Add MS 8597

Statutes of Adria; 16th-17th cent. Latin and Italian. Mostly copies. Statutes of the town of Adria issued by Leonello d'Este, Marquess of Ferrara (1441-1450), in 1442 (ff. 15-80). These statutes are followed by: (a) later edicts of Leonello and his successors Borso and Ercole I, dated 1446-1480 (ff. 80-91), including one edict of Eleanor of Aragon, wife of Ercole I, dated 1478 (ff. 90v-91); - (b) letters of privileges, additions and amendments to the statutes issued by the Venetian Republic, dated 1517-1575 (ff. 91v-130v), including the constitutions of the Guild of notaries and rectors in Ferrara and their salaries (ff. 104-125v); - (c) statutes issued by Alvise Mocenigo in 1574 (ff. 132-151). Inc. (f. 15) 'Hec sunt statuta ordines et provisones civitatis Hadris reformata tempore ... Domini Leoneli Marchionis Estensis anno primo sui Dominij / Dilectissimi nostri in memoria nostra', expl. (f. 151) 'il tempo del Reggimento vostro sotto la pena statuita / AMocenighi superscripsit'. The MS. is entitled (f. 1) 'Statuto della Città di Adria', and contains also a table of contents relating to the statutes (ff. 2-14v), a list of Venetian podestà in Adria from 1512 to 1667 (f. 152-152v), a recipe for ink (f. 153), letters and papers relating to constitutional matters in Adria, some with notarial signatures and seals, respectively dated 1461, 1572, 1539, 1579 and 1667 (ff. 154-154v, 155, 157-158v, 163, 168-168v), papers relating to the practice of usury in Adria 1507-1554 (ff. 159-162), and a list of rates for public services in Adria issued in 1620 (ff. 164-167). The MS. is described by C. Foligno, ‘Codici di materia veneta nelle biblioteche inglesi’, in Nuovo Archivio Veneto, n.s., 8, t. xv (1908), pt. i, no. cxcviii, pp. 213-214. Armorial bookplate of 5th Earl of Guilford, with shelfmark L/18/A (front pastedown). '248' in pencil in upper left corner of front pastedown. Purchased from R. H. Evans, 8 Dec. 1830, lot 248 (part).

Paper; ff. 168+iv, plus six blanks after ff. 14, 60, 127, 154, 163. Composite MS. Contemporary Arabic foliation in ink 2-48 (ff. 15-60 and 2 following blanks), with a later hand repeating no. 14 on an added leaf after no. 13 and cancelling the last nos 47-48; this foliation is continued in ink by later hands 47-141 (ff. 61-151), omitting nos. 84 and 91-92. 317 x 212mm. Several Italian hands. 18th-century quarter binding of leather with marbled paper covers.