Manuscript on parchment of John Lydgate (1375?-1449?), Siege of Thebes
Description:
In Middle English., Script: Copied by one hand in Gothica Cursiva Antiquior Libraria/Formata (Anglicana). The scribe has been identified as being Stephen Doddesham, a Carthusian monk, first in Witham Priory, afterwards in the Charterhouse at Sheen, near London, d. 1481/1482., Red headings and running titles. The latter are preceded by alternately blue paragraph-marks with red penwork and golden paragraph-marks with blue penwork. 6-line foliate initials in pale blue and pink with left-margin floral borders extending into the upper and lower margins, at the beginning of Parts II and III (ff. 13v and 33v); the same type of initial with similar but four-margins border at the opening of the Prologue (f. 1r). There were only two 3-line dentelle initials with short marginal extensions, namely on f. 20v (now cut out, v. 1569, speech of Adrastus) and 25r (v. 1901, speech of Tideus)., and Binding: Nineteenth century. White parchment over pasteboard by Edward Parry. On the gold-tooled spine two bordeaux leather labels with gold-tooled inscriptions: "DESTRUCTION / OF / THEBES / BY/ LYDGATE" and "MANUSCRIPT".
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Lydgate, John, 1370?-1451? and Carthusians.
Subject (Topic):
English poetry |y Middle English, 1100-1500, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Narrative poetry, English (Middle)
Manuscript on parchment of Jacopo Ariani (?), 200 Sonnets addressed to a lady called Laura. With Alberto Maffei, Colophon in the form of a sonnet addressed to the readers
Description:
In Italian., Script: Written by Alberto Maffei in a small calligraphic Humanistica Semitextualis Formata., Each sonnet opens with a Capital in gold ink, the three subsequent stanzas with alternating red and blue Capitals. On the opening page (f. 2r), however, the opening Capitals are in gold on a square blue background dotted with gold, above each of the two sonnets floral ornaments have been painted in red and gold ink and in the lower margin there is a medallion within a gold wreath adorned with ribbons and containing the coat of arms of the Ariani family flanked by the initials "I.A.". ff. 1 and 52 are stained purple and the text of artt. 1 and 3 is written in gold ink, the headings being executed in silver ink. On both pages silver and gold floral ornaments in three margins. The ones in the lower margins end in Capital "A" (for "Albertus")., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Blue velvet over cardboard with blue watered-silk doublure. Gilt edges.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Ariani, Jacopo.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian poetry, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (thick, furry) of Speculum humane salvationis. With Pseudo-Bonaventura, Meditationes de passione Christi
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by two scribes in similar gothic textura bookhands. Scribe 1 (ff. 1r-90v) in brown ink. Scribe 2 (ff. 91r-104v) in a darker ink and more compressed script. A few marginal comments and corrections of 15th-16th centuries., The manuscript originally contained 192 miniatures, of which 29 have been entirely and 1 (f. 53r) partially removed. Those remaining are drawn in light brown ink and tinted in brown and yellow washes with touches of red. The miniatures on ff. 7r-38v have been redrawn in black ink by a second hand. A dirty tan ground has been added to miniatures on ff. 67v and 68r., 2-line calligraphic initials, blue, at the beginning of each chapter and "figura" or type (I-initials, 6-10 lines; at the bottom of the page, e.g., f. 29v, the I breaks and runs beneath the lowest line of text), with elaborate, angular penwork and flourishes, in red (some, e. g., ff. 17r and 21r, with faces). On ff. 91r-104v 2-line blue initials, plain; spaces for some initials, including a 6-line initial on f. 91r, left blank. 1-line red or blue initials, some of the blue with red penwork. Capital A's in each Amen alternate red and blue. Guide-letters for initials throughout. Paragraph marks, blue. Tituli, inscriptions in miniatures, chapter numbers, and pagination in red throughout. Guide-numbers for pagination still visible, especially on ff. 58v-60r., The parchment is worn and dirty, with many torn and slashed folios. Apart from the folios which are missing entirely, the upper portions (with miniatures) on ff. 47, 53 and 57 have been removed., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Dutch or German? Sewn on six double, tawed cords laced into beech boards and pegged in three holes. Endband cores laid in grooves and pegged. There is an inner cover of pink, tawed skin. Over this is a chemise of thin, white tawed skin stitched to a heavy outer, tawed pigskin cover which extends about 25 mm. at the head, 70 mm. at the fore-edge, and was whip-stitched at the edges. The tail edge has been cut down. Two straps are attached to the upper cover and tacked to the extending skin at the fore-edge with a narrow, tawed thong. There are two square marks where pins were attached to the lower cover. The original sewing cords have broken and have been replaced, a part of the book resewn, and part of the chemise pocket cut away. The ends of the fastening straps and the endbands are wanting.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Devotional literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (leaves are very uneven due to irregular trimming) originally composed of roughly executed full-page illustrations and diagrams that constitute the Speculum theologie
Description:
