Stowe MS 981

"SUMMA que vocatur Catholicon, edicta (sic) a fratre Johanne de Janua, ordinis fratrum predicatorum": a glossary of the Latin language by Giovanni de' Balbi, of Genoa, beg. "Prosodia quedam pars grammatice nuncupatur." Under the word 'janua' the author gives his own name as Johannes Januensis de Balbis, and a list of his works. The Catholicon was completed, according to the statement of the author at the end of the work, in 1286, and was repeatedly printed between 1460 and 1506. Vellum; ff. 320. In double columns, of 66 lines. Written in France at the end of the XIVth cent. The first page is surrounded by an illuminated border, and the first initial incloses a miniature representing the author kneeling before the Virgin and Child; the first initial of each letter of the alphabet is also illuminated in gold and colours. On a fly-leaf is a note by George Temple Nugent-Grenville, Marquis of Buckingham, stating that the volume was given to him by George, Earl Spencer, in 1810, having been bought by the latter at the Pinelli sale. Large Folio.

Giovanni de' Balbi, of Genoa: Catholicon: late 14th cent.

Art. Illuminations and Drawings FRENCH: Catholicon of G. de Balbi: miniature, border and initials: late 14th cent.