Astronomica

Item Information

Title:
Astronomica
Title (alt.):
In morbis a capite ad pedes
Title (uniform):
Serenus Sammonicus, Quintus. Liber medicinalis
Description:
An astronomical text by Manilius followed by Serenius' medical treatise, written in Ferrara by Pellegrino Agli in 1461 (see colophon, fol. 110v).
Author:
Manilius, Marcus
Scribe:
Agli, Pellegrino, 1440-1468?
Former owner:
Grimani, Domenico, 1460-1523
Former owner:
Grimani, Marino, approximately 1488-1546
Former owner:
Pithou, Pierre, 1539-1596
Former owner:
Berry, Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchesse de, 1798-1870
Former owner:
Barrois, Joseph, approximately 1785-1855
Former owner:
Silva, Ercole, 1756-1840
Former owner:
Ashburnham, Bertram Ashburnham, Earl of, 1797-1878
Former owner:
Cockerell, Sydney Carlyle, Sir, 1867-1962
Auctioneer:
Sotheby's (Firm)
Name on Item:
[Marcus Manilius. In morbis a capite ad pedes / Quintus Sammonicus Serenus]
Date:
1461
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Illuminations
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Italy
Manuscripts, Medieval--Italy
humanistic scripts
Vellum bindings
Inscriptions
Autographs
Armorial bookplates
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts
Subjects:
Didactic poetry, Latin--Texts--Manuscripts
Astrology, Roman--Manuscripts
Medicine, Greek and Roman--Manuscripts
Places:
Italy > Piedmont (region) > Cuneo (province) > Ferrera
Extent:
111 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 191 x 126 (135 x 75) mm, in box 23 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/66835d872
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States icon No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
Ferrara
Language:
Latin
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-86v: Manilius, Astronomica M. MANILII POETAE AD OCTAVIANUM AUGU/STAM ASTRONOMICON LIBER I INCIPIT FELICITER/ Carmine divinas artis.../...Totus et accenso mundus flagraret olympo.
2. fol. 87-110v: Serenius, In morbis a capite ad pedes Q. SERENII IN MORBIS A CAPITE AD PEDES/ Q. SERENII IN MORBIS A CAPITE AD PEDES/ PER VERSUS EDITIO INCIPIT./ Membrorum series certo.../...super pellit medicina dolorem / [telos] Laus deo/ Scriptus praepropere ac festine a me pere/grino allio ferrariae MCCCLXI.
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Title devised by cataloger.
Bibliographic record created by BPL staff based primarily on description by Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis.
Origin: Written in Ferrara, Italy, in 1461 by Pellegrino Agli of Ferrara (see fol. 110v).
Byname: Codex Pithoeanus of Manilius.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance 1: In a contemporary hand on front flyleaf: "Versus quos Ci[cer]o allegat in libro de fato./ Sunt qui in fortunae iam casibus omnia ponant/ Et mundum credant nullo rectore moveri/ Natura volvente vices et mensis et anni." In a slightly later hand -- possibly that of Pierre Pithout -- the attribution of the verses to Juvenal (Satura XIII, ll. 86-88). Greek annotations in an early hand, including the title "Astronomicon" on fol. 1. On front flyleaf verso: signature of Cardinal Domenico Grimani (1460-1523), Cardinal of St. Mark and Patriarch of Aquileia: "Liber D. Grimani Cardinalis S. Marci."; by descent to Cardinal Grimani's nephew and successor, Marinus, his signature and shelfmark below: "xiiii/ M. Patriarchae Aquileien[sis]"; later to Pierre Pithou (1539-1596), in whose family the present manuscript remained until the mid-19th century; 19th-century de Rosny bookplate; sold in the Duchesse de Berry sale (Paris, 1837, no. 2426) to Bossange; owned by Ercole Silva of Milan (1756-1840), sold by Potier, 15 February 1869, no. 246; later owned by Bertram, 4rth Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878); his green label "343" on spine.
Provenance 2: Joseph Scaliger wrote to Pithou about this manuscript in 1573, asking to study it for his forthcoming edition (Lettres françaises inédites, pp. 21 and 26).
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Ashburnham sale, Sotheby's London, 10 June 1901, lot 376 to Sydney Cockerell for the Boston Public Library (Cockerell's notes and Sotheby's lot number inside front cover.
Notes (citation):
Ricci, S. de. Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada,I, 921
Notes (object):
Collation: Parchment, fol. iv (i-iii later paper; iv contemporary parchment) + 110 + iii (later paper) ; 1-11¹⁰ ; catchwords in lower right corner, final verso of each quire, mostly trimmed away. Modern arabic pencil foliation, upper outer corner each page.
Secundo folio: Hi tantum movere...
Script: Written in a humanistic cursive in brown ink with red rubrics.
Layout: 1 column, 25 lines. Bounding and writing lines ruled in blind.
Decoration: 3-line white-vine initial in gold on colors with white-vine borders in colors in inner and upper margin, fol. 1; initial of similar size and syle, without border, on fol. 87; Manilius' book 1 begins with 2-line blue capital, fol.19v.
Binding: 17th-century vellum over pasteboard, edges mottled red, Barrois and Ashburnham labels on spine, 17th-century handwritten title on spine, "M[an]lii/Astron/omicum/66." Housed in tan cloth clamshell box.
Notes (bibliography):
Bibliography: "Agli, Pellegrino," Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Rome), 401-402; R. Bentley, ed., M. Manilii Astronomicon (London, 1739); Seymour de Ricci, "A Handlist of Latin Classical Manuscripts in American Libraries," Philological Quarterly, I (1922): 105; F. Flamini, Pellegrino Agli, umanista poeta e confilosofo del Ficino (Pisa, 1893); H.W. Garrod, Manili Astronomicon (Oxford, 1911); A. Maranini, Un codice umanistico di Manilio (Boston, Public Library, G.38.46) (Udine, 1985); Tamizey de Larroque, Jacques Philippe, eds., Lettres françaises inédites de Joseph Scaliger (Paris, 1881); Zoltan Haraszti, "Medieval Manuscripts in The Library," More Books III (1928): 64 (this description pasted on front flyleaf).
Notes (language):
In Latin.
Identifier:
06_01_018643
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.20
MS G.38.46 (no longer used)
Barcode:
39999059857001