In Latin., Script: Inscriptions written in gothic bookhand, additions in either textura or running scripts (ff. 2r. 7v)., The illustrations on ff. 1r-7v are drawn in red ink, heightened with green, orange, and yellow. The diagram on f. 8r is drawn in brown and red, touched with blue, red, yellow and gold., Folio 8r darkened and rubbed with some loss of text., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Half bound in mottled brown goatskin, gold-tooled, with a red label. Marbled paper sides.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Topic):
Didactic literature, Latin (Medieval and modern), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Theology
Manuscript on parchment of 1) Statuta capituli generalis, with the years 1158 and 1180-1190 mentioned in red. 2) Liber usuum. 3) Super instituta generalis capituli apud Cistercium. 4) Liber usuum conuersorum. 5) Carta caritatis
Description:
Probably produced at the abbey of Fontaine-Jean in Northern France, to which it belonged in the late 16th century. The Cistercian abbey of Fontaine-Jean, near Montargis, between Sens and Orleans, was a daughter house of Pontigny founded in 1124., In Latin., Script: Written by one scribe in large, even bookhand. Additions by various hands, 13th-17th centuries; some lost due to trimming., Four large initials, ff. 1v, 38r, 86r, and 93r (12-, 29-, 8-, and 9-line), light brown with crude running pattern of clover-leaf-like forms in brown ink, filled with brown, green and red spiral foliage with flowers and dragon-head terminals, on blue and red grounds decorated with triplets of white dots. One elaborate, but crude, calligraphic initial, f. 118v, 9-line, divided red and green, accompanied by red and green foliate motifs, framed in green. Numerous initials throughout, 7- to 2-line, red or blue, and occasionally green, with blue, red or green foliate penwork, some extensive. 1-line initials, red or blue, alternating. Rubrics throughout, some in text, others in margins. Wavy red line-fillers., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Brown calf, blind- and gold-tooled, with mottled, mauve paper sides. On spine: "Constitutions du monastre de Fontaine-Jehan".
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 on parchment of the Statutes of the Confraternity of Corpus Christi, Our Lady of Peace and St. Ildefons at Toledo, under the patronage of the King of Castile and the Archbishop of Toledo, renewed during the reign of Henry IV, King of Castile (1454-1474), with an addition dated 11 July 1461. The latest date in the earlier statutes is 24 January 1417
Description:
In Spanish., Script: Written by one hand in bold Southern Gothica Textualis Formata with Spanish features; the addition on f. 17rb-va is by another hand in the same script., In art. 2 red paragraph marks. In art. 3 fine 2-line flourished initials with marginal extensions, alternately in red with blue penwork and blue with red penwork. Large littera duplex of the same type and in the same colours on f. 6r. Art. 4 is not decorated. On f. 1v, full-page miniature depicting the King of Castile and four noble members of the Confraternity in adoration of the Resurrection. On f. 2r, full-page miniature showing the Archbishop of Toledo and five clerics in adoration of the Virgin, who hands the chasuble to St. Ildefons Archbishop of Toledo. Both miniatures are set in a courtyard and are framed at the outer and lower side with a border of large acanths in gold and colours. The slight smudge in the middle of the paintings is probably caused by the noble and clerical members swearing an oath of fidelity to the Confraternity and touching the appropriate page., and Binding: ca. 1600. Blind-tooled light brown leather over pasteboard made from waste paper. The covers are decorated with fillets making a double lozenge in a rectangular frame, decorated with impressions of a star-shaped tool. Traces of two leather ties.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Spain
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Confraternities, Manuscripts, Medieval, and Religious life and customs
Manuscript on parchment (thick, furry) of Stimulus amoris, translated into English by Walter Hilton from a Latin devotional text often attributed to Bonaventure. Followed by an anonymous devotional treatise
Description:
In Middle English., Script: Written by a single scribe in bold, upright gothic textura; commentary added in an inelegant cursive (16th century)., One 4-line initial (f. 2v) gold, edged in black, against a blue and red cusped ground with white filigree, attached to a bar border in outer margin, gold, blue, and pink, with white highlights and leafy sprouts at divisions and terminals, orange, blue, red, and gold; the leaves with black hair-spray vines, both straight and in spirals, with small gold leaves and touches of green, filling upper, outer, and lower margins. Six initial I's (ff. 7v, 31v, 36v, 38v, 61v, 83v), 11- to 7-line, gold against blue and red grounds with white filigree and straight hair-spray vines, as above. 2-line gold initials, against blue and/or pink grounds, with white filigree and hair-spray, as above. Gold or blue paragraph marks with blue or red penwork and flourishes. Gold and blue line-fillers, straight, zig-zag, and wavy, some up to 3/4 of a line long. Headings, occasional underlining, and crossing out, in red., Trimming has affected some marginal commentary; f. 108 badly mutilated with loss of text. Leaves at beginning and end of codex stained and repaired., and Binding: Nineteenth century. Red edges. Brown goatskin, blind- and gold-tooled.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Jacobus, Mediolanensis, active 13th century.
