Medievale Manoscritto

Selections from the Rare Book Collections

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450? Vergil der Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana: commentarium, David H. Wright. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1984 xZ114 V3 1984 [Facsimile. One of the earliest known Roman manuscripts to survive from antiquity, the Vergilius Vaticanus was produced sometime between 370 and 430. Only seventy-five of the original 430 folios still exist. The surviving manuscript contains a series of fragments of the “Georgics” and the “Aeneid” of Virgil, the Roman poet whose works were an essential component in the teaching of Latin throughout the Middle Ages. Like most manuscripts of its time, there is no word separation within the text. The opening letter of each page is slightly enlarged. Written in single columns of the elegant formal script, Roman Rustic Capitals, it is characteristic of other early surviving manuscripts of Virgil. The script was copied in the Utrecht Psalter, a later, Carolingian manuscript. Illustrated in the Roman style similar to wall paintings found at Pompeii, small miniature paintings are interspersed within the verses. Larger full-page compositions are also found throughout the manuscript. It is possible that the miniatures were adapted from an earlier edition. The lavishness of the illustrations points to the importance of Virgil’s texts throughout this era and a revival of Roman literature in the late Empire. Raphael saw the manuscript while visiting the Vatican and was strongly influenced by it. The painter based his Plague at Pergamea on two of the manuscript's miniature illustrations. (Early Medieval)]

625? Des Pedanios Dioskurides. Graz, 1988 xR126 D56 1988 [Facsimile. Ca. seventh century, Italy? This manuscript is one of the oldest in the tradition of Materia medica, a pharmacological treatise written by Greek physician Pedanios Dioscorides in the first century AD. Dioscorides’ work was used by the medieval world for centuries. In the sixth century it was translated into Latin. By the ninth century it had been translated into Arabic, Syrian and Hebrew. Over four hundred plants are described in this illustrated herbal manual, each illustration identified in red ink. The binding of wooden covers and leather accords with the character of the original. (Early Medieval)]

11^th c. Catholic Church. Byzantine rite (Greek) Liturgy and ritual. Hirmologion. Hirmologium e codice Cryptensi E. II, edendum curavit Laurentius Tardo. Roma: Libreria dello Stato, 1950 xM2154.6 B8 H5 [Facsimile. Under pressure from the Arabs, whose troops were advancing into Sicily and Calabria, Italo-Greek monks fled north. The Byzantine Abbey of St Nilo at Grottaferrata, Italy was founded in 1002 by the Basilian monks St Nilo and St Bartolomew. This monastery, located just outside Rome, is the only Italo-Greek monastic institution to survive. Southern Italy had a strong Byzantine tradition from the sixth century onward. The Greek Church was at its peak in the tenth century. This manuscript is from the library of the Grottaferrata monastery.]

1050? Eusebius, of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea (ca. 260-ca. 340). Gospel Harmony of Eusebius. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1991-1992 xBX2005 A35 C58 1991 [Facsimile. Brescia (Italy), second quarter of eleventh century. This concordance was created by Eusebius in the fourth century. Composed almost exclusively of full-page illuminations, initials, and canon tables, this copy is illustrated with nineteen different architectural arches of classical style that frame the Gospel harmony. Sections of the Gospels are illustrated with full-page illuminations and opulent initials introducing feast day readings. The text is written in Carolingian miniscule. (Carolingian/Ottonian)]

1071 The Codex Benedictus. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982 xBX2003 A35 C6 1982 oversize [Facsimile. The Codex Benedictus was produced by 1071 in the monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy. It contains scriptural references, biographies, sermons, eulogies, poems, and stories about three saints of the abbey – Benedict, his twin sister, Scholastica, and Maur, Benedict’s first disciple. St. Benedict (ca. 480-547) was the father of western European monasticism and founded the monastery at Monte Cassino. His Rule set a pattern for monastic life that lasted for centuries and had great influence on Christian culture in Western Europe. The biography of St. Benedict scribed in this book was taken from the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great (540-604). The biography lovingly depicts him as a man devoted to Christ and to leading other Christians with wisdom and love – “For this holy man could not teach otherwise than he lived.” The codex was used on the eve of important festivals, read at only the most solemn occasions, reserved exclusively for liturgical use. The codex contains ornate initials and/or miniatures on every leaf, sixty-six of which illustrate the life of St. Benedict. The lettering, in a South Italian script referred to today as “Beneventan miniscule” was performed with extraordinary precision by a single scribe named Leo. The oversized initial letters, replete with Byzantine characteristics and extravagantly detailed with gold leaf, were created by another single illuminator. The miniatures were created by several illuminators, using sixteen bright colors. The original manuscript was likely first bound with gold and gems. The facsimile is hand bound in half brown morocco of goatskin over boards of Lebanese cedar, with gilt spine and raised bands. This binding is typical of manuscript bindings of eleventh century Europe. The facsimile was created in celebration of the fifteen hundredth anniversary of St. Benedict’s birth. Facsimile edition of six hundred copies, fifty copies hors de commerce.]

