|
|
|
|
|
|
Detailed record for Burney 259
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Caius Suetonius Tranquillus |
| Title |
De vita Caesarum |
| Origin |
Italy (Ferrara? Rome? Naples?) |
| Date |
2nd quarter of the 15th century, perhaps between 1430 and 1440? |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Humanistic, written 'below top line' |
| Decoration |
1 large white vine initial with partial border incorporating two butterlies and a grasshopper, in colours and gold (f. 1). Large initials unfinished (e.g. ff. 19, 44v), or not started. Guide letters. 1 added partial border, with heraldic arms. |
| Dimensions in mm |
290 x 200 (195 x 115) |
| Official foliation |
ff. iii + 150 (ff. [i-iii] and [149*-149***] are flyleaves) |
| Collation |
i-xv10 (ff. 1-[149*]). |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
Post-1600. Typical Askew binding of diced calf, with the usual 'palmette and fleur-de-lys' gilt roll, marbled endpapers and parchment flyleaves; edges gauffered and gilt; rebacked. |
| Provenance |
Mario Maffei (b. 1463, d. 1537), of Volterra: his added arms, and the erased remains of the typical inscription, 'De [figli …] Mario […]' (f. 1).
Anthony Askew (bap. 1722, d. 1774), physician and book collector: bound for him; his sale, 7 March 1785, lot 525, bought by Hayes for £3 3s.
Samuel Tyssen (b. 1756, d. 1800), F.A.S.; his sale, 7 Dec. 1801, lot 2737, bought by Burney for £2 12s. 6d.
Charles Burney (b. 1757, d. 1817), D.D., classical scholar.
Acquired by the British Museum as part of Burney’s library from his son Charles Parr Burney in 1818. |
| Notes |
Blank spaces have been left, sometimes marked 'gr', for Greek to be inserted. |
| Select bibliography |
Catalogue of Manuscripts in The British Museum, New Series, 1 vol. in 2 parts (London: British Museum, 1834-1840), I, part II: The Burney Manuscripts (1840), p. 66.
Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, Catalogo di manoscritti italiani esistenti nel Museo Britannico di Londra (Turin: Roux, 1890), no. 293.
B. L. Ullman, 'Codices Maffeiani', in Studies in the Italian Renaissance (Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1955), pp. 373-82 (p. 374, no. 11).
José Ruysschaert, 'Recherche des deux bibliothèques romaines Maffei des XVe et XVIe siècles', La Bibliofilia, 60 (1958), 306-33 (p. 323, no. 28). |
| Last revised: 05 February 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
f. 1
Initial |
f. 1
Detail |
f. 1
Detail |
| |
f. 19
Unfinished initial |
f. 19
Detail |
f. 44v
Unfinished initial |
| |
f. 44v
Detail |
|
|
|
|