Subject (Topic):
Devotional literature, English (Middle), Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (goatskin) of Nicolaus de Osimo (Auximo) OFM (d. after 1453), Supplementum Summae Pisanellae, an alphabetically arranged supplement to the Summa de casibus conscientiae of Bartholomew of Pisa (Bartholomaeus de Sancto Concordio, d. 1347). Produced at the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli near Milan
Description:
In Latin., Script: Apparently 8 scribes, all writing Southern Gothica., Decoration: The decoration of artt. 1-4 consists of heightening of the majuscules in yellow; blue or red paragraph marks. In art. 3 the chapters normally open with a 2-line (rarely 3-line) flourished initial with penwork extensions in the left margin or in the intercolumnar space, alternately red with purple or blue penwork and blue with red penwork; the first lemma of each letter opens with a 3- or 4-line flourished initial filled with foliage and with more developed marginal extensions. The text opens on f. 5v with a 5-line dentelle initial with green and blue background heightened with gold and white, followed by 5 lines of text mostly in majuscules. The decoration of art. 7 is similar to that of art. 3 but less carefully executed., and Binding: Eighteenth century (?). White parchment over pasteboard, with two modern brass clasps fixed to the front cover. On the spine green leather label with gold-tooled title "SUMA MAGISTRA". On the bottom edge the title "Summa Pisa****" is written.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut and New Haven.
Subject (Name):
Nicholas, of Osimo, -1453. and Franciscans
Subject (Topic):
Manuscripts, Canon law, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin literature, Medieval and modern, and Manuscripts, Medieval
Manuscript on parchment (thin, good quality) of 1) Tacitus, Annales XI-XVI. 2) Tacitus, Historiae I-V. Written for King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458-90), perhaps by Italians at his palace of Buda
Description:
In Latin., Script: Written by a single scribe in a well formed humanistic script., Twelve initials, 7- to 2-line, at beginning of each book (2 at the beginning of the Annales), gold edged in black, with white vine ornament, against a panelled ground of blue, green and mauve, with white dots, outlined with one or two thin white and one black line; ivy, drawn or pen, with triangular gold leaves or dots, projecting from corners into margins. On f. 1r, the initial includes a putto in the vinework; in the lower margin, coat of arms of Corvinus, type A (quarterly, first and fourth barry of 8 gules and argent [Hungary]; second and third gules, a lion rampant and queue-fourche argent [Bohemia]; an inescutcheon azur with raven sable holding an annulet or, with bordure or [Hunyadi family]. Workmanship of fair quality; style Northern Italian (?)., and Binding: Fifteenth century. Sewn on three tawed, slit straps laid in channels in beech boards. The straps are pegged and the channels filled in with plaster as are the endband grooves and the edge channels cut out for the clasps. The primary endband is plain, wound, and sewn on a tawed core and the secondary is beaded and colored. The core is laid in a groove and pegged. The square spine is given a slightly round shape by the bevelling of the boards and is lined with a tawed skin. Covered in dark, brick-red goatskin with a cusped shield azur, charged with a crow sable (Hunyadi family), in the center of each board; blind-tooled rope work, punch dots and other ornamentation gilt, gold-tooled or painted. "Cornelius Tacitus" is tooled along the head of the lower cover and is also written down the fore-edge with black ink. There are four fastenings, the brass catches on the lower board, with three of them covered over with added leather. The clasps are the same color as the cover and are reinforced with parchment. They are pegged in channels at the edges of the board, underneath the cover. The clasps and a little leather of the spine and the upper board are wanting.
Subject (Geographic):
Connecticut, New Haven., and Rome
Subject (Name):
Matthias I, King of Hungary, 1443-1490. and Tacitus, Cornelius.
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin prose literature, Manuscripts, Medieval, and History