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Add MS 89542
- Record Id:
- 032-004304460
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-004304460
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100157262409.0x000001
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100170815605.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 89542
- Title:
- Giovanni Battista Gargha, Orationes
- Scope & Content:
-
A presentation copy of the Orationes of Giovanni Battista Gargha of Siena, envoy of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (Hospitallers), made for Fabrizio del Carretto (b. 1455, d. 1521), Italian nobleman and the 43rd Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1513 to 1521.
Followed by the commendatory verses by Lorenzo Cattaneo that appear in the print edition of the Orationes, and a later text on the fall of Rhodes in 1522. Rhodes was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522 after a long siege. The Hospitallers were expelled from the island and would later settle on Malta in 1530.
The volume's quire signatures suggest that it was copied from the printed edition of Gargha's text. The British Library holds two early printed copies of the text under the title ‘Oratio in Octava Session. Lateran. Concilii. una cũ Obedientia magni Magistri Rhodi.’ and ‘Oratio J. B. Garghæ ... habita apud Leonem X. Pont. Max. ac Lateraneñ Concilium in sessione octava Quarto-decimo Kal. Januarias 1513’: C.25.i.1.(6.) and IA.18396.(10.).
The manuscript was written by Ludovico degli Arrighi (b. 1475, d. 1527), a scribe who worked in the papal chancery in Rome.
Contents:
pp. 1-4: Giovanni Battista Gargha, A dedicatory letter to the Hospitaller Grandmaster Fabrizio del Carretto, written in Latin, beginning, 'Religionis nostrae Hierosolymitanae studio...'
pp. 5-21: Giovanni Battista Gargha’s first speech to Pope Leo IX, given at the Fifth Lateran Council, 19 December 1513; written in Latin, beginning, 'Veni sancta spiritus: omnium tuo amore corda...'
pp. 22-32: Giovanni Battista Gargha’s second speech to Pope Leo IX, given at the Fifth Lateran Council, 7 March 1514; written in Latin, beginning, 'Vetus institutum est Pater Beatissime Christianorum Principum...'
pp. 33-37: Lorenzo Cattaneo, A set of commendatory verses, written in Latin, beginning, 'Militum unanimi a Choro creatum...' the first set of verses repeated and arranged with musical notation on a five-line stave (pp. 36-37).
pp. 38-40: An added prose work in French discussing the fall of Rhodes in 1522 and its causes, possibly written by a scribe in one of the French langues of the Knights Hospitaller.
Decoration:
1 historiated initial in colours and gold, depicting a knight of the Order, presumably the Grandmaster Fabrizio Carretto, with a one-sided foliate border in colours and gold (p. 1).
2 large initials in gold and one-sided borders in colours and gold, the first with a lower border with foliate pattern, two birds, and the Carretto arms (pp. 5, 22).
2 small initials in gold on coloured grounds (pp. 33, 34).
The title ‘Laurentius’ in large initials of alternating gold, red and blue (p. 33).
Added Musical notation (pp. 36-37).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-004304460", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 89542: Giovanni Battista Gargha, Orationes" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-004304460
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-004304460
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- https://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100170815605.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1514
- End Date:
- 1527
- Date Range:
- 1514-c 1522
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Condition: Woodworm damage to pages throughout.
Dimensions: 265 x 200 mm (text space: 125 x 175 mm).
Pagination: pp. 40 (+ 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the beginning and 1 unfoliated paper flyleaf at the end).
Printed quire signatures, probably copied from a printed volume (e.g., ‘aiiii’ (p. 7)).
Script: Humanistic.
Binding: Bound in a parchment leaf from a c. 14th century choirbook.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
Rome, Italy.
The manuscript was written by Ludovico degli Arrighi (b. 1475, d. 1527), a scribe who worked in the papal chancery in Rome.
Provenance:
Illuminated presentation copy made for Fabrizio del Carretto, (1455-1521), Italian nobleman and the 43rd Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1513 to 1521: His coat of arms (p. 5).
The Carriani family, Marcheses of Mantua: the boards covered with part of a parchment leaf from a choirbook in the Marchese’s collection (the title bestowed in 1638), according to the 1967 Sotheby’s catalogue; inscribed note, 'Belonged to Marquis Carriani of Mantua' (f. [i] recto]).
Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 1967, lot 66: the property of the late H. C. Drayton, Esq; sold to a private individual (personal correspondence from Vera Law to Sotheby’s).
Albrecht (Albi) Rosenthal (b. 1914, d. 2004), antiquarian bookseller, description of the manuscript on headed notepaper; sold by him to Law, according to her handwritten note (f. [i] recto).
Vera Law (b. 1899, d. 1985), calligrapher and gilder, in her possession from at least 21 November 1977: her notes and initials (upper flyleaf); bequeathed to Nicolas Barker.
Nicolas Barker (b. 1932), formerly Head of Conservation, The British Library: his pencil notes stating that, ‘This book is to pass / to the British Library / on or before my death / Nicolas Barker’ (inside upper cover).
Presented to the British Library by Nicolas Barker on 2 August 2022.
- Publications:
- Giovanni Baptista Gargha, Oratio in octava sessione Lateranensis Concilii (1514).
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)