Add MS 8269

COLLECTION of letters and papal instructions of Pope Julius III (1550-1555); circa 1550-1562. Italian. Copies, 17th cent. Imperfect at the end. The letters (ff. 1-57v) and instructions (ff. 66-256v) are addressed to cardinals, European and Italian rulers, and papal nuncios. The letters are dated 27 Nov. 1551 - 28 Dec. 1552, the instructions 16 Feb. 1550 - 12 Aug. 1554, but are not copied in chronological order. Most of the instructions bear the signature of the papal secretary Giulio Canano, Bishop of Adria, who was later created cardinal by Gregory XIII in 1583. The last instruction, a memorial given to Prospero Publicola Santacroce, Bishop of Kisamos, when he was sent as papal nuncio to France in 1552, breaks (f. 256v) at 'come intervenne all'Imperatore con-'. A more extensive register of letters of Julius III (dated 10 April 1551 - 22 Feb. 1555) in Add. 8366. The present MS also includes: - (a) instructions from King Philip II of Spain to Don Luis de Avila y Zuñiga, Comendador Mayor de Alcantara, relating to the King of Bohemia, 1562 (ff. 58-60v), other copies of which in Add. 8302 (art. 20, ff. 109-111), 8391 (art. 20, ff. 268-271v); - (b) message from King Francis II of France to Pope Pius IV relating to the Council of Trent, 3 Nov. 1560 (ff. 61-65); - (c) reply from the Emperor Charles V to the embassy of Cardinal Girolamo Dandini, Bishop of Imola, through Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Bishop of Arras, 1553 (ff. 159v-162v); - (d) summary of the embassy of Luis de Toledo sent to Julius III by Pedro de Toledo, Marqués de Villafranca and viceroy of Naples, 1552 (ff. 167-169v). Stamp of the Colonna library 'Libraria Colonna' in red on ff. ii, iii, 1, 77, 256v; 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 VIII / A' in pencil in right margin of f. ii. Purchased, together with Add. 8262-8268, 8270-8281, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 284 (part).

Paper; ff. 256+iii. Old foliation in ink '1-255' (ff. 1-256), omitting f. 209. 265 x 195mm. Horizontal catchwords on each leaf. One Italian hand.