Add MS 8275

POPE HONORIUS III LETTER-BOOK and MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION of letters, orations, relazioni, and tracts relating to the Papacy, the Council of Trent, the German Empire, Austria, Spain, Venice, and the League against the Turks; circa 1216, 1532-1570. Latin and Italian. Copies, 17th cent. The MS contains a long tract (ff. 151-372v) relating to the Council of Trent, in Latin, and a register of letters (ff. 373-454v) of Pope Honorius III (1216-1226), in Latin. The Pope's letter-book relates to the first year of his papacy in 1216, and includes letters to Kings John (ff. 389-390v) and Henry III (ff. 395v-396) of England, Alexander II Scotland (ff. 391-391v), William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke (ff. 392-393), and Henry of London, Archbishop of Dublin (ff. 393-394). The MS also includes: - (a) note on royal coronation, in Latin, n.d. (ff. 2-4v); - (b) letter from the Emperor Charles V to the Cardinals on the death of Pope Paul III in 1549, in Latin (ff. 5-6v); - (c) oration on the death of Margaret of Austria, 1532, in Latin (ff. 7-24); - (d) relazione on the Venetian military forces, in Italian, n.d. (ff. 25-150v); - (e) [Venetian ?] report on the new admiral of the Spanish fleet in the League against the Turks, presumably Giovanni Andrea Doria appointed in 1570, n.d. (ff. 455-476). Table of contents (f. 1), added later. Marked '14' in ink at centre of lower edge. Stamp of the Colonna library 'Libraria Colonna' in red on ff. ii, 1, 251, 476v, vi (verso); for the Colonna library stamp see Bragaglia, vol. iii, T 32: circa 1750. Previously believed to be 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' in pencil in upper left corner and 'Tomo XIV' in pencil in lower right margin of f. ii. Purchased, together with Add. 8262-8274, 8276-8281, from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 284 (part).

Paper; ff. 476+vi, plus one unfoliated blank after f. 4, two after f. 454. Old foliation in ink '1-490' (ff. 2-476, iv-vi), including blanks, omitting nos. 330-339. 265 x 203mm. Horizontal catchwords on each leaf. Four Italian hands.