|
|
|
|
|
|
Detailed record for Lansdowne 842
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Boethius |
| Title |
Opera omnia |
| Origin |
Italy, Central (Florence) |
| Date |
c. 1475 - c. 1485 |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Humanistic cursive |
| Scribe |
Tommaso Baldinotti of Pistoia (b. 1451, d. 1511); Diagrams and text by Sigismondo de' Sigismondi, Count Palatine (see de la Mare 1985) |
| Artists |
Attributed to Attavante degli Attavanti, according to the notes of A. C. de la Mare (see Codices Boethiani 1995). |
| Decoration |
Vol. 1: Decorated table of contents, in colours and gold (f. 1v). 1 large inhabited initial, accompanied by a partial foliate border including medaillons, and arms supported by putti in the lower margin, in colours and gold (f. 2). 11 large and smaller decorated foliate initials, in colours and gold, for major divisions (ff. 5v, 6v, 10v, 19, 28, 94v, 107v, 120v, 132v, 142, 158). 1 small decorated initial in gold on a ground in red, blue and green (f. 2). Numerous diagrams. Small initials in plain blue, for minor divisions.
Vol. 2: 10 large and smaller decorated foliate initials, in colours and gold, for major divisions (ff. 1, 2v, 21, 51, 58v, 66, 71v, 79, 90, 99). Numerous diagrams. Small initials in plain blue, for minor divisions. |
| Dimensions in mm |
325 x 220 (220 x 125) |
| Official foliation |
vol. 1, ff. 163 (+ 2 paper flyleaves at the beginning, and 1 original and 3 paper flyleaves at the end); vol. 2, ff. 105 (+ 1 original blank leaf after f. 50; + 3 paper and 1 original flyleaves at the beginning, and 3 paper flyleaves at the end) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Typical Askew binding of diced calf, with the usual 'palmette and fleur-de-lys' gilt roll; marbled endpapers; gilt edges. |
| Provenance |
Probably Lorenzo de' Medici (b. 1449, d. 1492) Italian statesman: Medici arms, a motto, and devices (vol. 1, f. 2).
Anthony Askew (bap. 1722, d. 1774), physician and book collector: his sale, 7 March 1785, lot 431; bought by Lansdowne for £12 12s (f. 1).
William Petty (formerly Fitzmaurice) (b. 1737, d. 1805), 2nd earl of Shelburne and 1st marquess of Lansdowne, prime minister: his book-plates (inside upper covers); purchased by the British Museum together with 1244 other Lansdowne manuscripts in 1807. |
| Select bibliography |
[Henry Ellis and Francis Douce], A Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1819), no. 842.
Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of Manuscript Music in the British Museum, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 1906-1965), III, 297.
Albinia de la Mare, 'New Research on Humanistic Scribes in Florence', in Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440-1525: un primo censimento, ed. by Annarosa Garzelli, 2 vols, ([Florence]: Giunta regionale toscana, 1985), I, pp. 395-574 (p. 536).
Codices Boethiani: A conspectus of manuscripts of the works of Boethius, ed. by M. T. Gibson and Lesley Smith with the assistance of Joseph Ziegler, Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts, 25 (London: Warburg Institute, 1995), I: Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, no. 133 [with additional bibliography]. |
| Last revised: 19 February 2007 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
vol. 1, ff. 1v-2
Table of contents; initial and border |
vol. 1, f. 19
Initial |
f. 1v
Title page |
| |
f. 2
Initial |
f. 2
Medici arms |
f. 19
Illuminated initial |
| |
A, f. 155
Diagram |
|
|
|
|
