Search Results: Italian Manuscripts from Les Enluminures

ILLUMINATED CHOIR BOOK MADE BY STENCILS. In Latin with some Italian, illuminated stenciled book on paper with musical notation, Italy, late 18th-19th century. Dimensions 460 x 320 mm, 23 folios, complete, on very thick paper, prickings remain, seven lines of text and seven red four-line staves on each page, FIVE LARGE ILLUMINATED INITIALS, equivalent to one line of text and a musical stave in the medieval style. BINDING: 18th-century BINDING of gold-tooled leather with an ecclesiastical coat of arms, border on both covers, smooth spine, edges dyed red. TEXT: Books made by means of stencils occupy a fascinating mid-ground between manuscripts and printing with movable type. This is a particularly well-executed example, adorned with illuminated initials. It was certainly made for someone in or close to the rare Piarist Order (the "Order of the Pious Schools"). Bound in an 18th-century gold-tooled armorial binding, this handsome book was surely made as a special presentation copy. PROVENANCE: Made… Read More

In Italian and Latin, manuscript of paper, Northern Italy (Bergamo?), December 10, 1432. Dimensions 188 x 142 mm, missing the first leaf, otherwise the text appears complete, ruled in lead with full-length vertical bounding lines ruled in blind (justification 138 x 97 mm.), ff. 1-27 written by Michaelis de Pergamo in a Gothico-Antiqua script in 24 long lines, f. 27 written in a script similar to the main text, ff. 27v and 28, copied in humanist cursive scripts (likely added by the scribe or early users). BINDING: Bound in nineteenth-century quarter green morocco gilt over marble paper boards, gilt lettering on the spine reads, "HISTORIA DANIÆ REGVM." TEXT: This manuscript was copied by Michael of Bergamo, who signed and dated it on f. 26v, very likely for his own use. The size, paper support, clearly legible but idiosyncratic script, and simple decoration of this modest manuscript, are characteristics that suggest an unprofessional though accomplished project. Now known as the De viris illustribus… Read More

ILLUMINATED MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT IN LATIN ON PARCHMENT, Northern Italy, c. 1440-1470. 203 x 153 mm. 70 folios, complete (collation, i-vii10), remnants of quire and leaf signatures, flourished vertical catchwords, written in a humanist minuscule on 30 long lines (justification, 147-149 x 95-100 mm), horizontal lines ruled very lightly in ink, single vertical bounding lines ruled in lead, prickings remain in top and bottom margins on some leaves, rubrics and paragraph marks in pale red, two-line red or blue initials with contrasting pen flourishes in violet or red, two five-line blue initials, ff. 29v and 35, infilled and on square grounds of elaborate penwork; f. 64v, seven-line polished GOLD INITIAL with white vinestem decoration extending along twenty lines of text and into the upper margin, infilled and edged in deep red and blue with numerous tiny silver dots; f. 1, five-line polished GOLD HISTORIATED INITIAL of St. Jerome, bearded and dressed in red, standing before a Crucifix, with a hilly… Read More

DECORATED MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT IN LATIN AND ITALIAN ON PARCHMENT AND PAPER, Central or Southern Italy (Lanciano?), c. 1450-1475. 135 x 90 mm. 109 folios preceded and followed by single flyleaves, watermark in Piccard, complete (collation, i-vii10 viii5 [of 10; five leaves canceled with no loss of text] ix-x12 xi10), chiefly written in five semitextualis or hybrida hands on 26-31 lines, two hands on long lines and three in two columns (justification, 95 x 65-70 mm.), red rubrics and underlining, 2- to 4-line red initials, 4- to 5-line initials in blue and red, three 7-line initials in blue and red (ff. B 1, 1v, 5). BINDING: Late fifteenth-century Italian blind-stamped brown leather over wooden boards, sewn on three cords with remnants of blue endbands, clasps removed, remnant of upper clasp on front fore-edge visible, parchment pastedowns, originally blank. TEXT: This small-format Franciscan miscellany is an example of a mendicant pocket-book, designed for easy portability. This one is still preserved… Read More

BOOK DESCRIPTION: FIFTEENTH-CENTURY COPY OF GUIDO DA PISA'S HISTORY OF ROME, IN ITALIAN. In Italian, decorated manuscript on parchment, Italy, Tuscany, Florence(?), c. 1440-1460. Dimensions 260 x 182 mm., 83 folios, lacking nine leaves, horizontal catchwords, written in brown ink by two different scribes in Italian cursive mercantesca script in single column on 38 lines, penwork initials. BINDING: ORIGINAL dark brown calf over wooden boards blind-tooled with fillets, twisted rope and x-form motifs, fitted purple buckram case c. 1900. TEXT: Guido da Pisa is best-known for his commentary on Dante, and Dante is cited often in this work, a history of Rome composed within the format of a universal chronicle. This text is now remarkably rare; in fact this is the first copy to appear on the open market in over 140 years, and one of only a few copies on parchment. PROVENANCE: script and decoration suggest that the manuscript was written in Tuscany in the middle of the fifteenth century. The binding,… Read More

RARE MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT ON THE HEALTH OF HORSES. In Italian and Latin, illustrated manuscript on paper, Northern Italy (perhaps Ferrara), dated 1434. Dimensions 283 x 217 mm, 82 folios, complete, watermark of three mountains, phrases in decorative cartouches, written in in a gothic bookhand influenced by humanistic script in two columns of 29-35 lines, large painted initials in red throughout, large divided initial in red and brown on f. 1, five marginal drawings in red or in brown with yellow wash. BINDING: CONTEMPORARY BINDING of limp vellum with spine sewn in account-book style in a cloth clamshell case. TEXT: Rare signed and dated manuscript of the Italian translation of one of the principal treatises on veterinary medicine for horses. PROVENANCE: Copied for the use of Chalavereso, who very likely was the ducal farrier at the court of Niccolo III d'Este in Ferrara. The manuscript is dated 1434 (lower margin of f. 33), and the colophon on f. 69v records that it was copied by the scribe Guido de… Read More

