Add MS 8265

COLLECTION of historical accounts of conclaves and tracts relating to the Papacy and the German Empire; circa 1503-1560. Latin and Italian. Copies. The MS. includes: - (a) account of the conclave for the election of Adrian VI, 1522, in Latin (ff. 2-10v), followed (ff. 11-23) by the instructions to Cardinals Pompeo Colonna, Franciotto Orsini, Alessandro Cesarini sent to Castiglia to inform him of his election, and (ff. 23v-25) by his profession of faith; another copy of the conclave account in Add. 48073 (Yelverton MS. 79; art. 12, ff. 425-433); for details on other accounts in Italian see 8412 (art. 13, ff. 123-128); other copies of the instructions to the cardinals and the profession of faith by Adrian VI in Add. 8262 (art. gg, ff. 242-246v); - (b) account of the conclave for the election of Julius III, 1550, in Latin (ff. 26-95v): a different account in Latin in Add. 33370; for other accounts in Italian see Add. 8412 (art. 16, ff. 160-175); - (c) account of the conclave for the election of Pius IV in 1559, written by Antonio Guidi, later bishop of Traù (1574), in 1560, with letter of address to Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, in Latin (ff. 96-161v): other copies in Add. 6901 (ff. 27-38v: anonymous), 8299 (art. 1, ff. 2-81v, including the letter of address to Borromeo), 8397 (art. 10, ff. 63-76: anonymous), 48073 (Yelverton MS. 79; art. 15, ff. 593-620: attributed to Antonio Guidi and dated 1560); Italian translation in Add. 8418 (art. 1(v), ff. 118-154v: anonymous); for details of other accounts in Italian see Add. 8412 (art. 18, ff. 184-191); - (d) account of the conclave for the election of Julius II, 1503, in Latin (ff. 162-205v), extracted from the Liber notarum of Johannes Burchard (see Add. MSS. 8437, 8438 for bibliographical references to Burchard and his work: for other copies see Add. 8439 (ff. 1-43), 48073 (art. 10, ff. 389-418), 48154 (art. 4, ff. 117-205); for details of Italian versions see Add. 8412 (art. 11, ff. 107-114); - (e) historical tract relating to the dependance of the German Empire on the Holy See, n.d., in Latin (ff. 206-229v): a shorter tract, in Italian, in Add. 8262 (art. nn, ff. 544-547), 8266 (art. b, ff. 60-64v), 14099 (ff. 276v-281), and Royal 14.A.XXI (ff. 253-258v), printed in Thesoro Politico (Cologne, 1589, sig. L iii-L iv, B.L. copy 521.d.14; Cologne, 1598, pp. 142-146, B.L. copy 521.c.19; Milan, 1600, pp. 421-424, B.L. copy 29.b.13); - (f) discourse relating to the Court of Rome by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone, dedicated to Girolamo Savorgnan, circa 1544, in Italian (ff. 230-357): other copies of the text in Add. 8286 (art. 11, ff. 226-237v: imperfect), 8342 (art. 1, ff. 1-96v), 8401 (art. 1, ff. 2-111v), 8432 (art. 1, ff. 1-96v), 8474 (art. a, ff. 1-82v), 10716, 18655, 29444 (ff. 43-89), 48795 (ff. 28-78), and Harley 3562 (ff. 1-9); for details of printed editions see Add. 8342. Table of contents (f. 1), added later. Marked '4' in ink at centre of lower edge. Stamp of the Colonna library 'Libraria Colonna' in red on ff. ii, 2, 116, v (verso); for the Colonna library stamp see Bragaglia, vol. iii, T 32: circa 1750. From the library of Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali, according to a note in Evans sale catalogue at lot 284. Owned by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, but lacking his armorial bookplate. '284' and 'Tomo IV / A' in pencil in right margin of f. ii. Purchased, together with Add. 8262-8264, 8266-8281, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 284 (part).

Paper; ff. 357+v. Old foliation in ink '1-555' (ff. 2-357, iv-v), omitting ff. 19, 335, repeating no. 339. 268 x 205mm. Horizontal catchwords on each leaf. Three Italian hands.