1087 Exultet Roll. Zurich: Belser, 1998 xND3380.4 B37 E36 1988 [Facsimile. The Barberini Exultet Roll, of which five sections survive, was created in the Benedictine abbey of Monte Casino, in central Italy, around 1087. Above the text are neumes – an early form of musical notation. The captions to the illuminations (some in Latin, others in Italian) were added toward the end of the thirteenth century by monks as part of restoration work. The text is written in the opposite direction of the illuminations, a usual practice for such rolls. As the deacon chanted from an elevated position, the roll would hang over a railing so that the congregation below could follow the chant through representative pictures. The Exultet is a liturgical hymn sung at Easter. The most important parts of the Easter ceremonies were recorded on rolls – particularly in Southern Italy, which was strongly influenced by the Byzantine Church.]

1310? Latini, Brunetto. Li livres dou tresor. Barcelona: M. Moleiro, 2000 xPQ1429 L24 L5 2000, v. 1- 2 [Facsimile. Brunetto Latini was a true Italian Renaissance humanist. Florentine politician, poet, historian, philosopher, and teacher and friend to Dante, he wrote this encyclopedia while exiled in France between 1260 and 1267. The codex consists of three books, each written in French. The first book begins with Biblical history, the history of Troy, and the history of the Middle Ages, followed by a natural history compiled from other astronomical and geographical sources. Animal and bird species are described in detail. The second book discusses ethics, based upon classical and contemporary philosophers. The third book discusses what, to the author, was the noblest of all sciences, politics and the art of governing. One hundred and fifteen illuminations of beasts, and characters such as acrobats and musicians, decorate the preface and each chapter. Gold and blue initials, arabesques, and other ornamentation are worked in throughout. The illumination was probably done in a layman’s workshop in Paris. The paper used for this facsimile was handmade to match the thickness, tact, and smell of the original. Edition of nine hundred and eighty-seven copies.]

1330? Modi orandi sancti Dominici. Zurich: Belser Verlag, 1995 xBX2050 D7 M63 1995 [Facsimile. Written by a Bolognese Dominican between the years 1260 and 1288, this copy was produced about 1330 in the south of France. The anonymous author describes what he says an eyewitness told him about Saint Dominic at prayer, which is here described in great detail. Nine miniatures show Saint Dominic in various attitudes of prayer. These attitudes arise from the medieval monastic tradition, emphasizing emotional demonstrations of tears, laughter, and exclamations during prayer. St. Dominic’s innovation was to use his whole body as part of this emotional prayer. This is an example of a girdle book – a book bound with an additional protective covering of soft leather made so that it could be hung from the girdle of medieval and renaissance clothing and swung upward for reading while still attached to the piece of clothing. Devotional books or professional reference books, such as law books, were most often bound in this manner. Some of these bindings were produced in velvet or brocade to protect more elegant illuminated prayer books.]

1337 Dante Alighieri (1275-1321). Il codice Trivulziano 1080 della Divina commedia reproduito in eliotipia sotto gli auspici della Sezione milanese della... Milano: U. Hoepli, 1921 xPQ4301 A1 1921 [Facsimile. Original manuscript written by the scribe Francesco di ser Vardo in 1337. The first leaf of each of the three main divisions is illuminated. The introduction to each canto is in red with ornamental initials. Presented to the University of Utah by the Italians of the United States of America, in commemoration of the six-hundredth anniversary of the death of Dante. Edition of three hundred and fifty copies. University of Utah copy is no. 60. (Gothic)]

1375? Grassi, Giovannino de’ (ca. 1340-1398). Das Musterbuch des Giovannino de Grassi. Luzern: Faksimile Verlag Luzern, 1998 xNC2257 G3715 1998 [Facsimile. Late 14th century, Milan. This model book and example of late Italian Gothic art was created by painter, sculptor, and architect Giovannino de Grassi. It is considered to be one of the most important examples of Italian Late Gothic art. Model books were indispensable in the artist’s workshop as guides to ornamental elements, calligraphic initials, exotic animals, and the human body in various poses and at specific activities. Giovannino de Grassi became known as the artist who contributed to the construction and furnishing of the Milan Cathedral. He had contacts to the most famous architects of his time, including Heinrich Parler and Ulrich von Ensingen. De Grassi’s model book is known for his Gothic alphabet, consisting of human and animal figures. The famous alphabet at the end of the book demonstrates the wit and irony De Grassi used in creating his work. The model book contains seventy-seven drawings which reflect the Bohemian art of the period and Parler’s famous “soft style.” In its day, de Grassi’s model book was well-known among artists and book illuminators all over Europe. Paul Limbourg, for example, took a drawing from this book as a model for a scene in the Tres Riches Heures, a book of hours commissioned by the Duc de Berry. All model books influenced the stylistic evolution of art. In the case of this model book, De Grassi strongly influenced Italian art at the beginning of the Renaissance.]

