. Sewn on three split leather thongs. Spine damaged. Remnants of three clasps, one at the top, one at the bottom and one at the side edge of the covers, each attached with three engraved nails to the front cover; quadrangular decorated brass catches on the rear cover, engraved with the initial “S” and each fixed with four nails., Headings in purplish red. Alternately red and blue paragraph marks and 1- and 2-line plain initials with guide letters. Decorated initials: f. 1r (Prologue), 7-line white vinestem initial followed by text line in fancy Capitalis; f. 2r (Part 1), 4-line Humanistic dentelle initial; f. 12r (Part 2), 4-line white vinestem initial; f. 18v (Part 3), 4-line Humanistic dentelle initial; f. 127v (Part 4), idem. Running headlines in Capitalis in purplish red., and Script: Copied by one hand writing a small and rather uneven Humanistica Textualis Libraria, highly abbreviated, especially in the quotations of authorities.
Manuscript on parchment of Lorenzo Valla, Confutationes. 1) Antidotum in Poggium, Books I-III. 2) Antidotum in Poggium, Book IV. 3) Dialogus in Poggium, Book I. 4) Confutatio prior in Benedictum Morandum.
Description:
Acquired in 1954 from C. A. Stonehill by Thomas E. Marston., Binding: ca. 1900, England. Red goatskin case with gold-tooled title "Valla In Poggium MS" and turn-ins. Gilt edges. Bound by Zaehnsdorf (London, 1842-1930)., Illuminated page (f. 1r) with partial border in outer and lower margins, white vine-stem ornament on predominately green and red ground, with some blue and white dots, framed by thin gold bars. In lower border, unidentified mutilated coat of arms, against blue ground. Seven illuminated initials, 4- to 2-line, gold, against blue, green and red grounds with white vine-stem ornament and white dots. Headings and marginal annotations in pale red., and Script: Written in a round humanistic script by a single scribe, above top line.
Manuscript on paper of Boccaccio, De mulieribus claris, with dedication to Andrea Acciaiuoli.
Description:
Binding: Fifteenth century, Italy. Parchment stays from contemporary document adhered to inner and outer conjugate leaves of quires. Original wound sewing on three tawed skin, slit straps fastened in channels in flush wooden boards. A primary endband, caught up on the spine, is sewn on tawed skin cores. Remains of red secondary embroidery. The spine is square and lined with tawed skin between central supports. Covered in kermes pink, tawed skin with corner tongues, the sides divided into triangles with right angled and diagonal fillets. Three fastenings, the catches on the lower board and stubs of green fabric straps on the upper board which is cut in to accomodate them. Eight star-shaped bosses on the upper board (one wanting) and five on the lower, each board with four bosses on their spine edges. Inscription on upper cover: "de mulieribus claris". Written in ink on fore edge: "LXXXVIII" with a helmet on each side. Label on lower board wanting., Folio 3r, partial border, of poor quality: in lower margin, a patch of green grass with two women seated, one dressed in red, the other in green and white, supporting a shield with unidentified arms (gules, 3 helmets sable [in outline only]), a later addition. From the patch of grass oak branches with leaves and acorns extend into inner and upper margins. In inner margin, a fox chasing a hare. Folio 80r, a medallion framed in red and pink and four small gold flowers, with an unidentified monogram in gold against blue ground. One pen-and-ink initial, 8-line, blue with pale red penwork. Plain initials alternate in red and blue. Headings in red (ff. 1r-7r only). Many initials touched with red. Guide letters for decorator throughout., Purchased in 1954 from C. A. Stonehill by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Text written in a well spaced gothic bookhand with humanistic features by a single scribe, below top line. Art. 1 and rubrics added in similar script by another hand., Unidentified arms, with "Cretulia" and "Thurj" added on either side, and inscription in the lower margin of f. 2v: "Quid spectas Thurum [with 3 helmets] sunt hec insignia. Thuris/ Donarunt Sacre Iuno Minerua Venus/ Cretulia., and Watermarks: Briquet Tete de boeuf 14717 and similar to Piccard Ochsenkopf XII.123.