CAREFULLY WRITTEN AND DECORATED UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT FROM AN ITALIAN CONFRATERNITY. In Italian and Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment, Italy (Rome), c. 1736-1745. Dimensions 231 x 167 mm., 27 folios, complete, written in black ink in italic and in an upright script modelled on Roman font in 25 long lines, red rubrics, full decorative borders in black ink throughout, five 3-line and one 4-line initials in red ink with acanthus, one 6-line initial in black ink with acanthus, decorative tail pieces throughout. BINDING: original quarter leather binding with decorative paper covered boards. TEXT: This manuscript contains the statues for a confraternity in Rome, recording its regulations including the election of its chief officers, maintenance of the archives, care for the sick, funerary arrangements for deceased members, and so forth. Carefully written and decorated, this manuscript illustrates the interesting continuation of manuscript culture (in this case clearly influenced by the aesthetics… Read More

In Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment, Northern Italy (Brescia), c.1461-1484. Dimensions 260 x 186 mm, lacking the last leaf of text, otherwise complete, horizontal catchwords mostly in swirling cartouches with wash and penwork, ruled in gray ink (justification 174 x 127 mm.), written in black ink in an Italian rotunda on 21 lines. BINDING: In its ORIGINAL BINDING with wooden boards, traces of tooling with an interlacing pattern on the back board, leather on binding removed, clasps and catches missing, worm holes and wear, but in overall good condition, TEXT: This is a very fine display copy of an Epistolary: a rare type of lectionary that includes the texts for the second reading during Mass, the Epistles. This example represents a significant source for the history of the Dominican convent dedicated to Saint Florian, most likely St. Fiorano ai Ronchi in Brescia, Italy. PROVENANCE: The manuscript was made for use in a Dominican convent dedicated to St. Florian, almost certainly S. Fiorano ai… Read More

MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT IN ITALIAN ON PAPER, Northeastern Italy, Veneto (Venice?), c. 1474. Dimensions 328-332 x 230 mm., 188 folios, missing at least three leaves, written in brown ink in an Italian cursiva libraria script, EIGHT ILLUMINATED INITIALS of seven lines, one-line paraphs in red or blue, simple two- to four-line in red or blue initials. BINDING: re-cased using original binding materials of brown half leather over bevelled wooden boards with three double bands, remains of four straps present. TEXT: Italian translation of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Job, one of the most important and widely copied texts of the Middle Ages. Though forty copies of this translation survive, this volume is unusual in its incorporation of Venetian dialectal forms. All other copies are in European institutions and have not been on the market for the last century. PROVENANCE: scribal colophon on f. 190v provides a date for this manuscript's completion and helps localize its production within Italy:… Read More

BOOK DESCRIPTION: RARE RENAISSANCE MANUSCRIPT OF a practical guide to agriculturE. In Italian, manuscript on paper, Central Italy, c. 1450-1460. Dimensions 295 x 220 mm, 48 folios on paper with two watermarks, complete, written by a single hand in Italian cursive script in two columns of 45-55 lines, book and chapter titles in red. BINDING: unbound but text block and endleaves sewn on three alum tawed thongs, the two conjugate parchment manuscript leaves serving as a wrapper, text block lacks boards or any further evidence of the now-lost binding. TEXT: it was through Palladius's treatise that knowledge of Roman agricultural practices and the agronomy of the Later Roman Empire were transmitted to medieval Europe and beyond. Organized according to the calendar, this influential text was a practical guide, in simple language, to the agricultural tasks to be performed in each season of the year. This is a witness to the first Italian translation of the text, known in only 13 manuscripts. Manuscripts of… Read More

BOOK DESCRIPTION: UNPUBLISHED ITALIAN DIPLOMATIC MANUSCRIPT, in Italian, manuscript on paper, Italy, Tuscany(?), 1605. Dimensions 260 x 196 mm., 16 folios on paper, complete, written in Italian cursive script in brown ink in 24 long lines. BINDING: Modern binding, blue paper cover with typed title pasted on the front cover, Relatione [sic] delli Principi de Italia. TEXT: The roots of modern diplomacy with our embassies and their ambassadors come into focus in this modest paper pamphlet. It belongs to an understudied category of Early Modern documents that consist of records known as Relazioni that ambassadors compiled on their travels and residencies, a practice that began already in the fifteenth century. Most likely written by an Italian ambassador of the early 17th century, this set of unpublished diplomatic records offers a snapshot of the Italian political scene at the time of its creation and survives as an excellent reminder of the pervasive manuscript culture that existed after the… Read More

MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT OF A THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY BY THOMAS AQUINAS. In Latin, decorated manuscript on paper, Central Italy, c. 1450-1500. Dimensions 225 x 237 mm., 134 folios, copied by two scribes in small gothic book hands, red and blue initials throughout. BINDING: reversed calf over pasteboards (eighteenth-century?). TEXT: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Dominican friar and Doctor of the Church, composed his commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard while teaching in Paris in the 1250s. It was his first major work on theology, in which he presented ideas that were to be elaborated in the Summa contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica, the latter destined to become the standard textbook of Catholic theology for centuries to come. When Aquinas was teaching, the Sentences had been the standard theology textbook since its compilation in the twelfth century. Our manuscript includes only book one, and many manuscripts of this text in fact include only a single book (or books). Only one other copy of… Read More