Theatrum Sanitatis. Barcelona: M. Moleiro, 1999 xRS79 T46 1999 [Facsimile. This handbook of health was written between 1052 and 1063 by the Arab Ububchasym of Baladch. Many of the concepts used in his writing were derived from earlier Greek, Roman, and Arabic medical treatises. Good health depended upon six essential factors: climate, food and drink, movement and rest, sleep and wakefulness, passions, and emotions. Advice for the arts of cooking, growing crops, and other practical concepts are described in detail. The text discusses not only the treatment of illness but also how a person’s health influences their environment. One hundred and fifteen illustrations of the therapeutic effects of plants and herbs and other elements are described with the therapeutic uses and properties of each and the ailments that may be helped by them. The illustrations were influenced by the school of Giovannino de Grassi. Two hundred and eight red-framed, nearly full-page illuminations illustrate scenes from daily life as well as the elements described. Hand bound in brown leather with gold engraving. Arabesques adorn the spine of the book. Facsimile paper is handmade to match the thickness, tact, and smell of the original. Edition of nine hundred and eighty-seven copies. University of Utah copy is no. 873]

1390? Tacuinum sanitatus in medicina. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1986 xRS79 T335 1986 [Facsimile. Northern Italy. This illuminated medical handbook was produced for a layperson – a woman of the upper aristocracy or of a rich patrician family able to read, and afford, a lavish book. A reference of sorts for the household management of health and healing, this type of book goes back to an Arab source written by the physician Ibn Butlan in the 11th century. The Arab art and science of healing decisively influenced occidental medicine and enjoyed a long-lived and distinguished reputation. The Latin translation, which made the codex accessible to the educated of the medieval western world, was widely known. Many copies survive. This particular copy is one of the finest of its kind, displaying over two hundred full-page miniatures of all that was considered important with regard to human health and well being. Beginning in the 14th century, the text was placed below an individual image. The miniatures portray the evocative everyday life of late Medieval Italian culture. With a natural style and strong colors, two artists portrayed plants, animals, food, and drugs. All of the objects are within scenes centered upon a human. The text below each miniature describes both the benefits and shortfalls of the object depicted. Derived from the classical herbal tradition, but closely related to Arab manuscripts, the format follows a later western tradition. Bound in leather on wooden boards with hand stamping according to contemporary pattern.]

1410 ? Polo, Marco (1254-1323?). Le Livre des Merveilles. Luzern: Faksimile Verlag, c1995 xG370 P914 1995 [Facsimile. Paris, early 15th century. The Duke of Burgundy commissioned a large manuscript that would bring together Marco Polo’s account of his travels with reports of other journeys of discovery. In 1413 he presented this manuscript to the Duc de Berry. The illuminations of cities and scenes from Marco Polo’s descriptions are noted for the use of linear and aerial perspectives and for artistic license in depicting what are already incredible tales. Marco Polo began writing his story in 1298, after a twenty-four year odyssey through Asia. Nearly one hundred and twenty manuscripts of the story survive, many of them exaggerating Polo’s already hard-to-believe claims. Many readers did not believe the fantastic tales he told. He did, in fact, make things up. But he expanded medieval Europe’s meager knowledge of Asia with such then-unknown names as Cipangu (Japan), Java, Zanzibar, and Ceylon. If not quite accurately, he described geographical features such as the Takla Makan Desert, the Yangtze River and the great cities of Catai (China). He described the palace of Kublai Khan “the greatest that ever was seen,” with a hall large enough to accommodate 6,000 diners and encompassed by a wall four miles around. Polo introduced Europe to black stones that burned better than wood, money made of paper, porcelain, and asbestos. He reported accurately cannibalism in Sumatra, but then “that there are men who have tails more than a palm in size.” Certainly, Polo was neither the first nor the last adventurer to exaggerate. Walter Raleigh did when he described the city of gold – El Dorado. Herodotus told of gold digging ants in India and winged snakes in Egypt.]

