Astronomical calendar : in Latin and Italian

Item Information

Title:
Astronomical calendar : in Latin and Italian
Description:
Comprises an astronomical calendar of twelve pages, along with diagrams and texts, in Latin and Italian, explaining how to interpret the individual elements of the calendar, including dominical letters and golden numbers.
Former owner:
Florio, Daniele, 1710-1789
Former owner:
Florio, Francesco
Former owner:
Tessier, Andrea, active 1858
Former owner:
Enluminures (Firm)
Auctioneer:
Jacques Rosenthal (Firm)
Former owner:
Breslauer und Meyer
Auctioneer:
Christie, Manson & Woods
Date:
[1500?–1534?]
Format:
Manuscripts
Books
Genre:
Manuscripts, Italian--Italy
Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)--Italy
Manuscripts, Medieval--Italy
humanistic scripts
Location:
Boston Public Library
Rare Books Department
Collection (local):
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts (Collection of Distinction)
Subjects:
Calendars--Early works to 1800
Dominical letters
Places:
Italy
Extent:
12 leaves : parchment, ill. ; 168 x 100 (110 x 80-92) mm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/jq08cf43g
Terms of Use:
No Copyright - United States icon No Copyright - United States
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Place of origin:
[Italy]
Language:
Latin
Italian
Table of Contents:
1. fol. 1-1v: originally blank, now with a later note about its ownership (see provenance note)
2. fol. 2-2v: 2r originally blank, now with an obliterated Italian inscription. 2v with two lines: Post Regu[m] festa quere noviluna tina / Post domica tertia sacru[m] Pasca celebra.
3. fol. 3-8v: Calendar from January to December, with one month per page, with columns for the days of the month (in Arabic numerals), for the golden numbers, here expressed with red capital letters, with gaps (A-T, with A for '1' continuing through T for '19'), the dominical (or ferial) letters (capital A-G in black ink), and finally two columns of Arabic numerals, with entries corresponding to each golden number, labelled "hore" "punti" for the hour and minute of the new moon
4. fol. 9-9v. [Circular diagram with letters, A-T]; text inside the circle, "Istud est alphabetum quod dicitur in sequenti rubrica etc. Scias quod in anno domini 1051 currit A. [outside the circle, next to 'P'], "1534"]. [Below the diagram, prose paragraph] incipit, "Per duodecim tabulas anni scriptas potest Scire quo die et hora et puncto renovetur luna. Nota quod alfabetum suprascriptum continet 19 literas seruientes 19 annis lunaribus ... [fol. 9v] Vnde primum A. dicti alphabeti seruit anno currentis 1520 ... Similiter nota quod quelibet luna habet dies 29 horas 12 et punctos 793 etc."
5. fol. 10: [Two Circular diagrams, the first with two rows of Arabic numerals, with 1-19 in the outer circle; below that, a second diagram with letters, A-G; text, upper diagram], incipit, "Questo rota te dimostra lo aureo numero ... Et Sapi che il 1500 corse 19 per aureo numero... imperpetuum"; [text, lower diagram], "Questa rota te dimostra ogni anno la lettera domenicale ... Et Sapi che il 1500 ..."
6. fol. 10v-11v: Table for moveable feasts (Septuagesima, Quadragesima, Pascha, Pentecost, etc.) and instructions in Italian on how to find the date of these feasts, all of which depend on the movable date of Easter in a given year; [fol. 11v], incipit, "La Tauola sovraposta te dimostra a trouar imperpetuum le festum mobile ..."
7. fol. 12-12v: Table with the dominical letters and the golden numbers, followed by instructions in how to calculate Easter (in Latin) using the circular diagrams and the table on fol. 12, [fol. 12v], incipit, "Si vis In hac tabula supraposita reperire pasca prius quere aureum numerum et littera dominicale ... et sub illa descendes."
Notes:
Ms. codex.
Title devised by cataloger; date based on inscription on fol. 1; contents based in part on dealer's description.
Origin: Copied in Italy during the early 16th century and probably circa 1534.
Notes (ownership):
Provenance: Belonged to the Counts Florio of Udine - possibly Daniele (1710-1789) and Francesco (1705-1792). Later acquired by Andrea Tessier (1819-1896) (see inscription on fol.1 regarding its acquisition from the Florio library). Offered at the Tessier sale by Jacques Rosenthal in Munich, 21-23 May, 1900 (item no. 18 in the catalog). Thereafter offered by Breslauer and Meyer, Ein Katalog seltener Bücher und Manuscripte zur fünfhundersten Wiederkehr des Geburtstages Johann Gutenbergs, Berlin, 24 June, 1900, no. 444. Printed dealer's description, in French and numbered 511, at front. Later (18th-century?) Italian inscription on fol. 2 obliterated. Pencil dealer's notes and codes at front and back. Sold at Christie's, London, 12 July 2023, lot 59, to Les Enluminures.
Notes (acquisition):
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Les Enluminures, Chicago, 2024.
Purchase; Les Enluminures; 20241010; 2024.95.
Notes (object):
Collation: fol. 12 ; I¹² ; modern pencil foliation.
Layout: Layout varies, with tables, diagrams, etc. Text portions written in single lines. Ruled in drypoint.
Script: Written in brown ink in a humanist cursive.
Decoration: Rubricated in red throughout.
Binding: Bound in contemporary(?) limp parchment. Single quire affixed on two primary tackets.
Notes (language):
In Latin and Italian.
Identifier:
06_01_019584
Call #:
RARE BKS MS q Med.302
Barcode:
39999092211364