1440? Liber physiognomiae. Modena: Il bulino, 2000 xBF1410 L53 2000 [Facsimile. Produced in northeastern Italy, this miscellany of medieval astrological treatises was compiled by an anonymous scholar. The artist who decorated the text with delicate watercolors is also unknown. The text contains astrological considerations about the days and seasons, displaying horoscopes for the twelve zodiacal signs. The author tightly linked astrological knowledge to other fields of science and culture, including interpretations of the biblical dreams of the prophet Daniel and the medical essays of Pietro d’Abano, a professor at Padua University in the early 14th century. The codex came with two astrolabes, rotating dials with pointers that enabled the reader to make zodiacal and medicinal psychological calculations. Facsimile edition of nine hundred and ninety-nine copies. University of Utah copy is no. 583.]

1460 ? De Sphaera Estense: Sphaerae Coelestis Et Planetarum Descriptio (De Sphaera) Del Sec. XV (1470 Ca.) Conservato Alla Biblioteca Estense Di Modena. Modena, Italy: Il Bulino, 1995 xQB26 D47 1995 [The De Sphaera is a treatise on astrology, a field of study accepted as a part of Medieval and early Renaissance life. This illuminated manuscript is considered by many to be the most beautiful codex of the period. Of Lombard origin, it dates between the sixth and seventh decades of the fifteenth century. It is presumed to have been part of the dowry of Anna, the daughter of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. In 1491, Anna was married to Alfonso D'Este, crown prince of the Ferrara dukedom. The original manuscript resides in the Estense Library in Modena, Italy.]

Feliciano, Felice. Alphabetum romanum. Zurich: Belser Verlag, c1985 xZ40 F428 1985 [Facsimile. This is the first treatise on the construction of classic Roman inscription letters and also is the first attempt to construct them within a circle and square. In antiquity these rules were normally observed, but were later forgotten. Veronese calligrapher Felice Feliciano wrote in 1463 that he constructed his Roman capital letters based upon ancient marble tablets found in Rome. The text of this codex is in Italian.]

1465? Martini, Francesco di Giorgio (1439-1502). Das Skizzenbuch des Francesco di Giorgio Martini.
Zurich: Belser Verlag, 1989 xNA1123 M366 A4 1989 [Produced between 1465 and 1492 by the
Italian Francesco di Giorgio Martini, this is one of two sketchbooks the early renaissance artist
wrote. Francesco di Giorgio’s earliest work is found in medieval manuscript illuminations. As a
sculptor, his work was even more sophisticated. By the 1480’s Francesco was also one of Italy’s
leading architects. His two sketchbooks of notes and drawings reveal his sense of refinement and his
innovation in civil and military architecture and engineering]

1480? Piero della Francesca (1420?-1492). Libellus de quinque corporibus regularibus. Firenze: Giunti, 1995 xQA444 P547 1995 [Facsimile. One of the great artists of the early Italian Renaissance, Piero della Francesca is also known for his contributions to the fields of geometry and mathematics. As a painter, Piero was particularly skilled in perspective. In his later years, he stopped painting altogether and pursued his interest in mathematics, writing at least three works on the subject, including this, the “Short book on the five regular solids.” None of Piero’s mathematical work was published under his own name during his lifetime, but circulated quite widely in manuscript form and was incorporated into the works of others. Edition of nine hundred and ninety-eight copies. University
of Utah copy is no. 867.]

1490? Tacuinum sanitatis/enchiridion virtutum vegetablilium, animalium, mineralium rerumque omnium: explicans naturam, iuvamentum, nocumentum remotionemque nocumentoru[m] eorum/ authore anonymo. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1984 xRS79 T33 1984 [Facsimile. Venice, 1490. Tacuinum Sanitatis (Handbook of Health) is the modern title given to one of the most popular treatises on medicine during the later Middle Ages. It combines Arabic and western knowledge on many types of foods, plants, and circumstances, with particular reference to their useful and harmful properties, and how the latter could be cured if necessary. The illustrated versions of this text yield much information on medieval daily life. The manuscript is comprised of 82 leaves, with four miniatures per page, a total of 294 miniatures. The captions or text are based on the Taqwin al-sihhah of Ibn Butlan (d. 1066), which was unillustrated. Ibn Butlan, originally from Baghdad, visited Cairo about 1049, after which he went to Constantinople before settling at Antioch in Syria and becoming a Nestorian monk. Facsimile edition of nine hundred and eighty copies, numbered.]

1580 Oliva, Joan. Atlas de Joan Rizco, Alias Oliva. Madrid: Testamonio, 1987 xG1015 O17 1987
[Facsimile. Published in Naples in 1580, the Atlas consists of nineteen port charts on parchment. It
is a beautiful example of the geographical knowledge of the period. It contains some of the first
nautical maps of the New World. Edition of nine hundred and eighty numbered copies. University
of Utah copy is no. 207.]

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2013 October 09 compiled, annotated and edited by Luise Poulton luise.poulton@utah.edu

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